Neil

You’ll realize that the absurd lengths taken to procrastinate indicate how much pain you’ve trained yourself to associate with the task.

For example, notice how you might be mentally complicating a task so that it appears overwhelming. Be especially aware of how you talk to yourself and how your language leads to procrastination or production

Ironically, on a psychological level you are often the one who raises the board off the ground by changing a straightforward task into a test of your worth, proof that you are acceptable, or a test of whether you will be successful and happy or a failure and miserable.

most cases you are the one who confuses just doing the job with testing your worth, where one possible mistake would feel like the end of the world.

In most cases you are the one who confuses just doing the job with testing your worth, where one possible mistake would feel like the end of the world.

It is only the dread of something worse that gets us beyond our dread of being less than perfect and being judged.

If the image of the fire was not a great motivator for you, see how your worries about being perfect and of falling diminish when you imagine that a small child is on the other side crying for your help. Notice that human compassion and courage are additional ways in which you can overcome your fears and your habit of procrastination.

First, you give a task or a goal the power to determine your worth and happiness. You think, “Getting this job, passing this test, dating this person will change my life and make me happy.” When a perfect performance or the achievement of a specific goal becomes the sole measure of your self-worth, too much is at stake to just start working without some leverage, such as procrastination, to break the equation of self-worth = performance.

Berkeley psychologist Rich Beery states that fear of failure stems from assuming that what you produce reflects your complete ability. You therefore use procrastination to protect your worth from being judged.

If you maintain perfectionist standards, then failing to achieve your goals or making a mistake can feel as if you’re going to die. But maybe your job, your relationship, or your home is so important to you that losing it would feel like the end of the world. If so, you’ll want to know how to create alternatives that allow you to bounce back from your natural procrastination patterns. You’ll want a plan B and a plan C, rather than being overly dependent and overly insistent on plan A as the only way to achieve and survive.