Summary of The End of Procrastination by Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand: a dynamic little square book, full of useful diagrams, and above all containing a proven method to “stop”, as the subtitle says, “postponing and to live a fulfilled life” – Ready? Let’s get started!
By Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand, 2019 (2nd edition), 278 pages.
Review and Summary of The End of Procrastination by Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand
About Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand
Petr Ludwig is the author of The End of Procrastination. He has also developed a website: procrastination.com, where – in addition to his book – he offers courses and blog articles.
Mathias Durand himself followed the advice given by Petr Ludwig in his book, before joining the procrastination.com team. He is now a speaker and responsible for developing the French-speaking market.
Introduction — What is procrastination and why fight it?
Here’s Petr Ludwig’s definition of procrastination (from the Latin pro-crastinus, ”belonging to tomorrow”):
[Pathological tendency to put off tasks and obligations .] (The End of Procrastination)
He distinguishes it from laziness. The difference?
- The lazy person doesn’t want to do anything, doesn’t want to accomplish any activity or task, and is happy to do so.
- The procrastinator, on the other hand, would like to do something – and sometimes has to – but can’t get around to it, and therefore feels frustrated and guilty.
Moreover, procrastination isn’t about resting. Why is that?
- Because rest brings new energy.
- Procrastination, on the other hand, takes it away.
Waiting until the last moment or doing everything at once at the last minute is not the solution. It’s much better to learn to do things gradually and in order.
A brief history of procrastination
“Putting things off until tomorrow” (postponing) has always been a problem. As the author aptly quotes from Hesiod:
“Do not put your work off till tomorrow
and the day after;
for a sluggish worker
does not fill his barn,
nor one who puts off his work:
industry makes work go well,
but a man who puts off work
is always at hand-grips with ruin.” (Works and Days, quoted in The End of Procrastination)
Note: a similar idea can be found in the Meditations: Thoughts to Myself by the Roman philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius, as well as in Seneca, another Roman philosopher belonging to the philosophical movement known as Stoicism. Seneca asserted: “While we wait for life, life passes.”
Today, the age of decision paralysis
With increased life expectancy, relative peace, leisure, the Internet, and new means of communication, the modern world offers many possibilities not available to our predecessors.
This “potential” is growing like “scissors,” says Petr Ludwig. What does he mean? Imagine a pair of scissors opening up: its span is greater and greater.
On the face of it, this is good news, since it seems to be linked to increased individual freedom. And yet, this leads to decision-making paralysis. Too much choice kills choice, one might say…
It also leads to an increase in procrastination. In the impossibility of (self) choice, the contemporary individual no longer knows what to do, and is frustrated because he feels unable to exploit his potential.
How to obtain information efficiently?
A great deal of scientific research exists and can be harnessed to propose simple, straightforward solutions. Perhaps too many.
Once again, a similar problem arises: too much information kills information. So, what to do? What to choose from among studies that sometimes lead to opposing results or recommendations?
We’re almost back to paralysis … However, this book sets out to “cross the chasm” between knowledge and practice, by synthesizing the best studies (with bibliographies) on the subject.
The personal development system
The book is divided into 4 parts:
- Motivation.
- Discipline .
- Outcomes .
- Objectivity.
These are the main points, both independent and interconnected, that the author has drawn from his readings. Based on this “personal development system,” he intends to help us overcome our anxiety to take action and our frustration. Let’s take a look at this system.
Motivation
Caught between birth and death, we “have” a limited time on Earth. Every second lost is irretrievably lost, with no possibility of recourse. This awareness can be distressing, but it also helps us to search for our purpose in life, or what the author calls “our personal vision,” the source of our motivation.
Extrinsic motivation: the carrot and the stick
There are several types of motivation. The first can be called “extrinsic,” meaning that its source is not within the individual, but outside. You’re no doubt familiar with the metaphor of the donkey that’s led along either with a carrot or a stick. It’s the same thing.
Extrinsic motivation can be created and maintained either:
- By one (or more) reward(s).
- By one (or more) punishment(s).
This way of influencing behavior is not without its problems.
- Firstly, says Petr Ludwig, pleasure isn’t part of the equation because dopamine (satisfaction hormone) discharges are too low when motivation doesn’t come from within.
- Secondly, once the incentive or disincentive disappears, the motivation itself vanishes, and the (low) satisfaction it provided with it.
