Top Highlights

• akrasia, the mystery of why people choose to do other than what they think is best for them to do.
• In 1930 Robert Benchley wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune titled “How to Get Things Done,” in which he stated that “anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.”
• The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. The ideal sorts of things have two characteristics. First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don’t). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren’t).
• I think perfectionism leads to procrastination. I
• We think, quite mistakenly, that being a perfectionist implies, often or sometimes, or at least once, having completed some task to perfection. But this is a misunderstanding of the basic dynamic of perfectionism.