Page 109 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

How to Handle Stress-Related Procrastination 77

information to a coworker about how the person’s delays are im-
peding a project. You delay because you have a confrontation anx-
iety. You believe that if you assert your interests, this will lead to
an unpleasant verbal encounter that you tell yourself you’ll lose.
By ending procrastination caused by your confrontation anxiety,
you may persuade the coworker to follow through in a timely way.
Thus, you have a double gain.
A procrastination habit that co-occurs with self-doubts is a
common situation. Here, procrastination can be both a symptom
and a cause. You put off a timely and relevant activity. You experi-
ence an ongoing nagging anxiety about the incomplete task. You
continue to think that you can’t cope with the complexity of the
activity. This adds to your uncertainty about performing effectively.
This self-doubt is a double jeopardy. It can both trigger procrastina-
tion and result from procrastination.
A self-doubt state of mind rarely occurs without other co-
occurring conditions that also lead to procrastination. Self-doubts,
perfectionism, fear of disapproval, fear of failure, and fear of ten-
sion are part of the procrastination evaluative style cluster where
you have multiple coexisting problem conditions, but one evalua-
tion theme and some branch issues to address.
Let’s take a look at an evaluation procrastination cluster, shown
in Table 4.1. I’ll briefly describe what distinguishes each aspect and
give a conceptual direction to overcome procrastination.
When you boil down related cluster conditions into a core
theme, you may find complex clusters less imposing. As you engage
in productive activities to progress on those activities and cut back
on evaluative anxieties, you can shorten your learning curve for ad-
dressing and overcoming this form of complex procrastination.

Committed, Positive, and Proactive Coping

When you modulate, you adjust a tone or volume to change a
signal. Let’s look at the language of commitment and challenge as