Guest overview
Anyone that’s ever embarked on a creative task or endeavor, will probably have experienced procrastination. It’s a feeling and behavior that is loaded with guilt and negative emotions. However, I’ve always had a gut feeling that procrastination or delay can result in better creative outcomes or even something serendipitous. That’s why I was looking forward to meeting this week’s guest – the Chicago born, Brooklyn based, award-winning Author, journalist and sometime procrastinator, Andrew Santella.
Andrew’s most recent book Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination, from Leonardo to Darwin to You and Me, is a well-researched, intellectual and witty exploration of the subject of Procrastination. Note from Andrew- this is not self-help or how to cure procrastination book!
As a writer for such publications as GQ, Slate, and the Atlantic, Andrew explores everything from the definition and practices of procrastination to the habits and outcomes of famous historic procrastinators such as Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Darwin. It’s a must-read for any self-confessed procrastinator.
Without delay, I hope you enjoy this episode with Andrew Santella.
What we discuss
In this episode we discuss:
- The impact of Andrews upbringing on his procrastination
- The feeling of not doing enough and the shame associated with it
- The guilt creator of the Crucifix and the Clock
- The radical course of selecting to study English at university
- Procrastination as an affliction or a tactic
- Darwin’s conflict, ambivalence, and discipline
- DaVinci’s curiosity, distraction, and procrastination
- His focus on understanding how procrastination makes us feel, and why
- Procrastination and serendipity
- The balance of cranking out work vs delaying due to gut feel
- The concept of self-handicapping to protect your self-image
- We even touch on free will
- Whether we need to embrace and discuss procrastination in education
- The pejorative associations with procrastination
- What he’d do with the keys to White House
- His principles
- His hard choices
- His inspirations
- The book he recommends
- His impossible advice
- Saint Expedite
- The guilt of getting right with God
- Aristotle’s Akrasia theory
Connecting on Social
Links in show
Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination
Steven Johnson – Make decisions that matter
Ryder Carroll – Bullet Journal
