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Whoever figured out that Michael Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, son of Michael’s older brother Jermaine Jackson, should play the adult Michael, is a genius. Jaafar gives a near-perfect performance portraying his uncle Michael, from his singing and signature dance moves to his mannerisms and voice. Hats off as well to the younger version of Michael, played by Juliano Krue Valdi.

Director Antoine Fuqua is to be applauded, as well as the rest of the cast, including Coleman Domingo, who plays Joe Jackson, Michael’s domineering father, who was also his talent manager. He was another casting achievement if you compare him to pictures of Michael’s real father.

I read they are working on the sequel to Michael since the first movie ends in 1988 with the words “His story continues.” The more controversial aspects of his life, including the abuse charges and his untimely death in 2009 at age 50 following a fatal dose of propofol -- a surgical anesthetic -- may be included in the sequel. Hopefully, a sequel will go into his 2-year marriage from 1994 to 1996 to Lisa Marie Presley (1968-2023), Elvis Presley’s daughter, Michael’s marriage to Debbie Rowe (1996-1999), and more about his three children, now grown.

Those relationships and controversies present a more complex man than the one depicted in the first movie, that is focused on his singing, dancing, connecting to animals and snakes more than people, and only dreaming of Neverland because of his admiration of the Peter Pan story and book. In 1988, he opened the Neverland Ranch, a 2,700-acre property in Santa Barbara, California, that operated as a private amusement park and where he also lived.

The only event in Michael Jackson’s life up to 1988 that I wish had been included in this first biopic was the amazing “We Are the World” event in 1985 for USA for Africa including the song, “We Are the World,” co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richey and produced by Quincy Jones. The recording, which brought together 21 world famous performers including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, and so many others as well as a chorus with Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, La Toya Jackson, Bette Midler, to name just a few. The single sold is said to have sold more than 20 million copies with the album, books, t-shirts, and other items raising an estimated $80 to fight hunger in Africa.

“Michael” might not be flawless, but it is certainly entertaining. You feel as if the King of Pop is back.

It’s exciting that the movie Michael has gotten people to get back into the movie theaters again. This is definitely a movie you want to see on a wide screen if that’s at all possible! Maybe there is hope that local movie theaters can survive, as long as there are movies like Michael bringing people into the theaters again.

Jan Yager

Former freelance theater critic for Backstage (1972-1979)

https://www.drjanyager.com

Copyright © 2025, 2017 by Jan Yager, Ph.D.

All rights reserved.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock. Contributor: Marekuliasz

1. “No, thank you.”

2. “I’m sorry, but I have a deadline and can’t do anything until I finish the project I’m currently working on.”

3. “I’m overcommitted right now, so I reluctantly have to say no.”

4. “I’m flattered that you asked me, but, regrettably, I have to say ‘no thank you.’”

5. “Unfortunately, I already have a conflicting commitment for that date.”

6. “Thank you for asking, but I’m not available right now.”

7. “I’m unavailable now. Would you get back to me on______________[fill in time]?”

8. “Unfortunately, I can’t accept. But would you like me to suggest someone else for you to contact?”

9. “I’m so sorry. But please understand that I have to be firm about this: No means no.”

10. “No, thank you. My family has asked me to spend more time with them. Thanks for understanding.”

11. “I just accepted another assignment that won’t allow me to devote the time I would need to your project.”

12. “I think so highly of you and your association [organization, company, etc.], but I’m unable to accept your gracious offer.”

13. “Sorry, I’m going away on a trip, and I’m trying to finish up everything on my plate right now. I’m not start anything new until I return.”

14. “I don’t think so. But I could get back to you in a couple of weeks if you can give me more time to decide.”

15. “I really want to say yes, but I just have to say no. Please try to understand.”

Use the space below to write down your own variations on saying “no” graciously:

16._______________________________________________________________

17._______________________________________________________________

18._______________________________________________________________

HOW TO TURN A “NO” TO THIS INTO A “YES” TO THAT

But there may be times when you want to turn a “no” into a “yes.” Yes, too many of us are all-or-nothing people. In some instances, that can be an incredible time waster. It’s okay to be decisive; being decisive usually saves you time. But in some cases, saying (or accepting) “no” without offering an alternative may waste an enormous amount of time. All your initial efforts have now led to a dead end.

When’s the last time you called someone and asked for an interview, or an appointment, and you accepted a “no” rather than trying to turn it into a “yes”—for another time, another project, or even another person? There is so much effort that goes into an initial connection; consider that every time you take a “no” and allow that to be the end of the relationship, you are wasting far more time than you can imagine because you will probably have to start from scratch with someone else.

(Please note: These examples are added for this Substack article)

Here are some examples of turning a “no” to this into a “yes” to that:

1. Your colleague invites you for lunch, but you’re booked up for the next month. Instead of just saying a polite, “No, so sorry that I’m booked up for lunches for the next month,” you suggest an alternate date two months down the road. (You probably already do this! This is just a friendly reminder to be consistent in doing this if you really want to keep the connection going and growing.)

