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10 End Procrastination Now!

yourself from this burden by changing procrastination thinking,
developing emotional tolerance, and behaviorally pursuing pro-
ductive goals.

Symptoms, Defenses, Resistances,
and Problem Habits

Procrastination can be a symptom, a defense, a problem habit, or a
combination of these general conditions. It can be a symptom of a
complex form of procrastination, such as worrying about worry and
then putting off learning cognitive coping skills to defuse the worry.
Busywork can be a symptom of underlying tension for a problem
that you want to avoid. This busyness is a kind of behavioral diver-
sion, which is as productive as racing down a dead-end street.
A procrastination symptom can be especially helpful when it
provides cues about an omission that needs recognizing and cor-
recting. For example, the English naturalist Charles Darwin put
off his medical studies and eventually came up with a theory of
evolution by following his real passion. His symptom was his dis-
traction from his medical school studies. Let’s say your family
persuades you to run the family sporting goods store. You have
limited interest in managing the store, but you do so out of duty.
Procrastination surfaces when it comes time to order new goods,
keep up with paperwork, and deal with personnel matters, but you
are quick and efficient in making better use of existing shelf space,
creating an attractive façade, and landscaping, because what you
really want to do is study architecture. What you emphasize in your
work is a testament to your personal interest.
Procrastination can be a defense against conditions, such as fear
of failure, failure anxiety, and fear of blame. If you tend to think in
a perfectionistic way and you believe that you cannot succeed at
the level at which you think that you should, this may trigger pro-
crastination by causing you to exert only halfhearted efforts or to
decide to do something else altogether. If you focus on the horrors