No collection of procrastination-related content would be complete without a link to John Perry's classic article, 'Structured Procrastination.' The main idea:
Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely, and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.
It's no coincidence I am only just getting around to writing up this page right as the semester approaches and I have syllabi to finalize, a few lingering drafts from the summer to finish up, and a grant application looming. As my dad always said: if you want something done, ask a busy person!
This Atlantic article has a lot to like, and I think the link between procrastination and fear of doing badly is spot-on. I'm including it because it's always helpful, for me at least, to be reminded that procrastination is something that even (especially?) successful writers struggle with. It does take a weird turn into the whole 'millenials, why are they so neeeeeedyyyy' trope at the end, but I think the stuff about fear of failure, self-handicapping, and perfectionism is helpful (and echoed by some of the materials linked to below).
This set of resources from the Western Australia Department of Health is CBT-based, and it's great-- I highly recommend doing the modules. I mean, what else do you have to do right now? (Seriously though-- the stuff on discomfort is very helpful if, like me, you tend to be prone to anxiety-driven procrastination.)
Jonathan Bennett and Samuel Gorovitz' excellent guide to improving academic writing. Every time I read this, I catch something I need to work on and head straight over to whatever draft I'm working on and revise (I just revised this sentence!). Cannot recommend highly enough.
Adrian Piper's '10 Commandments of Philosophical Writing.' Take note, especially, of numbers 5, 6, and 10.
Jim Pryor's guide to writing philosophy papers has become something of a classic.
My own advice to students.
Something I should add? Email me! aplakias [at] hamilton