2. You must end a phone call with a friend because you’ve run out of time. Instead of just getting off the phone, say, “When’s a good time to call you back?”

3. A publisher you submit your proposal to says it’s excellent but it’s not right for their list/for their company. You ask the acquisitions editor, “Do you know another editor and company that might be right for this proposal?” (FYI: This happened to me! I turned the “no” from a second publisher into a suggestion for a third publisher who did buy the proposal. That book, The Adjunct’s Handbook: A Survival Guide for Part-Time and Contingent Faculty, is being published by Johns Hopkins University Press on February 10^th 2026.)

https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53919/adjuncts-handbook?srsltid=AfmBOoq63JZrRybVhHY7v4iw4QQBiARoAerkLI3oNfr533-lz8iVrplQ&v=429338

4. You’re offered a job at a company that isn’t right for you. You ask if there are other positions that would be a better fit, or you’ve already done your homework and you can suggest those alternative options.

5. You’re unable to attend an important meeting, presentation, or social event but you ask if it’s being live streamed or even archived for later viewing so you’re still “in the loop.”

6. Other examples? ______________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

7. ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

*The first part of this information is excerpted, with permission, from my book, Work Less, Do More: The 7-Day Productivity Makeover. (Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., 2017, pages 80-82 in the print edition. Available in e-book, print, and audiobook formats, narrated by Colleen Patrick). However, the examples at the end of the second part of this excerpt, “How to Turn a ‘No’ to This into a ‘Yes’ to That,” are new for this Substack article.

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Less-Do-More-Productivity-ebook/dp/B01KAIDBA2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Zv80cqlea2nXOpWvZeOAi_ZriuapoiM2NOzymTefnXNl6HfK4us4vE_nNgZXkWYB.H5rIFPCdrtXwViT7GGgpKwtYGb4ooc3b_5fu40KWaqk&qid=1763722072&sr=8-3

About Jan Yager

A prolific bestselling, award-winning author of 67 books, with translations into 36 languages, Jan has a BA in fine arts from Hofstra University, an MA in criminal justice from Goddard College, and a Ph.D. in sociology from CUNY Graduate Center. She also did a year of graduate work in art therapy at Hahnemann Medical College.

For several decades, Jan has been teaching undergraduate and graduate college courses, beginning at The New School and more recently, since 2014, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and other colleges and universities. Her nonfiction and fiction titles include eight books on time management such as How to Finish Everything You Start; Time Masters; Work Less, Do More: The 14-Day Productivity Makeover; Work Less, Do More: The 7-Day Productivity Makeover; Put More Time on Your Side, and others. Her fiction includes the novels On the Run and The Pretty One as well as two collections of poetry and five children’s books.

Jan’s a coach, a consultant, and the founder of the indie press, Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc. which has an Author Services division to help aspiring and even seasoned authors to write and publish their first or tenth book! (

https://www.hcbooks.us

)

For more on Jan, visit her main website:

https://www.drjanyager.com

. Sign up for her mailing list.

Please subscribe to Jan’s free YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@drjanyager

If you think it’s getting harder to get attention for your published book, consider these statistics from a recent PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: In 2011, there were 500,000 self-publishers. Now there are 3 million. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of books published by commercial major, indie, and academic houses.

So, if you think there’s more competition -- potential readers and the media have more books to consider-- you’re right.

This information will hopefully motivate all of us to try even harder, and smarter to get our books noticed so we can generate those all-important sales.

Read more

Brian’s supervisor called him the “it” guy. Whatever it was that needed doing, Brian was the person she turned to in order to get the job done. A designer for a global financial services firm, Brian excelled at producing provocative and persuasive visual elements for an array of marketing products. He could design anything and make it stand out, from a motivational recruitment brochure to a dynamic cover for the internal employee magazine. His boss once sent him an unsolicited note in which she called him “the best designer” she had ever worked with.

Then, one day, a restructuring occurred, and Brian found himself reporting to a new boss. His latest manager was not as open and friendly as his previous superior. Always businesslike and curt, she failed to appreciate Brian’s sense of humor and easygoing nature. Brian quickly realized that this new boss was not as enthralled with Brian or his work as his former supervisor had been. And while the assignments were like those he had done in the past, suddenly nothing he created was acceptable. After a few weeks of being told his once-admired designs now “needed work” and to “keep trying,” he was called into his latest supervisor’s office and told he was being let go. “It just isn’t working out,” she told a shocked Brian.

He could not believe it! How could his work go from being well-regarded to suddenly unacceptable?