Intrinsic motivation through objectives
Here’s another way of looking at motivation. It works by setting goals and dreams. Sounds better, doesn’t it? However, it’s also problematic. Why is that? Because it doesn’t work in the long run and can lead to frustration and dependency.
Let’s take a closer look at the pathway of intrinsic goal motivation as described by the author:
- [The prefrontal cortex creates a representation of future satisfaction in terms of goals.
- On the way to the goal, the individual is not satisfied until he or she has reached it.
- After reaching the goal, a single dose of positive emotion Joy is released, due to hedonic adaptation, man quickly becomes accustomed to the goal and the positive emotion eventually disappears. ](The End of Procrastination)
Let’s clarify a few terms. Hedonic adaptation refers to the “propensity” to consider the goal achieved as “normal” and therefore no longer a source of pleasure. “Joy” is the short-lived positive emotion experienced when a goal is achieved.
It’s easy to see why such motivation can become addictive: in search of joy, you’ll chase after new (and bigger) goals throughout your life, yet get frustrated between each stage of achievement. In other words, you’ll become a “goal junkie.”
Intrinsic motivation through the journey
This third type of motivation is the one Petr Ludwig wants to promote. Intrinsic journey-based motivation is rooted in “personal vision” and, as such, provides more lasting satisfaction. Let’s explain.
“What do you want to dedicate your life to?” That’s the question you need to ask yourself to establish your personal vision. Action itself, more than goals, is the driving force. Or to put it another way: the journey/path is more important than the goal. Of course, you don’t move forward in a vacuum.
You establish “milestones” that tell you that you’re still on the right path and moving in the right direction. However, these milestones serve as “means”; they are not ends in themselves.
The result? You’re happier in the present. This is what the author, like many others, calls “happiness now.” By being established on your personal vision, you feel in your place, happy to be in the present, here and now.
A “feedback loop” can set in: the action you take to achieve your personal vision satisfies you and releases dopamine. This helps you to act better, and to be more creative and receptive to learning. As such, you can reach new heights.
In this state, flow replaces joy. When you’re doing what you feel “made for,” you’re absorbed in the task to the point of losing track of time and space. You enjoy a “long-lasting” release of dopamine.
Cooperation as the basis for more efficient growth
Petr Ludwig suggests thinking about another positive emotion he calls “meaning.” To understand what it’s linked to, we need to divide selfish actions from non-egotistical ones.
- Joy and flow are emotions linked to actions we perform for our own survival or development: he calls the activities that provide these emotions ego-activity 1.0.
- Meaning, on the other hand, is an emotion linked to an action performed for others, a type of action he calls ego-activity 2.0.
According to several scientific studies, we have an advantage (in biological terms) in cooperating and acting in a non-egotistical way.
To sum up, the more we bond with like-minded partners – in other words, the more we create a collective vision – the more motivated we are to act personally – i.e., to fulfill our personal vision.
This last form of motivation is undoubtedly the most powerful; it’s what helps some men and women change the world.
TOOL: personal vision
Let’s start with a personal vision. This form of motivation is indispensable. To build it, the author suggests several tools.
- Personal SWOT analysis (on this point, you can also consult the personal branding tools).
- A list of personal successes.
- Analysis of motivating activities.
- The “beta-version” of the personal vision.
Petr Ludwig suggests that you take an afternoon to work through these exercises in peace and quiet. Each tool is presented in detail in the book.
Please note:
[The “final” version of the personal vision depends on the level of autonomy of the person building it. But there are common elements that increase the effectiveness of the process: materialization, emotional effect, orientation towards actions and not goals, integration of 2.0-type ego-activities, balance and interconnection of all elements, and finally the use of anchors that will tie us to our vision.] (The End of Procrastination)
On the notion of anchors, you can consult this chapter of the book, or refer to the review of NLP for Dummies, for example.
Take action!
For the author, two notions are important in understanding discipline: productivity and effectiveness. To simplify, he uses the metaphor of a road.
Think of your personal vision as a road to travel.
- Discipline is the set of concrete things that “accomplish” the personal vision.
- Productivity refers to the number of hours you decide to dedicate to “walking.”
- Effectiveness is about making sure you’re “walking the walk,” i.e., that you’re really moving forward, by putting the right means to work.
Now, let’s go a step further. There are other criteria to take into account, which will be detailed in this chapter:
- Self-regulation .
