procrastination

People think that putting things off will make life easier in the short term, but it almost always leads to stress and disorganization. Chronic procrastination can lead to failure.

procrastinators often follow a pattern:

1. There is something of significance that they hope to achieve



2. They delay - "I'll start this weekend when I have a big chunk of free time."



3. They delay more and become self-critical - "I should have started on Friday even though I was tired."



4. They delay still more until finally the task has to be done hastily - "There is no time to do a detailed analysis, this will have to do," or "I can't do this."



5. They beat up on themselves or under-rate the importance of the task - "I'm a goofball" or "it doesn't matter."



6. They repeat the process almost immediately with another important task and the cycle continues.

procrastinators have been classified into different types:

• The "Perfectionist" who dreads doing anything that is less than perfect,



• The "Dreamer" who has great ideas but hates doing the details



• The "Worrier" who doesn't think things are right, but fears that changes will make them worse so why begin



• The "Defier" who resists doing anything suggested or expected by someone else



• The "Crisis-maker" who manages to find or make a big problem in any project (often by starting too late), and



• The "Over-doer" who takes on way too many tasks and doesn't know where to begin

some ways to overcome procrastination

• Use positive self-talk to increase motivation. You cannot wait until you are in the mood to start important tasks. Remind yourself that you have the ability/knowledge/experience to do the job and get to it.



• Break the task down. The project will not seem as overwhelming when it is broken down into manageable chunks.



• Set attainable goals. Be realistic about how long it will take to get the parts done.



• Prioritize the tasks. Is a deadline approaching? Is one task more important than another? Do what is most important first, resist the temptation to become busy doing a low priority, but easy, task.

Call your EAP at 1-888-600-4EAP for more information, help and support. Counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide confidential assistance at no cost to you.

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