The issue was not Brian’s work at all. Where he always had an open and positive relationship with his previous boss, there now was no rapport and goodwill between Brian and his latest supervisor. Brian had not realized in time that he needed to cultivate a warm relationship with this new superior or her perception of his work would suffer. He had taken for granted that his previously well-regarded work would speak for itself. He also assumed that he would automatically enjoy the same strong relationship with this new supervisor that he had with his first boss. If he had at least tried to win her over, would things have turned out differently? Unfortunately, Brian will never know.

It’s Not Just What and Who You Know—

It’s How Well You Get Along!

You have heard the saying that when it comes to being successful in business, “it’s not just what you know, it’s who you know.” Brian’s experience demonstrates a third component: “it’s how well you get along.” It was Brian’s failure to forge a solid relationship with his new supervisor—rather than the quality of his work—that cost him his job.

To be tremendously successful in today’s business world, you must be able to navigate the minefield of workplace and business relationships. It is paramount that you learn how to unravel these often-complex human interactions if you want to find a job or keep the one you have—let alone, rise to the top. You need to be able to discern the hidden tripwires that could trigger a career-ending verbal exchange. And you must become adept at deciphering the clues that will let you know you have gotten onto the wrong side of office politics. If you are an entrepreneur, or a freelancer, you will still need to know how to get along well with your clients and customers even if you do not find yourself in traditional workplace settings daily.

Compounding matters in today’s workplace are two divergent concepts: a heightened degree of competitiveness, and a greater emphasis on teamwork. Each has specific qualities impacting your ability to build relationships. Organizations that fuel competition often make it difficult for employees to form durable, caring bonds because they find themselves competing against their peers. Still, constructive work connections are precisely what you need to develop to survive (and thrive) at work and in business.

On the other hand, with more businesses emphasizing teamwork, there is an increased likelihood that you could be faced with a 360-degree performance evaluation. You will be judged not only by those above you, but by those below and alongside you as well. Relationship-building now has turned into an even more complicated endeavor as you are pressured to connect positively in so many directions.

The bottom line: getting along at work and in business and learning how to deal more effectively with negative or harmful work relationships is essential to your success, no matter where you are in your career.

Consider these circumstances:

• You have been promoted, and you wonder if there is a way to maintain the friendships you developed with your former coworkers even though you are now in a supervisory role.

• You think that one of your coworkers is trying to sabotage you but needs help to identify the signs.

• You have felt secure in the job you have held for the last ten years, but recently you were told of impending massive layoffs if enough employees do not voluntarily take early retirement. You do not know what to do next.

• You have already lost your job and need to network more than ever before, and more effectively, to find a new position in a very tough job market.

• You just landed a new job, and you need to learn how to build positive work relationships—and fast! —to hit the ground running at this company.

This book will teach you how to engage your co-workers and learn about what is going on in their lives, since sensitivity to others affects your career. It also will provide direction if you feel your career has stalled or derailed; show you how to develop a stronger allegiance to your co-workers; give you tips on how to get along better with your boss; and guide you toward creating a more positive work environment. You will learn, too, how to build a more loyal professional network, and how to find a mentor or colleagues who will support your professional growth. Other vital topics discussed in this book will help you learn how to:

• Improve your listening skills at work.

• Cultivate advocates who will write strong and praiseworthy recommendation letters on your behalf.

• Find and befriend the movers and shakers at your company and in your industry.

• Deal effectively with a coworker who has been gossiping about you behind your back.

• Examine how body language impacts on work relationships.

• Explore thirteen key positive and fifteen negative types you may encounter at work, why someone might be that way, and how to best deal with him or her.

• Find or create your own Mastermind or professional support group so you continue to grow your business or career knowledge and networks.

• Avoid conflict or resolve disagreements that are unavoidable.

• Use those time-consuming meetings to strengthen relationships.

• Circumvent the perils of workplace technology that can negatively impact on your work relationships, such as overuse of e-mail in lieu of phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

Productive Relationships is based on scores of interviews with men and women in various stages of their careers, business and career experts, as well as my own diverse first-hand experiences in the workplace and in business including working for the legendary publishing executive, Barney Rosset, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Norman Mailer. Beginning with my fulltime jobs in my teens, including working as the assistant to the head of the outpatient clinic at Bellevue Hospital, over the years, I have worked for and with a wide range of co-workers, bosses, and academic department chairs. Those experiences have helped me to personally appreciate, and to observe in others, the power of positive work relationships as well as the harm negative relationships can have on our lives, our careers, and even our self-esteem and mental and physical health.

One of your first considerations as you begin on your road to better mastery of your workplace and business relationships is to figure out where you stand in those relationships right now. Please take a few moments out of your busy day to take the quiz that follows to find out. It will provide you with a valuable starting point for your interpersonal connections, including how well you are currently getting along with your boss, co-workers, subordinates, and even customers and clients. (Please note: if this is a library book, you could write your answers on a separate piece of paper, instead of in the book, or, if you prefer, you could photocopy the self-inventory and write on that copy.)