- Mastery of decision paralysis (which we’ve already discussed).
- Heroism.
When the brain wants but our emotions refuse
Obeying ourselves when we command ourselves to do something: that’s one of the cruxes of the problem. This ability has a name: self-regulation.
Why is this so difficult?
Because the brain is an organ in which instincts (reptilian brain), emotions (limbic system) and rationality (neocortex) come into play. In other words, self-regulation is the ability to curb our instincts and, above all, to control (but not stifle) our emotions.
How can we control the negative emotions that prevent us from taking action (and therefore procrastinate/postpone)? Before answering fully, let’s use a metaphor.
The emotional elephant and the rational rider
Imagine yourself as a dual being: you are both an elephant and its rider – emotions and reason. The more tenacious your rider is, the better he’ll be able to lead the elephant. But the elephant has to accept the impulse! So the question becomes: how do we learn to lead our elephant?
Cognitive resources: the key to self-regulation
In this model, reason is first and foremost a set of “cognitive resources” or, to use a metaphor, “the energy available to the rider.” With each action, we lose a little of these resources; they are not inexhaustible.
When cognitive resources are exhausted, the elephant does what it wants ! The solution: rapidly increase and renew your cognitive resources. Let’s see how.
Renewing cognitive resources
There’s no miracle here: to renew your resources, you have to go through your body and keep it in shape. A healthy diet – fruit for the essential sugar intake, for example – and regular physical activity – even just a little walking – are the keys to renewing cognitive resources.
And remember to switch off your phone from time to time to avoid unwanted calls. And of course, sleep: at night, but also, why not, by taking short naps during the day.
Increasing your cognitive resources
To increase your cognitive resources, learn to train “the muscle of willpower,” as Petr Ludwig puts it. Like all training, this must be done progressively and repeatedly. How? By creating habits.
Building habits, or how to train your elephant
Certain activities create an emotional aversion within us. We get stuck, unable to act. At least at first. And yet, if we get used to them, we begin to accept them, and sometimes even enjoy them.
Emotional aversion is like an obstacle to action. So we have to find a way of lowering the obstacle as much as possible so that our elephant can get past it. Step two: repeat the action twenty or even thirty times.
However, that’s not enough. If you really want to build up your willpower, you’ll have to gradually increase the obstacle (and therefore the difficulty). Let’s take an example used by Petr Ludwig: running.
[If you want to get used to running, you have to lower the initial obstacle to a minimum. All you have to do is change clothes, get out of the house, and run a few hundred meters. Once this situation has been mastered more than 20 times – when the elephant is used to the obstacle – the distance can be increased. Through gradual lengthening, we eventually become capable of running any distance. And because we’re reaching flow, we’ll even enjoy running!]
(The End of Procrastination)
How to avoid losing habits and preserve them for the long term
It can happen that you lose a good habit, for example as a result of:
- Marriage.
- Illness.
- Oversight.
- Vacation.
- Etc.
To regain it, don’t demand the same performance from yourself as you did in the past. Start again at the minimum level, and slowly, step by step, work your way back up to where you were.
How to overcome bad habits and keep them at bay
Bad habits can also be overcome in a similar way, but in reverse : by gradually reducing the harmful behavior, or even by intentionally creating an obstacle (an aversion).
For example, if you want to stop smoking, you can gradually cut down and force yourself to pay €200 to someone as soon as you give up.
TOOL: habit List
This tool was created by the author and his colleagues to help you build up your willpower. In just 3 minutes a day, you’ll be able to achieve profound transformations. What does it consist of?
It’s a monthly chart to be filled in every day.
- One row = one day of the month.
- A column = a positive habit to build or a bad habit to break.
You name each column with a summary of the action to be taken, then create a “Limit” box to indicate the number limit you want to reach.
First example: you want to get up earlier. “Get up” is the habit you want to adopt; “7:30” is the limit, i.e. the maximum time you want to get up.
Second example: you want to go running. “Running” is the habit, while “+100 meters” provides you with a minimum limit (running at least 100 meters).
Use a final column to indicate your “potential for the day” by rating it out of 10. For example, if you got up at 7 a.m. sharp with no problems, you can proudly award yourself a 9 or 10/10.
However, Petr Ludwig warns:
[Filling in the habit list is in itself a meta-habit: doing so enables us to get into the habit of learning new habits. The habit list is the backbone of our personal development, the basis for building new behaviors.]
