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Beating Procrastination
Everyone occasionally puts off doing things, feels unmotivated,
or avoids taking action. For most people the tendency to procrastinate
is a basically normal attribute that, at worst, results in a little
inconvenience or unnecessary time pressure.
Some people, however, seem to have enormous difficulty getting
started and seem incapable of initiating tasks. Consequently these
“expert procrastinators” frequently find themselves one or two steps
in front of a virtual tidal wave of deadline stress, unfinished
business, and loose ends. Fortunately,
regardless of whether you are a novice task avoider or a veteran
activity delayer, there are several very powerful methods for beating
procrastination and thereby increasing productivity while at the same
time reducing stress.
The first and probably most important
anti-procrastination method is simply to understand the relationship
between motivation and action. Most people mistakenly believe that
motivation must precede action — that before you can actually do
something you must first feel motivated to do it. Right? Wrong!
The fact is that in most cases action precedes motivation — that is,
once action has been initiated motivation tends to gather momentum and
it becomes increasingly easy to continue what has been started. As the
old saying goes: “Getting started is the hardest part.” Don’t
wait for motivation before taking action — make motivation by taking
action! The
next time you feel the creeping paralysis of procrastination taking hold
of you, make a commitment to do just a few minutes of the task you are
avoiding. You’ll probably find that after the first few minutes
elapse, the momentum of motivation will be solidly upon you and you’ll
continue the task with ever-increasing interest and enthusiasm.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adapted from The 60-Second Shrink, by Arnold A. Lazarus, Ph.D., and Clifford N. Lazarus, Ph.D. Available at online and local bookstores or directly from Impact Publishers, Inc., PO Box 6016, Atascadero, CA 93423-6016. Phone 1-800-246-7228. Visit our website at www.impactpublishers.com.
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