What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success

Dr. Lamia does a wonderful job of rescuing anxiety and deadline-driven people from the trash heap of research. Whether you are a task driven non-procrastinator, or a deadline-driven seeming procrastinator, you will find ways to accept yourself and others, and make the best of whichever kind of motivational system you have. I am a task driven person married to a deadline-driven person, and this has helped us become so much more empathic about and accepting of each other's totally valid ways of doing things. Thank you, Dr. Lamia.

I took this book out of the library, read the first chapter and perused the rest. Based on that, I am not going to continue reading it - that is rare for me. Even though I'm a procrastinator - hence my reason for seeking the book out in the first place - I usually try to finish what I (eventually) start. To me this book seems like more of a psychological study of different productivity styles. I believe the take-away would be - don't feel bad because you're a procrastinator; use the anxiety you feel from not having a task completed to your advantage. I feel like I already do that. I wanted more of a guide to show me how not to procrastinate and if you're looking for the same thing I would recommend YouTube videos on that kind of thing. I found one by this guy whose website is Actualized.org and I found his tips very helpful - here are some in a nutshell if you don't want to spend the time: Adopt a "could v. should" mentality - that is, instead of thinking of what you should or must be doing, realize that you always have a choice; Feel the resistance to doing the task and realize that it's never as bad as you think it will be; Ask yourself if you can get excited about the task instead of just being anxious - that is, turn it into a positive emotion; Visualize doing the activity; Observe yourself when you start to feel anxious and just be in that feeling without judgment; and - this is one I hear all the time but it does help - Baby step it. Don't think of the whole thing as one but break it up into chunks - as little as possible to make it palatable for you. I saw a tip from someone else that said pretend you're delegating the task to someone else at each stage of the project - spell out what you would expect from that person and do not expect more from yourself. I put these into practice and I have to say that, at least last night and this morning, it worked. Good luck!

There is often a fine line between extended reflection and procrastination. In any workforce, some people demonstrate paralysis by analysis; there are others whose haste makes waste of resources. According to Mary Lamia, those who combine breakthrough thinking and high-impact results are deadline-driven.More specifically, successful people are motivated and even driven to achieve by both positive emotions (e.g. "imagining a future reward") and negative emotions (e.g. "distress, fear, anger, disgust, and shame") and Lamia wrote this book in order to help her reader understand how to activate positive emotions and de-activate (if not eliminate) negative emotions.With regard to great managers, they "don't try to change their employees, but instead, they identify their employees' unique abilities, recognize their diverse learning and implementation styles, and help them use those qualities to excel in their own way...Similarly, it is important for managers to recognize that tasks motivate some people who report to them, but that others may be motivated by deadlines. Further, whether an employee completes a task early on or at the deadline is less important than evaluating outcome. Productivity can be increased when managers recognize motivational goals and set goals accordingly."That brief excerpt contains several key points. Perhaps the most important is that managers must use "different strokes for different folks." People tend to do best what they enjoy doing most. One of the most valuable dimensions of workplace alignment is having the right people doing the right work to achieve the given strategic objectives.In Chapter 9, Lamia provides a "Troubleshooting Guide" to assist those who have deadline-driven style or a task-driven style. She also offers specific recommendations when troubleshooting failing motivation. It is human nature to lose momentum. As decades of research by Anders Ericsson and his colleagues at Florida State University clearly indicate, peak performance cannot be sustained indefinitely. It is also true that people can be de-motivated for a variety of reasons that include not feeling appreciated or seeing few (if any) opportunities for personal growth and professional development.Mary Lamia offers a wealth of information, insights, and counsel that can help almost anyone who reads the book to determine their actual motivational style, to engage mentors who employ a motivational style that aligns with theirs, to recognize and respond to issues that could or do compromise the quality of their work, and to realize how their efforts affect others, for better or worse.How to conclude this brief commentary? I defer to Maya Angelou for some excellent advice: "Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better."

The book speaks right away to my heart and mind. I very much appreciate that emotions have been represented as guides through our life and not as stumbling blocks so many want us to make believe. The same applies to the nature of procrastination which frequently ends up categorized as to be avoided and which according to Mary Lamia is just another legitimate approach to managing tasks. Reading the book has helped me understand myself and people around me much better. It will lead to a significant improvement of interactions with those having a different motivational style.