Office or Business Relationship Self-Inventory

1. Jot down the name of each individual that is key to your business success—coworker, boss, employee, service provider, client, or customer. For each name, ask yourself: “Is our relationship good? Excellent? Or is it negative and potentially damaging? Could it use improvement?” Make a note of your answers.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. Study that list, because it is telling you which relationships/individuals you need to cultivate. Prioritize who you will start with and use this book to develop a plan to improve that relationship.

3. How wide is your business network at work? in your industry? at any of the social media networking sites that you belong to? Write down the number of contacts that you have at each site that you currently belong to, such as linkedin.com, xing.com, facebook.com, classmates.com, or plaxo.com.

Social media site Number of contacts

Linkedin.com ___________

Facebook.com ___________

Instagram.com ___________

X (formerly Twitter) ________

Other (fill in) _____________ ___________

Other (fill in) _____________ ___________

Other (fill in) _____________ ___________

Other (fill in) _____________ ___________

Other (fill in) _____________ ___________

4. If you want to expand your social online or in-person networks, how do you want to expand it? Have you identified those individuals that you wish to meet and try to get to know? If not, take the time to make a “wish list” of potential new contacts or reconnections right now.

Wish List for New Contacts or Reconnections

Name Type of contact:

New Reconnect

1. ________________ ______ _______

2. ________________ ______ _______

3. ________________ ______ _______

4. ________________ ______ _______

5. ________________ ______ _______

6. ________________ ______ _______

7. ________________ ______ _______

8. ________________ ______ _______

9. ________________ ______ _______

10. ________________ ______ _______

5. Do you know who the movers and shakers are in your company or in your industry? Have you selected those with whom you would like to be on a first-name basis? List the names and describe potential ways to meet or be introduced to these individuals.

Movers and Shakers in My Company (or Industry)

Name Who will I meet/connect with? How will we connect?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

6. How many hours a week do you spend calling your current or previous coworkers, or going out to lunch or for a drink or dinner after work, to catch up and find out what is new?

Time Spent Weekly Connecting with

Current/Previous Coworkers

Name of Coworker Time Spent Type of Activity

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

8. Do you have a network of at least 50 to 100+ people who know you at your current or previous jobs and to whom you could turn for leads, recommendations, or just support if you were to lose your job today? Make a list of your current network with the goal of expanding to 50 to 100 strong and positive business connections who care about you and who want to help you to succeed.

9. If you were to get promoted today, or find out you won a coveted award, is there at least one person at work, or in your business, with whom you could share the good news and who would be genuinely happy for you?

10. Have you ever wondered if you should take a course on getting along better at work?

11. Has anyone ever told you that you should take an anger management class?

12. What are your relationship goals for your job or for your business?

13. Do you prefer to keep your business and your personal relationships separate?

14. Do you think conflict at work should always be avoided? If you were to find yourself in an unavoidable workplace conflict, do you have a mastery of conflict resolution techniques that could help you get through it?

15. If someone managed to bring a weapon into your office, would you know the recommended way to exit without confronting the intruder, or another way to decrease the likelihood that you would be confronted?

16. How comfortable are you working with someone who is a generation older or younger than you are?

Comfortable _____ Uncomfortable _____

17. If you work with or for someone from another culture, or if you conduct business in another country, have you taken the time to understand some of the key concerns that you may have to address in your business relationships? These might include language, dress, appropriate personal space, gift giving, gift acceptance, or attitudes toward work relationships. Use the space below to consider some of the cultural similarities or differences that you need to address at work or in your business relationships over the phone or through e-mail:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

18. Have you considered how your childhood or previous job relationships (even part-time or summer employment) could impact on how you manage current situations, or allow yourself to be treated, at work or in business today? Use the space below to write about your previous work relationships, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

19. Have you ever had one coworker who was particularly memorable? What made him or her so unforgettable?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

20. If you were to describe your ideal work or business relationship, what would it be like?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Now that you have taken this office/business work relationships self-inventory, you have a starting point for evaluating your current office or business relationships. The information, examples, and anecdotes throughout this book will help you reconsider or reexamine your answers to the previous twenty questions.

But remember that you are recording your experiences and opinions at this one point in time. Make note of when you took this self-quiz and then return to it whenever your workplace relationships or circumstances change—for example, you get a new coworker, boss, or customer, you get a new job, you switch careers, or you go from employment to self-employment.

Improving your workplace relationships is a journey that is ongoing based on new knowledge and fresh experiences. There-fore, in the last chapter of this book, you’ll have a chance to re-take the twenty-question work relationship self-inventory that you just took but that time it will be to help you assess your progress, and also to solidify your goals for the future.

Over the years, I have worked for, or with, some amazing leaders and administrators, as well as with those who were tough to have a good relationship with and from whom it was sometimes extremely hard to recover when the work ended. Still, I learned a lot about workplace and business relationships from every job experience, especially from those that did not work out.

