12 Best Books on Stopping Procrastination (to Read in 2021)

Here’s a question: why do people procrastinate?

Sometimes, procrastination can be a sign that what we’re working on the wrong thing—but it can also just be a product of our laziness.

To help us uncover effective strategies that can help us stop procrastinating, we asked experts to recommend the best books on ending this habit before it becomes a chronic problem.

Let’s have a look:

The book takes people off the hook for their follow through failures. It argues that failing to follow through is not exactly your fault. It’s primarily the result of a design flaw — that’s right, a design flaw — in the normal human mind.

What’s more, by understanding the flaw and learning how to use follow-through strategies to work creatively around it, you can dramatically improve your ability to do whatever you intelligently decide you should do.

This book teaches readers how to maximize their productivity and efficiency in all facets of life, including work, personal lives, business, and family lives.

After reading this book, I found that I naturally lowered my procrastination and began completing work more quickly and efficiently.

I have actually suggested this book to all the employees of our organization, Advancing Science Worldwide, as I believe any business can use this book to improve employees’ productivity. However, this book is not solely meant for businesses. It can be used in all walks of life.

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal

This book focuses on stopping procrastination and how to increase productivity from a scientific lens. It discusses the latest academic research on this topic.

The types of research it discusses include psychology, neuroscience, and economics. The research described is some of the latest, most cutting-edge information and I believe it can be highly useful to reduce procrastination.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

While this book is not specifically about procrastination perse, this book provides a lot of insight into why we do the things that we do.  

Whether it’s compulsive gambling, procrastination, or even why we brush our teeth in the morning, this book has valuable insight into how you can intentionally change the way that you view and approach your day/life.  A very powerful book with a lot of good info.

The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy by Chris Bailey

For those who may want more scientific diving into one man’s year-long journey specifically into the depths of what drives procrastination.

Chris has taken substantial time and effort out of his life to studying the impacts and possible antidotes to procrastination and some of his techniques might prove valuable to those who fail at ‘traditional’ forms of thwarting procrastination.

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Timothy A. Pychyl is the only book you’ll need to stop procrastination. Written by a researcher who’s in the field for 25 years the book is intentionally kept short so that the readers would actually finish it.

The techniques mentioned in the book are not just hacks that so many other writers prescribe but are backed by research and no-nonsense.

I was a long-term procrastinator and the book changed my life and spurred me to create Procrushtinate, daily monitoring, and consultation program that I run to help people crush procrastination for real. 

This is one of those books that come up in a lot of conversations when talking about great books to read – at least in my opinion and for good reasons.

This book is an award-winning bestseller about the science behind why habits exist and how we can change them.

It argues that the key to build discipline and break procrastination is to understand how habits work.

It teaches how our brain forms habits for the purpose of simplifying our repetitive behaviors and saving brainpower.

As an entrepreneur, my goal is to continually break free from procrastination and create new habits that contribute to my overall happiness and help keep my business growing. No other book on how to end procrastination is as actionable as this one.

Timothy gives a lot of examples and provides a lot of first-hand research to back up everything he says. In my opinion, this is the only book you need to read on procrastination. If you plan on reading several, read this one first.

This book deals with the roots of the problems and why we procrastinate. It explains that procrastination is usually a symptom of past experiences, irrational fears, or a variety of other reasons.

Brian Tracy explains what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. He also teaches you how to not let tech eat up your time.

Related: Best Productivity and Time Management Books

You have the tools you need to be successful and work to your highest potential right now. Cut yourself some slack and put those negative thoughts where they belong, in the garbage.

That’s why the book also comes with lots of tips and tricks on how to stop your workplace from being so distractive and what you can do to minimize distractions and get more work done.

Related: Why Done Is Better Than Perfect?

It may have been a while since I’ve read the book, but I still use a lot of the principles covered in it every single day at work. If you’re looking to get more tasks done in your workday then I certainly recommend giving it a read.

Jane Burka takes a sensitive yet humorous approach to identify and explain the reasons why we put off tasks. She tackles things like our fears of failure, success, control, separation, and attachment and their roots in our childhood and adult experiences.

This book also provides tips on how to deal with other procrastinators.

The End of Procrastination: How to Stop Postponing and Live a Fulfilled Life by Petr Ludwig, Adela Schicker

If you’re having trouble with procrastination, this book by Petr Ludwig and Adela Schicker is here to help.

The authors recognize the constant struggle that many people experience in trying to be more active in their lives, and they discuss how taking control of your life will help you live a fuller one.

They list 8 simple tools that can help you stop procrastinating, with both practical and more theoretical points. They also cite studies in their writing, so you can gain more insight into how to help your brain overcome its tendency to procrastinate.