Page 106 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

74 End Procrastination Now!

others to stop diversionary activities so that you don’t get diverted
from your functions? You might be persuasive and make some
gains in that way. However, the person that you have the best
chance of controlling is yourself, and imperfectly so. But accept-
ing and letting go of a need to control uncontrollable situations
can lead to stress reduction, even under the most adverse work
conditions.
Can you accomplish this emotional muscle building under the
most extreme stress conditions? Imprisoned in several Nazi con-
centration camps, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl learned from the an-
cient Stoic philosophers that he had the freedom to choose his
inner thoughts. From the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,
he learned that by having a why for living, you can bear almost any
how. His why was surviving for his family. If you are engaged with
difficult coworkers, family members, or friends, is it possible for
you to find purpose and meaning that can help you strip away any
added stress you may experience?
In most ongoing adverse situations, I find that people give
themselves double trouble. The first is stress from the adversity,
and the second is often worse: a fear of the feeling of stress that
can amplify the tension. The concept of acceptance that we dis-
cussed earlier can have a calming effect: the situation is what it is,
stress is what it is, now let me see what I can do to create a more
favorable external and internal environment to lessen the
stresses.
In many work environments, time is lost due to internal poli-
tics, intrigues, and acts of antagonistic cooperation. Lamenting
these events and distracting yourself by focusing on them is anal-
ogous to getting hit by a bus driver and blaming the driver and
cursing the situation. Here is an alternative view about this form
of stress: Is it better to curse the driver or rehabilitate yourself so
you are no longer afflicted? In the next chapter, I’ll describe ap-
proaches for taking charge of yourself under adverse conditions
where procrastination is especially risky.