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76 End Procrastination Now!

Self-Inflicted Stress

Most people amplify their own stress problems. You can have a
great employer, supportive coworkers, and challenging responsi-
bilities that are comfortably within your capabilities. Still, you carry
your work home and fret over what went wrong and what could
go wrong tomorrow.
Negative thinking about your goals can affect the quality of your
efforts. Connie, a procrastination workshop participant, complained
that everyone at her office hated her. That was why she dragged her
feet. I asked her how many people worked in her department. She
said, 29. I asked for their first names. I then went down the list and
asked her to tell me how she knew that each person hated her. This
is what it boiled down to: she had sound evidence that a clique of
three disliked her. She regularly socialized with six coworkers. The
others showed some cordiality. The question is: if everyone hates
you, how do you explain the exceptions? Once Connie got past her
misperception, she began to act cooperatively, and she reported
feeling better about her work. When she started thinking less about
imaginary problems, Connie reported that she procrastinated less.
There are numerous potential stressors around you. If establishing
control decreases stress, can you establish inner control and direc-
tion to survive falling into procrastination traps?

Anxiety and Complex Procrastination

Procrastination increases with worry, anxiety, and depression.
These complex procrastination catalysts are common.
As you may recall from Chapter 1, complex procrastination is
a combination of procrastination plus a coexisting condition, such
as anxiety, self-doubt, or low tension tolerance. Complex procras-
tination delays include delaying the task and putting off dealing
with the complex co-occurring condition that contributes to pro-
crastination. Let’s suppose that you want to convey unpleasant