Procrastination means putting off a difficult, delayable, important task in favor of something easier, quicker, and less anxiety-provoking. It also means delaying vital actions until the performance and result are less than they would have been if done in a timely manner. Similarly, blocking means that we stumble, delay, and panic in response to a demanding responsibility. Blocking typically occurs when we face public scrutiny (as in writing). In this revisionist and sometimes irreverent book, the author takes academic and professional psychologists to task for neglecting a pair of related problems that are often derided but that can be profoundly debilitating for individuals and economically devastating for schools, businesses, and communities.

This book, by a psychologist with two decades of investment in writers, depicts his programs for instilling patience, pacing, constancy, and resilience in writing. He shows how writers proceed to comfort and fluency by detailing strategies, rules, and turning points for a diversity of writers--professional, professorial, and otherwise. The result is a thorough-going discussion of what helps writers and a review of the broad literature that program participants found most helpful.

Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus is a unique and essential guide to the start of a successful academic career. As its title suggests (nothing in excess), it advocates moderation in ways of working, based on the single-most reliable difference between new faculty who thrive and those who struggle. KEY TOPICS: By following its practical, easy-to-use rules, novice faculty can learn to teach with the highest levels of student approval, involvement, and comprehension, with only modest preparation times and a greater reliance on spontaneity and student participation. Similarly, new faculty can use its rule-based practices to write with ease, increasing productivity, creativity, and publishability through brief, daily sessions of focused and relaxed work. And they can socialize more successfully by learning about often-misunderstood aspects of academic culture, including mentoring. Each rule in Advice for New Faculty Members has been tested on hundreds of new faculty and proven effective over the long run -- even in attaining permanent appointment. It is the first guidebook to move beyond anecdotes and surmises for its directives, based on the author's extensive experience and solid research in the areas of staff and faculty development. MARKET: For new teachers.