Many of us spend more time working than with anyone or anything else. Because of that reality, we might as well make it more enjoyable and more productive by learning to seek out and strengthen the positive work relationships that come our way as well as how to deal more effectively with the annoying ones that are unavoidable.

***

If you enjoyed this excerpt, thanks for checking out Productive Relationships and reading the rest of the book! It is available in e-book, print, and audiobook formats, narrated by Stephanie Murphy.

About the Author

Jan Yager is a sociologist, business and relationship consultant and coach, who also teaches undergraduate and graduate college courses. Dr. Yager has authored more than 60 books, with translations into 36 languages, including Productive Relationship, Business Protocol, originally published by Wiley, Grow Global, Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? Workship, Friendship, or Foe, and How to Finish Everything You Start, which went to #1 on Kindle Amazon for 6 months beginning in October 2023. For more on Jan, go to:

https://www.drjanyager.com

Excerpted from the Introduction to Productive Relationships: 57 Strategies for Building Stronger Business Connections by Jan Yager (Published by Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., https://www.hcbooks.us )

Copyright © 2014, 2012 by Jan Yager, Ph.D.

All rights reserved

Courtesy of Shutterstock. Photo contributor Christian Horz

I am inspired to edit and publish this excerpt from my workbook, Skills Building Workbook for College Students, because I just shared this information in a Zoom Skills Building Workshop for college students last week. Discussing these ideas with the attendees, and debating various solutions to procrastination, helped me to deal with my own procrastination issues! I had been blocked on a certain project, but I soon applied Solution #7 which suggests doing whatever it is you are putting off for just thirty minutes.

I did just that and, voila, before you know it, I had “broken through” and was on the road to accomplishing what I had been putting off. (Then, to reward myself, Solution #1, I applied Creative Procrastination, Solution #3, by writing this Substack article!)

So, I know that the information that follows “works” in helping to cope with procrastination whether you’re in college, graduate school or you’re in the world world working for others or self-employed!

Understanding the Roots of Procrastination and Finding Solutions

On the surface, procrastinating is caused by poor pacing and poor planning. Let us dig even deeper into some of the more fundamental underlying causes of procrastination. I was hired to coach a high school senior whom we’ll call Claudia because she had a procrastination problem and was starting at an Ivy League college in a few months.

Over a few weeks, Claudia and I chatted about her study habits and her concerns. She had fallen into the habit of putting off studying or assignments until the last minute. But what was really behind it? Just saying she had developed the habit of procrastinating was not going to get at a solution. In one of our coaching sessions, we both had an epiphany. What Claudia really had was a perfectionism problem. She was so afraid of handing in work that was not her best, or getting less than a 100 on a test, that her fear made her put things off until she was absolutely up against the wall to get something done.

We discussed how by putting something off she not only was causing herself undue stress, as well as her parents, but she was unwittingly potentially bringing about the very thing she feared: performing poorly. By learning to pace herself better, and getting right to the work at hand, whether that meant studying or researching and writing a paper or preparing a speech, she was much more likely to get the A’s that she so very much wanted and usually earned anyway, but without so much angst!

How you solve your own procrastination challenge will be an individual matter dependent upon its cause but here are various solutions that you might try. Hopefully one or more of these techniques will work for you.

Solution #1 — Try the reward system. Pick something that could be a real motivator for you. “When I finish this reading, I will call my friend to chat.” “When I finish writing this required essay, I will play videogames for half an hour.”

Solution #2 — Make whatever you are procrastinating about the very first thing you do in the morning.

Solution # 3 — Try creative procrastination. I have been writing about creative procrastination since my first book on time management, Creative Time Management, published by Prentice-Hall. What is creative procrastination? That is when you allow yourself to procrastinate, but you do it with another priority project. For example, you cannot seem to do the research to pick the topic for your required term paper. Instead, you do something else related to that assignment, such as work on your search for related research. Or you work on another priority required assignment, like the math problems that are due for tomorrow. You do not play video games, watch TV, or call a friend. You avoid non-priority tasks. The idea behind creative procrastination is that you are doing your required obligations, but in a different order.

Solution #4 — Allow for delays. This is a different way of dealing with procrastination in that you are not practicing creative procrastination, but you are allowing yourself to delay. But the delay is controlled, such as, “I will take a 15-minute break and then get back to the task at hand.”

Solution #5 — Avoid allowing embarrassment to exacerbate your procrastination.

Solution #6 — Team-up with someone who will be your accountability partner.

Solution #7 — Set your smartphone alarm for 30 minutes. Promise yourself you will work on whatever you are putting off for just that short time period.

Solution #8 — See procrastination as information. Why are you procrastinating? Do you need help with the assignment? Perhaps you are unsure about what to do. Maybe you doubt your ability to master the subject and need a confidence boost.