(The End of Procrastination)
Integrate this habit into your list: filling in the habit list then becomes your first column.
To create a useful visual, place green or red stickers (or draw them) for each “milestone” reached. If there’s an objective reason why you haven’t achieved the habit, then you can use a blue eraser.
See the book for more tips on how to build your first habit list!
Decision paralysis
We talked about this phenomenon earlier. It refers to the difficulty of choosing (and therefore acting) when faced with a large number of possible options. Decision paralysis is also linked to regret. We regret not having done this or that (such studies, such a choice in love, such an investment in a passion, etc.) and we feel frustrated.
In fact, it’s a good idea to “voluntarily close the scissors of potential.” It’s better to quickly select a few options that you can fully commit to. To do this, you’ll need to identify the tasks that best match your personal vision.
TOOL: to-do-today
This task management tool should help you do just that. According to Petr Ludwig, it will rapidly improve your productivity and efficiency. Unlike David Allen’s GTD (Getting things done) or Leo Babauta’s ZTD (Zen to done) methods, this one is unique in that it doesn’t use lists.
Instead, it uses mentalization and mind maps, which enable clearer, more efficient processing of information. Here are the main steps to building your first to-do-today:
- On a blank sheet of paper, write down the tasks to be accomplished.
- Be sure to name them clearly.
- If a task is too “big,” divide it up (it should fit into a 30-60 minute time slot).
- Conversely, group together tasks that are too “small.”
- Use colors to mark priorities (circle urgent and important tasks in red, for example).
- You can then mark out the day’s “path” with arrows.
- And even note the time it will take to complete the task (from 8 to 9 a.m., for example) next to the colored “bubbles.”
- When the time comes, concentrate on completing the task.
- Once completed, cross it out with black lines.
Take a short break between two actions. Make your to-do-today a daily habit, by preparing it in the evening for the next day, for example.
Refer to the book to discover the advantages and risks associated with this tool, learn how to implement it precisely and, above all, learn how to apply it in several formats: “to-do” format and “ ideas” format!
The mass comfort zone, where evil is born
We can all be heroes. And yet, we are often caught up in the group effect. We start to act in a gregarious way, without daring to stand out from the crowd to show our difference.
In the process, we sometimes get caught up in doing the wrong thing. Not because we’re naturally bad, but because we lack the courage to stand up against it. At first glance, heroism consists in taking that step aside from the group, when it leads us down a path we don’t wish to follow.
More broadly speaking, heroism can be seen as stepping out of one’s “comfort zone,” be it physical (a warm bed) or social (prejudice, for example). Again, this takes practice.
TOOL: heroism
How?
- By getting used to acting for yourself, without anyone watching, simply for the pleasure of improvement.
- Think of the “3-second samurai” technique: do the action (get out of bed, venture an original thought) in a very short space of time.
- And do the hardest task first thing in the day.
Outcomes
“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
(Japanese proverb quoted in The End of Procrastination)
Vision and action must come together to produce outcomes. Yes, but what kind of outcomes? The author mentions two:
- Emotional outcomes = linked to satisfaction, generated by dopamine.
- Material outcomes = the tangible consequences of your efforts.
It’s true that sometimes we veer off course and go back to procrastinating without even having achieved the results. The cause of these detours? It can come from the people around you and the “contagion of negative emotions.”
Let’s find out how to remedy this problem.
Where do negative emotions come from?
Here’s a quick summary of the author’s reasoning. For biological reasons (linked to the amygdala), negative emotions are more “contagious” than positive ones.
We can therefore be affected by the latter more easily. In so doing, we create a “feedback loop” that reduces the sum total of positive emotions in a group (everyone complaining and receiving each other’s complaints, etc.).
Now imagine a hamster locked in a box (this story is based on a real-life scientific experiment).
- On the first day, the hamster will try to escape by banging against the lid.
- On the second day, he will try, but less.
- Finally, after a few days in this situation, he’ll be convinced he can’t get out and won’t try anything else.
- Even if you remove the lid, he’ll just stand there without protest.
How sad! And yet, it happens to us too: we call it learned helplessness. We think we’re incapable of doing certain things. So we give up too quickly. Depression is linked to this feeling of powerlessness.
How do you get rid of a hamster? Like a veteran!
