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68 End Procrastination Now!

to feel uncomfortable, then you are more likely to follow a positive
direction.
Secondary distress is intolerance for tension; you think you
can’t stand emotions such as fear, anxiety, depression, stress, and
feeling overwhelmed. Thus, you have a fear of fear, get depressed
over feeling depressed, and feel anxious about feeling anxious—I
like to call this phenomenon “double troubles.”
Double troubles say more about what you think about yourself
than about what you think about a delayed task. Powerless think-
ing is a common double trouble. If you think you are powerless to
deal with negative emotions and procrastination, powerless think-
ing can layer an added sense of anxiety and vulnerability over an
already challenging situation. However, if you thought you could
contain and control unpleasant emotions, thoughts about these
unpleasant feelings would reflect this tolerance.
Learning to tolerate tension can defuse fear of feelings. If you
don’t fear tension, then you are less likely to experience tension as
a trigger for procrastination. Building emotional muscle and flex-
ing that muscle can have a profound impact on dispatching a
double trouble that can be significantly worse than the original
tension. Here are a few tips:

• You can start with a question: why can’t I stand what I
don’t like?
• Watch out for Catch-22 procrastination thinking, such as,
“I can’t change.” Respond with a question: where is the
evidence that change is impossible?
• Beware of developing an inner voice that encourages you to
give in to unhealthy urges, telling you to go ahead and have
that extra piece of cake—you deserve it; or you don’t have to
work today—now is a better time to play. Use your long- and
short-term procrastination analysis grid to put this kind of
short-term thinking into a rational perspective, and to resist
harmful urges.