BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Life Coaching The Now Habit

We were talking in another thread about "The Now Habit" - a book about overcoming procrastination. I ordered it from Amazon and it arrived today! I figured I'd take it in chapters. Is anyone else reading it? We could do a book club type of thing about it!

The intro talks about the book being out for 20 years now, and how he spent 10 years researching and writing it. So this system has been tested for 30 years. That's a pretty good history!

Neil Fiore (the author) says in essence procrastination is NOT a cause. It's not a "fault". It is a METHOD. It is how you try to resolve a problem. So you shouldn't look at it as "I am bad, I procrastinate". You should think, "something is wrong, and my current handling technique is procrastination - I need to find a better technique".

How do you look at your procrastination? Do you think of it as a fault, a curse, a flaw? Do you think you could retrain your mind to realize it is just a "technique that works sometimes" and that you need other techniques for other times?

I think I will check this out. It sounds like a book I definitely need to read as I look at the piles of "stuff" around me.
I look at my procrastination as a flaw. I don't mind it sometimes, but I get upset at myself when I've procrastinated on something and all of a sudden I have to rush to fix it.

I have to check out the book, it almost sounds like the "it takes 20 days to change a habit, or is it make a new habit." Either way, let me find the book and read the first few chapters. If anyone else wants to join in for a online book club, that would be cool.

I will definitely be reading this book when I get my hands on it again. LOL. I see my procrastination as a flaw...definitely a flaw, not a curse.

Most people weren't managing multiple goals back in the 1970s and 1980s when I was growing up. So my parents and the adults around me couldn't teach me any specific skills to handle several different things at once.

In college many of us earned degrees even tho we waited until the absolute last minute to complete projects and study for tests. That's when my procrastination was at it's height in college. I missed out on programs and scholarship opportunities, all sorts of things because I was unorganized and would put off taking action, but I survived and graduated. In a sense I "got away with it."

Once you "get away with it" a few times procrastination becomes a bad habit, but not an unchangeable one.

Also one of my girlfriends admits that she gets a "rush" from waiting until the last minute to get things done. It's exciting for her to make it just in time.

Right we were talking about that very thing in the chat last night, the way you get addicted to the adrenaline of rush of "I survived!!" but that isn't healthy for you long term It's much better to get the "in the flow" calm thrill of doing things smoothly and easily. Sort of like weaning yourself off caffeine

I mean better in the "healthier" sense - it's not good for your body to live on jolts

Chapter 1 - Why we Procrastinate

Often we do it because our to-do list is simply too long. It is too much TO do and therefore our only real solution is to put it off. If we put it off maybe some things will go away on their own and maybe other people will take care of some things.

They suggest keeping a log. I.e. carry a notebook with you. When you push something off, jot down what it is and why. The more you do this, the more you see the patterns. So get a notebook NOW (he he he) do not procrastinate that part! I definitely recommend carrying a notebook with you, they are SO useful.

Procrastination is temporarily relief from stress. Since stress damages your health, procrastination is actually a good thing health wise if the alternative is having that stress hit you. But of course there are other alternatives too.

I like this quote. "The more complex and varied your sense of self, the less likely stress in one area will hurt." That is, say all you do all day every day is raise your kids. If someone (or something) challenges your child raising abilities it really hurts because your entire being is tied up in that task.

But say you have several hobbies. Candlemaking. Crocheting. Origami. Cooking. If something happens to your favorite mold so you can't make candles for 2 weeks, it doesn't really matter because you have other things to do. The more you spread out your sense of worth, the more you can weather bumps in one area.

What do you guys think?

I was out on Amazon.com today and forgot to look for the book. Hopefully forgetting is not a form of procrastination....chuckle..
Our libraries do not carry it...amazing... so I will check Amazon later.
I don't know that I agree. I've always thought of procrastination as increasing my stress...mmm...I guess it's how I look at it. I think that if I procrastinate in one area, it elevates the stress because I DO have so much other stuff going on. So for example, if I procrastinate on getting the treasurer's report done for the non-profit that I'm on the Board on, it makes me more stressful because I might have research to do for my Bella articles, something to do for the family AND get the report done. Maybe it's a matter of training the mind.
Interesting...relieving stress, not causing it...mmm. I MUST be doing something wrong...lol...

Oh definitely the LONG term effect of procrastination is increased stress, because now your time to do something is shortened. So that's why it's not a long term healthy coping technique

But SHORT term - if you are facing a task and you procrastinate doing it, it is to release that short term stress of working on the task. If for example you had a spare hour and you had a bucket of ice cream in front of you and your favorite movie, you probably wouldn't procrastinate eating the ice cream and watching the movie. That would be something you enjoyed. But if it was pouring rain and you had to walk to the post office, that might be something you procrastinated. The task ahead of you would involve stress, and not doing it gives you - at that exact moment - less stress.

I agree with all of it--especially the impossibly long to do list. When I list what I'm supposed to do for the next day--like I'll do in a minute. I almost always put down more than I actually do. I usually do half of it.

In terms of not attaching your entire identity to one venture/job/career I also agree with that whole heartedly. People don't understand when I say that I want to write (in different genres) AND I want a job that has nothing to do with writing. I need various forms of expression. I think most of us do. And with the economy the way it is many of us NEED more than one stream of income.

Good point...good point...I stopped on the way home and bought a couple of those little pocketbook sized notebooks. Then I was going to work on my Bella site, but I cleaned out the closet space under our stair case. A chore that I've been procrastinating on completing for a week now.
Considering the fact that I've emptied out 8 boxes, went through them and hauled a lot to the trash...I'm thinking I did my exercise for today too.

Dianne that is AWESOME that you got that done!! I bet that is very rewarding for you, for that all to be handled and cleaned out! Plus you got exercise too - talk about double benefits!

The little notebooks are SO useful, I use them for all sorts of things now. I highly recommend having one by you pretty much always. It is so much easier to write something down then to hope you remember it and then promptly forget it.

Leah - I am completely with you on the multiple streams. It helps to keep you sane and if one area goes quiet, another area can now take over.