If you, too, have “caught the hamster,” that odd affliction, you should know that you can do something about it. Some veterans have succeeded in doing this with their negative thoughts turned towards the traumatic experiences they’ve been through.
To do this, you need to distinguish between:
- The positive past.
- The negative past.
- But also the present.
- and the future.
Psychologists have helped veterans out of their state by directing their thoughts from the negative past (which dominated) to the future, encouraging them to reflect on the meaning of their lives and their personal vision. They could bear witness to what they had seen, to help future generations, for example.
The negative past can then be transformed into a positive one, i.e., one that benefits oneself and others. This is how the feedback loop can be reversed (from negative to positive), leading to flow.
You go from:
- “I’m doing nothing” to “I’m doing things that make sense.”
- “I feel guilty” to “I feel good.”
- “My doubts paralyze me” to “ My skills and abilities are expanding.”
- “I feel powerless” to “I’m confident.”
TOOL: inner switch
There’s a “switch,” i.e. a space of freedom, between the stimulus (what comes to us from outside) and the (emotional) response we give to it. This “inner switch” enables you to maintain your emotional balance. This idea is also one of the postulates of cognitive psychology.
It is possible to train this “inner switch” to overcome setbacks and other adversities in a calmer way. How can we do this? By making the most of every obstacle. Learn to turn all your little worries into opportunities.
Instead of feeling like a trapped hamster, think of yourself as a learner. That’s positive because you’ve tried to do something! Ideally, you should identify your “hamsters” early on and get rid of them as soon as possible.
Transforming negative perceptions of our past into positive ones
Some hamsters can be dealt with (evacuated), while others are here to stay. You can learn to live with them, but you can’t say goodbye to them for good. They’ve been around too long. The best you can do is understand and accept them (i.e., accept this part of yourself).
To change your negative perceptions, you need to know what kind of hamster you’re dealing with. If it’s an emotion too deeply rooted in you, act in such a way as to generate acceptance. If it’s an emotion linked to a more recent problem or one you can do something about, then start transforming it into a positive emotion.
To help you do this, do your own “hamster analysis” (and give it a name) by looking at:
- How you benefited.
- How it moved you forward.
TOOL: flow list
The concept is straightforward:
- Every day – in a special notebook, for example – write down 3 positive things you experienced during the day.
- Then rate each one on a scale from 1 to 10.
Choose a time in the evening. Write down each positive moment in one or two short, memorable sentences. This tool helps to transform (to “positivize”) our representation of the past and present.
TOOL: “hamster” restart
To restart a hamster – in other words, to resolve an internal blockage – remember all the suggestions made in this chapter.
As a reminder:
- Become aware of the problem and name the “hamster.”
- Take time out to recharge your cognitive batteries.
- Remember how a hamster works.
- Remember that change is up to you.
- Activate your ‘inner switch.’
- Moving towards the future by reconnecting to your personal vision.
- Positivize your past by remembering your successes and learnings (thanks to your flow list, if you already have one).
- Decide to let go of the hamster by committing to improvement.
- Create a to-do-today to prepare for action.
- Act heroically by starting a first task.
Personal growth and personal decline
As you can see, there are two types of feedback loops:
- The positive flow loop (which leads from “I’m doing things that make sense” to “I’m confident in myself ”).
- The negative hamster loop (leading from “I’m doing nothing” to “I feel powerless”).
This negative hamster loop is the breeding ground for procrastination. Lasting change in this area therefore comes about when you manage to jump definitively from one loop to the other.
[Many people fluctuate between these two loops without really being in one or the other until one day they cross a tipping point, and the loop is activated.]
(The End of Procrastination)
Objectivity
It’s important to maintain an external, or at least reflective, view of yourself. Without it, we run the risk of sinking into stupidity: we become self-confident about things we should reasonably doubt.
In other words, it’s important to recognize the mental models from which we interpret the world. What is a mental model? It’s a set of ideas that help us order the data we receive from the outside world.
The evaluation of a mental model – in order to decide whether it corresponds more or less to the reality of the external world – can be called “ objectivity.” Let’s take two examples proposed by Petr Ludwig:
[Imagining that you can save Africa from famine by banging your head against the ground reflects a very low level of objectivity. On the other hand, a mental model that tells you that shooting yourself in the leg is going to hurt like hell reflects a very high level of objectivity!]
