Page 97 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

Flex Your Emotional Muscle to Overcome Procrastination 65

table 3.1 (continued)
PURRRRS Choices Made and Actions Taken

Respond by putting In this phase, you face additional Y choices. Do
your plan into action you plan, organize, and start and then behavior-
ally procrastinate to give the horse the reins? Do
you tough it out when the going gets rough by
moving forward with the plan?

Review and revise: Few plans are so great that they are beyond im-
make adjustments to provement. There will be times where reflective
improve the plan and experiences provoke new insights and suggest a
the results. When better path. You may discover a stumbling block
warranted, try an- that you had not seen before. The next Y decision
other way. may involve resting on your laurels (the horse’s
way) or trying a different way—the rider’s choice.

Stabilize: persist and In a world in which most people tend to look for
overlearn coping easy ways, the idea of repeated practice may lack
skills until they are appeal. But there is no easy way to unravel and
automatic. halt procrastination other than to keep working at
building tolerance for discomfort and the neces-
sary follow-through competencies that can give
you an edge in a world in which procrastination is
common. This represents another Y choice: to
apply what you know to other areas where pro-
crastination threatens your productive interests.
Keep practicing until you have overlearned coun-
ter-procrastination principles and pro-efficiency
actions. Then, keep practicing.

• Talk to yourself as though you were your own critic or a person
who can calmly and caringly reframe the situation. An honest
reframing may include this perspective: “I don’t want to, but
I had better act responsibly if I want to avoid a last-minute
rush and risk a negative performance review.” Sometimes
telling yourself that following through is the responsible
thing to do can cause a radical shift in perception from
avoidance to productive actions.
• Examine where you feel the discomfort. Is it in your shoulders?
Is it in your stomach? Does stress give you a headache? Does