Procrastination time: I Never Actually Start.

And there is a published position on the other side of this, which Shim and Davidsson name themselves. Earlier researchers had argued that staying in an uncertain venture is rational learning rather than avoidance, and that waiting is worth something. Shim and Davidsson say their result casts doubt on that view. They do not say it settles it.

From chapter 2: The three-month window

One last study, and it did exactly what I wanted in entirely the wrong subject. In 2018 Sebastian Galiani, Paul Gertler and Raimundo Undurraga described a housing experiment in poor neighbourhoods, in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, in which the people who did not receive the new houses said they wanted to upgrade their own dwellings more than the people who did, and eight months later that difference had disappeared. I have read only the abstract of that one, so I cannot tell you how they arrived at it. All I can report is what it states: somebody measured a stated aspiration twice, and it moved.

From chapter 4: The number that keeps moving

That is how the book looks at “procrastination time”: one idea at a time, with a step you can take right away. Of course, this is only one idea from the book. So, if this passage speaks to you, the full chapter goes further, and it ends with an exercise you can do the same evening.

In short, the book has 11 chapters, and each one ends with a practical exercise. Therefore, you can read it in order, or you can go straight to the part about “procrastination time”.

1. The gap between wanting and doing
2. The three-month window
3. What counts as started
4. The number that keeps moving
5. Preparation and its stop condition
6. The course that never ends
7. The licence you do not need
8. Why later always wins
9. Nobody chooses the day they start
10. The unfinished task
11. Fourteen days

Finally, you can get I Never Actually Start: What the Research Says About Why Later Always Wins in the stores below. Because every title of this book shares the same text, you can simply pick the one you like best. Also, the book is available in 19 languages.

In addition, each title below highlights a different idea from the same book.

• But I Never Actually Start: Preparing Is Not Progress
• But I Never Actually Start: Eleven Chapters on the Gap Between Wanting and Doing
• Why Do I Never Actually Start?: Preparing Is Not Progress
• Why Do I Never Actually Start?: The Evidence on Plans, Courses, Licences and Waiting
• Preparing Is Not Progress: One Question, One Stranger, Fourteen Days
• The Gap Between Wanting and Doing: I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start
• The Three-Month Window: I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start
• What Counts as Started: I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start
• The Number That Keeps Moving: I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start
• Preparation and Its Stop Condition: I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start

See all 43 titles. Go to the book page.