(The End of Procrastination)
The Dunning-Kruger effect and the blindness of the incompetent
The Dunning-Kruger effect (named after the researchers who experimentally studied this phenomenon) refers to the relationship between self-confidence and ignorance. In fact, the conclusions of their research are as follows:
- Competent people are less self-confident and more likely to doubt their competence.
- Those who are incompetent are more often self-confident and unable to question their alleged competence.
In short, this study asserts that competent people often underestimate themselves, while incompetent people are more likely to overestimate themselves.
Sometimes, the brain protects us from questioning our mental structures. Or to put it another way: in certain situations, we prefer to maintain our “mental models” at all costs, rather than be objective.
Why fight non-objectivity?
There are, however, good reasons for seeking objectivity and, therefore, fighting against the “soft ignorance” effect highlighted by the Dunning-Kruger effect. What are they?
- Better decisions: the more objectively you act (in line with reality), the more likely you are to decide and act correctly. A reasonable dose of doubt and self-questioning never hurts.
- Developing yourself as an individual: the more you recognize your shortcomings, the more you’ll be able to change them quickly or accept them in order to behave better.
- Acting kindly and fairly towards others: the more you know yourself and are in tune with the world, the more you avoid fanaticism. You’re more capable of empathy because you recognize different mental models and can change them.
How can we improve our objectivity?
There are ways to combat a lack of objectivity. As we shall see, curiosity is not a bad thing!
- Continuing education and training: training in a variety of fields opens the mind and enables us to better detect our areas of incompetence.
- Information selection: learn to select quality information and rely on it when reasoning.
- Openness and modesty: recognize your own grey areas and the existence of experts in other fields.
- Reason and intuition: get into the habit of questioning your intuition (i.e., using it, but also questioning it) so as not to get caught up in the obvious.
- Feedback : listen to what other people have to say about your projects or behavior.
- Critical thinking: having the courage of truth by stepping out of your comfort zone.
- Contradiction: practicing contradiction by challenging your own ideas as strongly as you are able to support them.
- Ockham’s razor: look for the simplest, most likely explanation.
- Beware of mass opinion: detach yourself from crowd movements and group influence, which can lead to collective non-objectivity.
- Anti-dogmatism: accept that we can and probably will make mistakes, and remain in a truth-seeking rather than a dogmatic attitude of truth-possession.
Lastly, Petr Ludwig asks the reader this question:
[On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your efforts to try to increase the objectivity of your mental models?]
(The End of Procrastination)
Conclusion: The Key to Longevity
Petr Ludwig encounters some of his clients who are quite happy after following the advice in his book or his coaching sessions. Yet there are others who “relapse.”
In fact, it’s quite common. He himself admits to forgetting a lot of what he reads. In the end, you read a personal development book, then forget its contents and it remains forever “dead letter” on your bookshelf.
What can you do?
TOOL: meeting with yourself
The author offers you a self-coaching method for applying the principles and innovative tools proposed throughout The End of Procrastination.
When you make an appointment with yourself, you become your own coach. A few simple ideas will help you better understand what it’s all about and how to apply it to your daily life.
- Once a week, make an appointment with yourself.
- This could be on a Sunday afternoon, for example, in a quiet place with no distractions.
- Use the list of questions to ask yourself and jot down the answers and important ideas in a notebook (you should be able to find them again at the next appointment).
Of course, there is always the risk of postponing the appointment. Try to plan several weeks in advance (at least two). You may also find yourself at a loss when faced with a sheet of paper.
But don’t worry! Go to the French website laprocrastination.fr where you’ll find a list of questions to ask yourself, as well as other documents to help you get started!
The end of procrastination and your fresh start
Reviewing the concepts and tools in this book is important. Find a place for it in your home, and remember to leaf through it from time to time. “ Repetition,” as the saying goes, “is the mother of learning.”
Conclusion to The End of Procrastination by Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand:
“How to stop postponing and live a fulfilled life”
Procrastination is one of the evils of the century. Why do we do nothing when we know what needs to be done? Why do we put off our everyday tasks until tomorrow?
The problem may seem trivial. However, when it becomes recurrent, it can lead to very unfortunate consequences. Procrastination can go so far as to cause us to lose the confidence of our employers or loved ones and leave us with a lasting fear of the world and of others.
It’s time to take action! Fortunately, this book offers an innovative method, based on personal development principles, to end the “negative hamster loop.”
