Successful Time Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 16

Overcoming Procrastination

In This Chapter

• Recognizing procrastination before it slows you down
• Understanding when putting something off is good
• Taking action to stop procrastination in its tracks
• Taking advice from recovering procrastinators

Much of my work today — writing, developing far-reaching sales programs for clients, and putting together and presenting training workshops — involves long-term, complex, multi-staged projects that require great investments of research, development, and time. And with business booming, I can't afford to get behind.

And I don't have to — not when I can conquer those tendencies to put things off. In this chapter, I show you what procrastination is and how to recognize it. Not all procrastination is bad, however, so I help you see the difference between good reasons to postpone action and mere excuses to put something off.

But most importantly, I provide tools and tactics to help you overcome that debilitating paralysis that keeps you from getting started or the attacks that slow you down or stop you mid-project. One of the most important principles in overcoming procrastination is to take the first step — so go ahead and get started.

Staring Down the Source: How Procrastination Takes Hold

Although many people believe that they postpone the unpleasant when they indulge in procrastination, fact is, putting things off carries a lot of emotional unpleasantness. Boiled down to its purest form, procrastination is simply deferring or delaying ...