Linda Sapadin - How to Beat Procrastination in the Digital Age

HOW TO BEAT

IN THE

6 Change Programs

for

6 Personality Styles

PsychWisdom Publishing
www.PsychWisdom.com From the NOW IGET IT! Series
click on the link above for more information

Copyright 2012 by Dr. Linda Sapadin
PsychWisdom Publishing

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by anymeanselectronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying),recording, or otherwisewithout prior permission in writing fromthe author.

The individuals described in this book arecomposites of more than one real person. The actions and statementsascribed to such individuals are also a composite of the actionsand statements of the persons on whom the individual is based.

For additional resources, go to:
www.BeatProcrastinationCoach.com
www.PsychWisdom.com

Contact Dr. Sapadin at

Cover Design by Harvey Appelbaum

Your Best Self

Nurture it and Sustainit

Let it be Your Guide to a FabulousFuture

Now I Get It! Totally SensationalAdvice for Living and Loving . A collection of 62 empoweringand entertaining columns on enhancing relationships, enrichingcommunication skills and expanding personal growth. Outskirts Press2007, Inkstone Press (Australia), 2008.

Master Your Fears: How to TriumphOver Your Worries and Get On With Your Life. John Wiley,2004, also published in Korea.

Its About Time! The 6 Styles ofProcrastination and How to Overcome Them. Viking andPenguin, 1996, also published in Japan.

Beat Procrastination and Make theGrade: The 6 Styles of Procrastination and How Students CanOvercome Them. Penguin, 1999 with Jack Maguire.

101 Great Ways to Improve YourLife. Chapter Title: OvercomingResistance: Whats Stopping You? Self-Growth, Inc. 2006

Procrastinating in the Digital Age

Six Personality StylesA Self-AssessmentQuiz

The PerfectionistBut I want it to beperfect!

The DreamerBut I hate dealing with thoseannoying details!

The WorrierBut Im afraid to take arisk!

The Crisis-MakerBut I work best underpressure!

The Defier (Passive-Aggressive)But why should I doit?

The Pleaser (Overdoer)But I cant sayno.

Making Change Happen

How Technology Can Boost Your Productivity

CHAPTER 1

PEOPLE HAVE STRUGGLED WITH procrastination since the beginning of time. Lets see, shall Ispend the evening doing mind-numbing clean-up chores or enjoy agood time with my friends? Shall I do tedious and tiresomepaperwork or plop down on the couch and watch a movie? Its neverbeen easy to control our impulses and urges, especially when thecorrect choice goes against our grain.

In the modern world, however, procrastinationis even harder to conquer. Accessible, appealing, addictivedistractions are everywhere. Beepers beckon. Diversions call.Entertainment entices. Digital devices tempt. Social networks,gaming, blogging, texting, i-Pods, Podcasts, You Tube, websites,porn sites, chat rooms, video streamingand moreseduce. Add up thehours you spend on stuff that has nothing to do with your personalor career goals. Now, is it any wonder that youre teetering on theedge of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams?

Though there were (and are) plenty ofpre-digital ways to fritter away your time, digital temptations arejust so much easier, enjoyable and seductive. Sure you could alwaysneglect your chores to take a snooze or ip through a magazine oractually read a book. But how can you compare those distractionswith the ones currently available to us?

Youre uploading photos onto Facebook when afriend insists you check out a YouTube that has just gone viral. Asyoure watching the video, you get another text about an incrediblenew band. You listen to its music on Grooveshark, view the leadsinger on Tumblr, join the bands fan page on Twitter. And even ifyoure not a member of the Facebook generation, youre stillreading your e-mail, checking out a lead article on your home page,going online to view your financial investments and playingSolitaire. Before you know it, a few minutes have become a fewhours; a few hours have become the better part of the day and youare left wonderingwhere did the daygo?

Exciting, fast-paced entertainment hasactually changed the way your brain operates. Your gray matter nowcraves excitement. If a task doesnt immediately hold yourinterest, your mind gravitates to other matters as youraccomplishments gravitate downhill. Dont live one more dayregretting how you spend your time. You deserve better. You can dobetter. This book will show you how. Lets begin with a basicunderstanding of the procrastination beast.

Procrastination: An Approach-Avoidance Conict

We bandy around the word procrastination all thetime. But what exactly is it? Some people believe its nothing morethan laziness. Sorry, not true. The crux of procrastination is thatits an unresolved approach-avoidance conict. A part of youknows you need (or even want) to do a task but another part of youresists doing it. Like a Hamlet in the world of action, youre tornbetween two impulses: to do or not todo. Such ambivalence makes it tough for you to choose aclear commitment to action. So what happens?

You start doing the task, but lingering resistancemeans you work at a snails pace.

You stay stuck in your Hamlet-like conflict untilyou lurch into action at the last minute, prodded on by animpending deadline or a ticked-off third party.

You put a lot of effort into the project but nevercomplete it because you conclude that its not quite goodenough.

Or you never get beyond your crippling conict.Your positive energy remains dammed, damning you to yet anothersetback.

Heres how Michael, a crisis-maker attorneyand top notch procrastinator described his Hamlet-like conict: Ihave every intention of sitting down to work, but its hard for meto focus on anything early on. Its not until Im under the gunthat my creative energies awaken. Then Im on a roll. I work rightthrough the night, finishing it just before deadlinethough thatdoesnt count the times an unforeseen glitch occurs. In suchsituations, I rely on a Hail Mary pass, making up one excuse afteranother as to why my brief isnt ready on timepraying for areprieve from an empathetic judge.

Memo to Michael: Football coaches only call for a Hail Mary when time is running outand they have no other option. This is a piss poor way to approachwork responsibilitiesespecially since most Hail Marys fail in thestadium as they do in the real world.

Some people experience their Hamlet-likestruggle as: should I work or should Iplay? Heres how Brett, a dreamer procrastinator, describedhis internal battle: I could do it if I felt like it. The thingisI never feel like it. Im drawn to so many other activities thatputting time into any work project takes a back seat. The majorcompetition: Facebook and Twitter, video games, playing the guitar.I know Im a creative person, but its hard for me to stay on task.Im so easily drawn to what feels like fun.