This short book contains many interesting thoughts on procrastination. The author starts out by giving the force of procrastination the name ‘Resistance’. This can in itself be quite useful as it allows you to treat procrastination as a person or more importantly, as your enemy. After this definition, the author continues to describe the Resistance with all its characteristics and its many devious techniques. These descriptions makes it easier to recognize when your Resistance is at work, which in turn makes it easier to fight it. The last part of the book should supposedly teach you how to conquer the Resistance. However, the tip itself basically boils down to: Just sit down and do it. To help convey his point, the author tries to explain the differences between a professional and an amateur. He believes that the base trait of the professional is that he/she shows up every day, even though he/she might not feel like it. An amateur, on the other hand, does not do this. In other words, amateurs loses their battle with the Resistance.

I believe that the most valuable part of the book is the definition of the Resistance as this allows you to clarify who or what you enemy is. This helps you paint the picture of a constant war between you and the Resistance, which in turn motivates you to win.

The biggest nuisance in the book derives from the fact that the author is religious and thus makes quite a few really, really questionable conclusions. You can read more about this common type of problem in my Thoughts on Books post. Every time the author uses his blind faith to explain something, you have to try to look the other way and silently roll your eyes. If you manage to focus on the parts of the book that actually provides some value and the book will be well worth your time.