Page 151 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

Powerful Behavioral Techniques to Curb Procrastination 119

addressing procrastination. The behavioral component may be
helpful for some, but not necessarily for those who persistently
procrastinate, who can profit from a comprehensive three-pronged
approach.

Would Buddha Make a To-Do List?

If you asked Buddha how to obtain freedom from procrastination,
he might say that you cannot desire freedom from procrastination
because the desire would become the wall. You are the problem.
Your ego takes up space. Don’t desire, be desireless. Given this
view, would Buddha make a to-do list?
Different people have different goals, values, philosophies, and
spiritual interests. So, if you want to follow the path of Siddhartha
to a higher spiritual state, then the world of commerce and achieve-
ment is not your cup of tea. Thus, you probably won’t gain from a
to-do list. You already know what you want to accomplish, and
awareness and experience are your guide.
If you value improving your work performances, you are likely
to operate with a value of self-development and improvement. The
products you produce become the by-products of this process. So,
you will rarely get far in any campaign to overcome procrastination
unless you take steps to go beyond the phase of an enlightened
awareness about the procrastination currents in your life. You have
to get in the boat and row if you want to contest the currents and
get to a more productive place.
The following sections give you behavioral steps for getting
past diversionary processes and getting to and accomplishing
more of what it is in your enlightened interest to do. Each action
presents choices to reduce procrastination and use this reduction
to gain a greater benefit. Is choice important? Choice appears to
be correlated with increases in production and reductions in
procrastination.