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140 End Procrastination Now!

fear. Procrastination, anxiety, and fear are characterized by escape
and avoidance actions.
You can set procrastination exposure training into motion by:

1. Agreeing with yourself that you’ll endure your initial
discomfort-dodging urges without behaviorally diverting
2. Taking on a timely activity that you put off
3. Approaching the learning task with the idea that you are
going to work through the tension to get to the desired result
4. Exposing yourself to the tension that you normally try to put
off experiencing
5. Showing yourself that you don’t need immediate relief from
tension
6. Sticking with the feeling and showing yourself that you can
tolerate tension
7. Using your higher mental resources to guide your actions

Procrastination exposure training is not a one-time event. Ben-
efiting from this exercise requires many experiences in different
contexts with different forms and degrees of procrastination. Even-
tually, you can train yourself to use task tension cues as triggers
for engaging in purposeful activities and undergoing behavioral
follow-through.
If you come to tolerate—not like—the tensions that you as-
sociate with performing, you have gotten past a major hurdle to a
productive and high-quality life.

Grind It Out

Psychologist John Goudy saw doing some disagreeable things as
part of learning. He thought it was important to learn the impor-
tance of developing the habit of doing what is reasonable, whether
the activity is unpleasant or not.
If you want a bigger reward and less long-term hassle, then
grind out the work to get that result. Grinding takes toiling. Al-