Solution #9 — Can this task be ethically delegated to technology or another person? (In the case of my rereading the pages of my latest book, even though the publisher had a copyeditor and a proofreader read the pages, as the author I must reread it and “sign off on it” too. But sometimes delegating is an appropriate solution to procrastination.

Solution #10 — Since last-minute crises can happen, finish your tasks early rather than procrastinate and risk running out of time and being late with your submissions.

* * *

The good news is that completing part of the required task that I postponed dealing with for several days has improved my sense of accomplishment and my mindset!

Do you want more information on procrastination geared more to the world of work? Check out Chapter 4, “Dealing with Procrastination,” in my bestseller, How to Finish Everything You Start. Yes, procrastination is one of the key reasons that too many key priority projects or tasks that are started and put aside!

References

Jan Yager, How to Finish Everything You Start. Stamford, CT: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., 2025, 2018.

_______________. Time Management and Other Essential Skills for College Students. Stamford, CT: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., 2020.

Work Less, Do More: The 7-Day Productivity Makeover. Stamford, CT: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., 2017.

Lisa M. Zarick and Robert Stonebraker. Fall 2009. “I’ll Do It Tomorrow: The Logic of Procrastination.” College Teaching 57: 211-215.

Exercise

Pick a college assignment or required project or task at work that you have put off doing. Write down what it is.

Now write down the consequences of procrastination:

Negative consequences

1.

2.

3.

Now write down the positive consequences.

1.

2.

3.

Does that statement and request surprise you? Yes, there may seem to be positive consequences from procrastinating. If there were not, you would not do it! Once you recognize the positive consequences, and figure out what they mean to you and your college or work experiences, you will be in a better position to conquer your procrastination. You may discover that you procrastinate about doing your chemistry homework but you are enthusiastically tackling your journalism assignments. Could that reveal that you want to switch your major to journalism with a minor in chemistry? You keep putting off sending out queries to land new speaking engagements. Maybe that indicates that you are reluctant to pursue public speaking at least right now.

If you put off doing something, you are delaying being judged. If you are not judged, you cannot be criticized. If you miss the deadline due to procrastination, a strict professor may yell at you or give you a zero for the assignment.

Now write down the positive benefits of overcoming your procrastination and getting that

assignment (or reading or writing) done now!

1.

2.

3.

You may be surprised that once you force yourself to do the required work, you find that it is not as big a deal as you anticipated. You may even get involved in the work and find yourself “in the zone,” which is what I call that delightful place where you are really into the reading, the studying. You are not watching the clock but immersing yourself in one of the main reasons for college, namely, learning and acquiring new knowledge and skills.

Jan Yager, Ph.D. is the prolific, award-winning author of 67+ books with one or more titles translated into 36 languages. Her books on time management and work relationships include Time Masters: 11 Secrets to Greater Productivity and Life Fulfillment; How to Finish Everything You Start; 365 Daily Affirmations for Time Management; Put More Time on Your Side; Productive Relationships; and others. Jan is an Adjunct Associate Professor as well as a consultant, coach, and publisher. For more on Jan, go to:

https://www.drjanyager.com

Image courtesy of Rawpixel.com (through Shutterstock)

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I will generalize that most of us are on social media to build community in a positive way. Whether it’s X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, BlueSky, Truth Social, or my current favorite, LinkedIn, the posts we write should hopefully help move along that goal of building up our networks. Some might call it their “brand” and other might refer to it as their “followers” or “community.”

I have almost 18,000 connections on LinkedIn and I read the posts that are new when I lodge on, usually once a day. So of course not I’m not seeing everyone in my network all the time. Some people post daily and some post weekly. Other never post at all.

There are some connections whose posts I universally enjoy reading. Those posts are informative in a way that makes me feel the time spent reading that post was time well spent.

But lately one of my favorite connections has fallen into the bragging category. That’s what inspired me to write this Substack post. It’s not a relationship that I feel comfortable enough about to share these comments with him or her directly. Possibly because my former psychological guru used to say, “Criticism kills.” But I actually feel the opposite and I see criticism not as criticism but as feedback. I see feedback as a way of exchanging differing points of view and providing another perspective that someone might even say, “Thanks for sharing that. I hadn’t considered my words or my actions from that perspective.”

So what’s the difference between bragging and sharing. When someone shares, if they also boasting about an accomplishment, I find it helps if he/she ends that sharing/boasting with some words of encouragement for others. Without being condescending, saying something like, “If this hasn’t happened to you yet, don’t lose hope! It can someday!” Or “I was in your shoes and I persevered.” Or “If you find yourself feeling discouraged, here are some suggestions that I’ve found useful in my journey….”

Also, I think if you post regularly, perhaps even daily or at least a couple of times a week, try to make every other or every third post PURELY INFORMATIONAL and not about yourself. You could link to an article you’ve read that’s especially interesting or insightful. If you’ve published one or more books, you could quote from your own book and perhaps add a contemporary comment related to that quote. With their permission, you could quote someone else.

