Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now

Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now

Language: English

Pages: 336

ISBN: 0738211702

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Based on their workshops and counseling experience, psychologists Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen offer a probing, sensitive, and at times humorous look at a problem that affects everyone: students and scientists, secretaries and executives, homemakers and salespeople. Procrastination identifies the reasons we put off tasks—fears of failure, success, control, separation, and attachment—and their roots in our childhood and adult experiences. The authors offer a practical, tested program to overcome procrastination by achieving set goals, managing time, enlisting support, and handling stress. Burka and Yuen even provide tips on living and working with the procrastinators you may know.

Wise, effective, and easy to use, this new edition shows why for 25 years Procrastination has been an immediate must-have for anyone who puts things off until tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

follow an entirely different career path from the one she had envisioned. Even though Jane had found her calling, she didn’t feel free to pursue it fully, not only because it meant change, but because it anointed her as being really good at something, and that didn’t fit her self-image at the time. (She thought only her older brother could inhabit the role of being really good at something.) Her anxiety about being successful was unknown to her, but it was demonstrated by her procrastination.

and they don’t feel strong enough to fight back. Andre’s procrastination keeps him in a job far below his capabilities. When he was hired, Andre and his manager expected that he would rise through the ranks into middle management. Instead, Andre put in minimal effort and was never promoted. “There are a lot of aggressive people in this company. If I move up, I’d have to make decisions and people would fight me and criticize my ideas; I’d just as soon stay out of their way.” If Andre were

they’ve accomplished—or not. Procrastination plagues people of all occupations. Under the constant pressure of grades and other evaluations, a student puts off writing papers and studying for exams, only to cram for days when time is finally running out. Self-employed people have only themselves to rely on to stay in business—yet many find it’s easy to delay when no one is watching to make sure they follow through. In increasingly competitive corporate settings, some people slow down instead

to be on the lookout for the tendency to fall back into old habits, especially when you are stressed. Effort, practice, and repetition are important in maintaining change, and over time, you may even lose that temptation to put things off and find it easier to “do it now.” You are likely to make small improvements or changes at first, rather than experience a sudden, grand transformation. In the Fixed Mindset, every step taken is a measure of success, and every step not taken is a measure of

goal that you can work on. If it’s raining outside, can you do indoor exercises? If someone you need is out of the office, can you make other calls? Although you might stop momentarily in one area, you don’t have to stop completely. The danger for procrastinators is not in withdrawing temporarily; the danger lies in giving up altogether. Reward Yourself After You’ve Made Some Progress. The notion of giving yourself a reward may be foreign, because procrastinators are much more likely to

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