I read this post the other day after this person linked from my comments section on my guitar post. Some really good stuff, and this blog is dedicated to helping to have a more productive & effective life- tips on leadership, communication, progress, and procrastination.
One of the biggest take-aways for me is in asking yourself “Why do I procrastinate?” Why do I put off going to the gym, picking guitar and songwriting back up, laundry & dishes, organizing that closet, and whatever else it is for you that you end up not doing what you know you need to or even what you want to do. Check out the post below, and hop over to Benjamin’s blog for more insightful stuff…no really, get off your butt and go do it!
The Now Habit – Dealing with Procrastination
Posted on February 5, 2007 by Jaminellis.wordpress.comI was going to read a book on procrastination, but I just kept putting it off. It would be funny, if it wasn’t true! Actually, I just finished reading a book on procrastination, which I found helpful, so it seemed a good idea to remind myself what it said.
Procrastination is a major productivity issue in modern life, just check out 43things.com where you’ll find over 14,000 people trying to stop procrastinating, all at once – a veritable hive of inactivity! It is almost constantly near the top of the rankings of things that people want to sort out in their lives. Procrastination isn’t just ‘not doing things’, it is also ‘doing the wrong things’. I think that, if we are honest, the majority of us procrastinate to some degree or other, but highly successful people generally don’t. That makes it a prime target to tackle on many people’s self-improvement journey. I am no exception. It is just a very hard thing to deal with. It is touched upon in so many books, but a good remedy seems hard to find. So far my favourite has been The Now Habit: Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play by Neil Fiore, Ph.D.
I had not read one of Neil Fiore’s books before, but his book “Dealing with the Emotional Side of Cancer” had been recommended to me, so I purchased the Now Habit. That isn’t as random as it sounds, I promise you. Perhaps I was procrastinating? Based on the strength of The Now Habit, I think I will be getting the original book. The Now Habit isn’t perfect as a book or as a system, nothing is, but I have found it to be remarkably helpful. It was written out of Neil’s own struggles with procrastination and his work with his many clients. Here is a brief overview, there is no substitute for reading the book, but hopefully this will provide some encouragement, in running through the content of the chapters:
Introduction
Starting with a Maslow quote, the introduction sets out a positive philosophy for dealing with procrastination – The Now Habit. How to move from being a procrastinator, to being a producer.
1. Why we procrastinate.
The warning signs:
☑Impossibly long “to do” list, talk to yourself in “have to’s”
☑Unrealistic about time, vague about goals and values
☑Feelings of depression, low self-esteem and fear.Our worst critic is ourselves (we judge ourselves a failure, before we have even started). Procrastination is inherently rewarding – you escape the object of your fear and do something that you ‘want’ to do, rather than ‘have to’. Sometimes the object of the procrastination even goes away, because circumstances change, or because someone else deals with it. Procrastination is a self-reinforcing, vicious circle. Procrastination can express resentment, or defend against fear of failure or fear of success. A really helpful quote:
“the drive for success involves setting a goal, making it a high priority, and then investing time and energy towards its achievement.”
2. How we procrastinate
…There’s 5 more insigtful points. Now read the rest of the post here.
Posted by rebekah king 
Posted by rebekah king 
Posted by rebekah king 