Of course, if someone logs on and reads your posts on only an occasional basis, he/she might coincidentally “catch” the posts that are just about you rather than the informational ones as well, but at least those informational ones will be archived in your LinkedIn (or other social media) history of posts.

We all know the advice about “trust your gut.” When it comes to social media posts, I find that my gut can be an excellent way of judging if a post was successful. In this case, I’m referring to the posts I read. If I finish reading a post, has it inspired me, even to the post of reaching out to its author in a Comment or a DM (direct message)? Or do I get that sinking feeling that this post was just another brag. By the way, when I get the feeling that post was just another brag in my gut it’s not because I’m envious or jealous of the writer of that post. I enjoy and welcome the accomplishments of all my connections! It’s because for me, it’s crossed that subtle but very important line between sharing and bragging.

Of course, how many “likes” a post receives can sometimes also signal how effective that post has been but our own reactions are always the most important ones. Be careful about being too influenced by how others are responding.

Please consider signing up for the mailing list at my main website, https://www.drjanyager.com, or subscribing to my channel at YouTube: @drjanyager. I have almost a dozen videos posted there. I haven’t posted a new video in a while but a goal for this year and going forward is to start adding more content to my YouTube channel.

Thank you for reading this free post! I hope you found it useful! I appreciate you!

Jan

Here is the original Spanish version:

“Hay tres cosas que cada persona debería hacer durante su vida: plantar un árbol, tener un hijo y escribir un libro.”

Here is the translation:

"There are three things every person should do in their life: plant a tree, have a child, and write a book."

I'm still working on the tree part! I share this because even publishing one book is a legacy that everyone should consider especially those who are in their 60s, 70s, or beyond. I am so glad I wrote my own memoir, LOOKING BACKWARD, GOING FORWARD: Reflections on a Writer's Life. Getting the President's 2025 Award for Autobiography/Memoir from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) is just an added bonus. It felt so good to put down "my story" with lessons I've learned about writing and getting published shared throughout so aspiring or published authors will hopefully benefit from my example.

I was inspired to write my story after the deaths of two close friends. Sharon Fisher and Elia Schneider. They died from health-related causes at the relatively young ages of 72 and 68, respectively. How I wish I could talk to both of them again! How I wish they had left behind a memoir I could read and turn to that would share more about their lives, their thoughts, their words!

If you're not a professional writer, no worries. There are ghostwriters or co-authors who can help you! You can record your memories, and someone can transcribe your recordings and reshape it into a book. You can write a first draft that is edited. There are so many ways to go about telling your story. You can even write a novel loosely based on your life if you prefer! If you’re shy about sharing your life story, you can leave instructions that it’s to be published after your passing but I’m glad I published my story while I’m still here.

It was actually an eye-opening experience for me to revisit the dramatic moments in my life and to see if there were any new insights into what happened from an older vantage point. For example, it was only after I wrote about my miscarriage — I lost our third baby in the 10th week of pregnancy, fortunately we had two sons at that point, ages 3 and 7 — and I mysteriously went into early menopause a year or so later in my early 40s, unable to have any more children of our own. It was after that happened that I had the overwhelming determination to start a publishing company. On an unconscious level, as I wrote my memoir, I realized the thought process back then might have been, “If I can’t make any more babies, I’ll give birth to books instead.”

Of course, there were always conscious reasons for starting my own indie press—the opportunity to take greater control over all aspects of publishing my own books and selected books by other authors. But I didn’t realize there might have been an underlying motivation behind the founding of Hannacroix Creek Books in 1996. How emotionally rewarding it was to see that decision in such a different light as I was writing my memoir! It was a powerful epiphany that means so much to me because I had always wondered why, after successfully being published with such major houses as Scribner, Doubleday, and Wiley, I would take on the financial, creative, and business challenges of founding my own indie press.

Below is a link to my memoir, Looking Backward, Going Forward, if you’d like to read it or listen to it! It’s in e-book, print, or audiobook formats, narrated by Gale Cruz.

I look forward to learning that you’re working on your own memoir and getting it published or even inspiring any of your family members or friends to tackle one.

https://www.amazon.com/Looking-Backward-Going-Forward-Reflections/dp/1938998944/ref=sr_1_1?crid=185Z2KYN9EY52&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.S-FUOsM8XLpIf5pNkoHxibTxtgNnLDHORE1Ov4Yfukkj6Re9xw486sMRiHbdMBQ532pDY4-Kd9tX7lJHW_wkg3rV74A78mgyhZbcwdTha4TGDnFIoAFiTLcCAODcb9ho23SgzFlrZU88qQiFwvB4bxQKPlXWab5A0teyHcKiyfE.0RNqsQ1BKVtoHWv_OIRY0kKe0lH2ERvQjSWCkdC9uRo&dib_tag=se&keywords=looking+backward%2C+going+forward&qid=1752832342&sprefix=looking+backward%2C+going+forward%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1