In fact, it could be seen as much more than simply fighting procrastination. The author explains how to put an end to negative thoughts and also seeks to increase one’s objectivity. In so doing, he touches on a wide range of subjects, with the overall aim of improving the individual.
All of these topics are linked to procrastination, a problem we’re all familiar with and which can have unfortunate consequences. Procrastination is often the result of blockages and preconceived ideas. Becoming more positive and objective is part of the battle to which the author is committed.
Here’s a quick reminder of the main tools developed in the book:
- Personal vision.
- Habit list.
- To-do-today.
- Heroism.
- Flow list.
- Inner switch.
- The hamster restart button.
- Meeting with yourself.
To put them into practice, you can also take advantage of these 5 complementary methods:
- Personal SWOT analysis.
- A list of personal successes.
- Analysis of motivating activities.
- Beta version of the personal vision.
- Hamster analysis.
→ Also be sure to check out The Hamster Leaves the Wheel by Christopher Klein and Jens Helbig!
What to take away from The End of Procrastination by Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand:
Here’s an important message that appears at the end of the book:
[Fighting procrastination is an act of daily heroism.]
(The End of Procrastination)
In other words, you can feel proud of the fact that you’re making progress every day towards fulfilling your wishes. It’s in the journey itself that you can find strength and satisfaction.
Of course, you shouldn’t neglect the outcome, but it’s the action itself – the very pleasure of setting out to change – that will provide you with the resources to enter the virtuous circle of flow for good.
Is there anything else you’d like to take away from Petr Ludwig’s book? If so, the author suggests you send him a message to his personal e-mail address!
As for him, here’s what he suggests we remember, quoting the American philosopher and psychologist William James:
“The most important thing is to live for something more than for life alone.”
(Quoted in The End of Procrastination)
→ Sound like you need even more advice on how to end procrastination? In that case, leave the hamster aside and eat a frog! Seriously, go read the summary of Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating, but check it out in order to take action, not to keep procrastinating!
Strong points:
- Clear, instructive presentation of the causes of procrastination and ways to combat it.
- Diagrams to support the demonstration, based on a method known as know-how design.
- A method based on the best scientific studies in the field of personal development.
- A clear, documented proposal (via the French-language website) for daily self-coaching.
Weak point:
- Petr Ludwig’s very personal reformulation of certain classic personal development ideas can sometimes be confusing when we’re already familiar with them. That said, we can’t deny the educational effort and interest of his original proposal. Highly recommended!
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The Handy Guide to The End of Procrastination
The four main parts of The End of Procrastination:
- Motivation
- Discipline
- Outcomes
- Objectivity
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning the book The End of Procrastination
1. How has the book been received by the public?
Published for the second time on October 26, 2022 by Dunod, The End of Procrastination has been a great success with the general public, selling over five hundred thousand copies worldwide and becoming an international bestseller translated into over six international languages.
2. What is the book’s impact of the book?
This book has left an enormous impact on many people around the world, enabling them to take action and effectively combat procrastination.
3. Who is the target audience of The End of Procrastination?
This book is intended for everyone in general, and in particular, for entrepreneurs, workers and professionals in all fields.
4. What do Petr Ludwig and Mathias Durand mean by fighting procrastination?
For the authors, fighting procrastination is an act of daily heroism. In other words, feeling proud of the fact that you’re making progress every day towards fulfilling your wishes.
5. What are the authors’ two key concepts for understanding discipline?
The two most important concepts for understanding discipline are productivity and effectiveness.
Main development tools versus complementary development methods
| Main development tools | Complementary development methods |
| Personal vision | Personal SWOT analysis |
| Habit list | Personal success list |
| To-do-today | Analysis of motivating activities |
| Heroism | Beta version of the personal vision |
| Flow list | Hamster analysis |
Who is Petr Ludwig?
Born on April 1 , 1986, Petr Ludwig is a keynote speaker, founder and CEO of Procrastination.com. The best-selling author of numerous books, he has co-written the bestseller The End of Procrastination with Mathias Durand, in which they teach us practical tips for effectively combating procrastination.
Who is Mathias Durand?
After following Petr Ludwig’s advice, Mathias Durand joined the procratination.com team.A renowned author and speaker, he is now in charge of growing the French-speaking market. Together with Petr Ludwig, he co-wrote the bestseller The End of Procrastination, in which they impart practical advice on how to take action and effectively combat procrastination.