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62   End Procrastination Now!

                  view procrastination as something to make light of. There is the
                  laughable pretense by the phony procrastination club that procras-
                  tination is an overrated problem. It’s fair to say that for some peo-
                  ple, procrastination is a serious and complex process. As it is an
                  embedded habit, curbing procrastination takes serious actions.
                  However, these efforts open the gate for new opportunities for
                  productivity, health, and happiness.

                  The PURRRRS Plan

                  Procrastination is normally an impulsive response to avoid dis-
                  comfort. You distract yourself by engaging in substitute activities
                  in order to dodge discomfort. There is a two-phase process for
                  teaching yourself to slow down, understand what is happening,
                  and shift to productive actions. By accepting discomfort, you are
                  less likely to experience discomfort as a trigger for dodging a high-
                  priority activity.
                      Think of the following PURRRRS exercise as a basic way to
                  slow procrastination impulses, build tolerance for discomfort, and
                  develop permanent cognitive, emotive, and behavioral skills for
                  following through. The following describes the meaning of the
                  acronym.


                  Pause. This is an awareness phase in which you recognize your
                      cues for starting to procrastinate. You tune in to what is
                      happening.
                  Use. You use your cognitive, emotive, and behavioral resources
                      to resist the impulse to sidetrack yourself.
                  Reflect. You probe more deeply into what is happening. What
                      are you telling yourself? What are you trying to accomplish?
                      What map are you following?
                  Reason. This includes a consequences analysis. What are the con-
                      sequences of following an urge to procrastinate? Do you want
                      to change the pattern by promoting the stated over the im-
                      plied agenda? What’s the action plan for following through?
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