About the Author

Jan Yager has published 66+ award-winning books with translations of one or more titles into 36 languages. She wrote her first novel at ten. Her first published book was the nonfiction classic, The Vegetable Passion: A History of the Vegetarian State of Mind, published when she was 27 in the U.S. by Scribner and in the UK by Routledge & Kegan Paul. For more on Jan, go to:

https://www.drjanyager.com

https://www.hcbooks.us

you do NOT have to rule out having another book with a commercial publisher or even reprinting or republishing your self-published book with a commercial house -- small, medium-sized, or one of the big five commercial houses - Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper-Collins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. (I worked at Macmillan, I'm published by PRH and S&S and by Harper-Collins India. Still have to get a book with Hachette!)
The question that made me smile on the publisher's Marketing Questionnaire was this one:
"Is this your first book?"
I was able to answer it this way:
"No, it's my 67th"

I'm also adding the list of advance endorsements I've been getting lined up, a category of marketing that wasn't on their form. My editor told me they only have room for 3-5 quotes.

If you go to my main website,

https://www.drjanyager.com

If you access the BLOGS section, you'll find blogs about the benefits and challenges of going with a commercial house and another blog on the pros and cons of self-publishing.

The key is to write that book, make it as good as it can be, and get it published and OTD - Out the Door. Whether you self-publish, use a hybrid publisher, and/or a commercial "traditional" publisher, whatever the size, always remember YOU the author are the pivotal factor in all of this. YOU and your book! NOT your platform although of course it's GREAT to have 1 million Instagram followers! That's a goal of mine of course but it is ALWAYS the book that is key.
"Write on" --
Thanks for "listening." -- Jan

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Jan Yager, Ph.D.

I never used to consider Audiobooks a serious source of revenue until I interviewed romance novelist Sheri Cobb South, who revealed that just one of her 30 novels had generated more than 4,000 audiobook sales. In total, all of her novels had sold more than 26,000 audiobooks and that was back in …

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So that’s how I got to creating this paid Substack account/opportunity. I will be posting original articles, short stories, excerpts from my bestselling books, and hopefully even podcasts that share with you my expertise in business and time management, relationships including friendship, romance, and work/business, crime victims, and, finally, writing and getting published. (Yes, I’m an eclectic writer but since I’ve had decades to immerse myself in all those topics, it’s not as scattered as it may sound!)

I will still be doing shorter posts on a variety of topics at LinkedIn as well as tweets on X and updates on Instagram and even Meta (Facebook). But this new “Jan’s Substack” is where I will be sharing the longer posts, articles, excerpts not just from published bestsellers but ADVANCE content from forthcoming books, and so much more!

Here’s a quick summary of my formal academic credentials: BA in Fine Arts from Hofstra University; year of graduate work in art therapy at Hahnemann Medical College; MA in Criminal Justice from Goddard College; and a Ph.D. in Sociology from CUNY Graduate Center where I had a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

My sixty-two (62) published books in a range of genres have been translated into 35 languages. Some of my published works that you may have already heard about are WHEN FRIENDSHIP HURTS (Simon & Schuster), HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH YOUR BOOK (Square One Publishers), VICTIMS (Scribner), MAKING YOUR OFFICE WORK FOR YOU (Doubleday); WORK LESS, DO MORE: The 7-Day Productivity Makeover (Sterling, revised edition by Hannacroix Creek Books); HOW TO FINISH EVERYTHING YOU START (Hannacroix Creek); ON THE RUN and THE PRETTY ONE (novels, Hannacroix Creek); FRIENDSHIFTS; series of children’s books; the new FAIRY TALE sequels series (Little Red Riding Hood; The Three Little Pigs); AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS; A WEEK WITH MOM: A One Act Play; “Please don’t forget me” A One Act Play; FRIENDGEVITY; and many more.

I’m happily married to my husband Fred Yager, a fellow writer who wrote in the letter he sent to me in answer to my personal ad in NEW YORK magazine, that he was looking for “a collaborator in love and work” and that’s what we’ve been— knock wood — for forty years by the end of this month, our wedding anniversary. Our two adult sons are Scott and Jeff. They have families of their own now and we are blessed with Scott’s wife Lindsay and their three children and Jeff’s partner Justyna and their three children.

So thank you for reading my work and subscribing.

Yes, for about the same cost as just one cup of coffee, you can get one entire month of my writings ONLY for subscribers! Or you can save some money and not have to deal with a monthly investment by becoming an annual subscriber! There are also Founding Member opportunities available with additional perks!

Welcome aboard! I look forward to getting to know all of you, my valued subscribers!

For more on me, please visit my main website: https://www.drjanyager.com

For more on my indie press, founded more than 25 years ago, please visit: https://www.hannacroixcreekbooks.com

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