Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination, from Leonardo and Darwin to You and Me

“Well-researched…[Soon] argues that in many cases eminent figures have done great work while putting off work they were supposed to be doing. Procrastination might, for some people, be part of innovation and the creative process.” — Wall Street Journal

A fun and erudite celebration of procrastination

An entertaining, fact-filled defense of the nearly universal tendency to procrastinate, drawing on the stories of history’s greatest delayers, and on the work of psychologists, philosophers, and behavioral economists to explain why we put off what we’re supposed to be doing and why we shouldn’t feel so bad about it.

Like so many of us, including most of America’s workforce, and nearly two-thirds of all university students, Andrew Santella procrastinates. Concerned about his habit, but not quite ready to give it up, he set out to learn all he could about the human tendency to delay. He studied history’s greatest procrastinators to gain insights into human behavior, and also, he writes, to kill time, “research being the best way to avoid real work.”

He talked with psychologists, philosophers, and priests. He visited New Orleans’ French Quarter, home to a shrine to the patron saint of procrastinators.  And at the home of Charles Darwin outside London, he learned why the great naturalist delayed writing his masterwork for more than two decades.

Drawing on an eclectic mix of historical case studies in procrastination—from Leonardo da Vinci to Frank Lloyd Wright, and from Old Testament prophets to Civil War generals—Santella offers a sympathetic take on habitual postponement. He questions our devotion to “the cult of efficiency” and suggests that delay and deferral can help us understand what truly matters to us. Being attentive to our procrastination, Santella writes, means asking, “whether the things the world wants us to do are really worth doing.”  

Notable Procrastinators?

Charles Darwin wrote volumes on coral reefs and volcanic islands, and obsessively engaged in dissecting and describing barnacles during the twenty years between developing his theory of natural selection and publishing it.

Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to produce a painting for an altarpiece in the chapel of Milan’s Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. Leonardo agreed to finish the project in seven months. He finished and installed the painting twenty-five years later.

Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to design a weekend home, Fallingwater, in the wilds south of Pittsburgh. Nine months later and with no visible work on the design, Wright had a surprise visit at his studio from the owner. Wright then drew up the design in about two hours.

Johnny Cash’s “THINGS TO DO TODAY!”

1. Not Smoke  
2. Kiss June
3. Not Kiss Anyone Else
4. Cough
5. Pee
6. Eat
7. Not Eat Too Much
8. Worry
9. Go See Mama
10. Practice Piano

“Soon is an utter delight. Casually erudite, full of delicious anecdotes and brutal honesty, it is catnip, in book form, for procrastinators and non-procrastinators alike.” - Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach

“A witty, smart and, yes, motivating exploration into that quality that unites all of us: a knack for putting things off ‘til tomorrow. Soon is a lively reminder that while necessity might be the mother of invention, delay can be the source of creative achievement.” - Michael Hainey, author of After Visiting Friends

“Well-researched…[Soon] argues that in many cases eminent figures have done great work while putting off work they were supposed to be doing. Procrastination might, for some people, be part of innovation and the creative process.” - Wall Street Journal

“Brief and poignant...Engaging, accessible, and frequently humorous...Fans of unusual historical facts and those who Try will find plenty of value in this self-help, psychological study.” - Library Journal

“Soon is funny and smart, but also—and I mean this as praise—a little insane…Despite its subtitle, Soon is not merely a “history”; it is a stylized re-creation of what happens when a procrastinator tires to write this history.” - BookForum

“Soon is funny and smart, but also—and I mean this as praise—a little insane.” - James Camp, BookForum

“Well-researched.” - Wall Street Journal