Page 94 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach
P. 94
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?