I'm not usually one to read a bunch of self help sort of books, though I occasionally will run through one on a recommendation, such as the odd finance book about getting debt under control. But, despite other problems that I have in life the single biggest, hands down, is procrastination.

People who don't procrastinate will look at a procrastinator and see only that that person is either not working hard enough or putting off work. They don't procrastinate and as such don't understand the motivations and reasons behind why someone would. So they demand "get to work" and "just do it" and "work harder" which more often than not will just cause more procrastination.

This book is the first I've ever come across that actually understands procrastination. Reading through its pages I found myself nodding my head a lot because it described my internal struggle with work almost perfectly. And more importantly, the methods and exercises it provides for battling procrastination seem perfectly valid and easily doable. I've already started changing my habits by simply recognizing when I'm headed toward procrastination and being able to head it off before it happens.

And most importantly, this book isn't just about working harder. It's about working better and integrating play into your schedule because it recognizes the single most important element to procrastination - the reason we get bummed out and piddle around is the prospect that work is going to take away time from play. So by putting play on your schedule first and building work around play, you flip the whole thing on its head.

The only hesitation I had in giving this 5 stars is that the last couple of chapters delve into the sort of hippy zen breathing chanting mantra type stuff that I tend to loath in self help books. But up until that point it was an excellent book, and really you can ignore that part and still get a lot out of it. ( )

This is a heavy book, as in there is a lot of take in and comprehend, but it's well written. I started reading this book few years ago but put it down. Came back to it as an audiobook this year. I think it's better suited for audio listening, but only if you can focus on this alone. This is not a multitasking audio book. Great words of wisdom and advice. I've gained a lot from looking at my "un-schedule" even if I may not follow it every day. Also working on changing my mindset about things so that I am not dreading each task in life and procrastinating on everything. ( )

I almost didn't make it part the first half. There was a lot of repetition and it didn't seem to provide anything new to me. However, the last half of this book provided some helpful tools. I wish the section on managing people who procrastinate was longer and more in depth. As a parent, I think it was probably one of the most helpful sections. ( )

It started out with some promise but then devovled into yet another positive talk self-help book with no substance and little help. The Unschedule will not become part of my life. At least it was a quick read, though that was perhaps due to the major skimming towards the end.

This is a book I wish I'd read at eighteen; it probably could have saved me more than a few years of painfully figuring out the right habits to deal with anxiety-driven procrastination. Having taken the long road to the same conclusions, however, I didn't find myself picking up many new ideas here.

I did take away a good reminder about the importance of making time for real play and relaxation without guilt (something I'm super bad at), though I didn't find the ideas of scheduling play very appealing.

As with most psych/self-help books, it could probably be a third of its length and not lose much.