THE ANTI-PROCRASTINATION HABIT
A Simple Guide to
Mastering Difcult Tasks
S.J. SCOTT
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit
© 2017 by Oldtown Publishing LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form without permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.
Disclaimer
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or
transmitted by email without permission in writing from the publisher.
While all attempts have been made to verify the information provided in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretations of the subject matter herein. Tis book is for entertainment purposes only. Te views expressed are
those of the author alone, and should not be taken as expert instruction
or commands. Te reader is responsible for his or her own actions.
Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international,
federal, state, and local governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising, and all other aspects of doing business in the
US, Canada, or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader.
Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or
liability whatsoever on the behalf of the purchaser or reader of these materials.
Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely
unintentional.
4
CONTENTS
Your Free Gift ......................................................................9 Join the DGH Community ..................................................10Introduction .......................................................................11
Te Day My Father Almost Died .................................................12 What Is Procrastination? ..............................................................14 About
...........................................15 About the Author .........................................................................17
Reason #1: You Are a Perfectionist ...............................................20Reason #2: You Fear the Unknown ...............................................21Reason #3: You Promise to Do It “Later” ......................................24Reason #4: You Focus on Easy asks ............................................28Reason #5: You Experience a Lack of Motivation ........................31Reason #6: You Don’t Know How to Get Started ........................32
Practice #1: Say No as Early and Politely as Possible ....................76Practice #2: Identify the Mandatory asks ....................................77Practice #3: Compare Each Request to Your Current Projects .....78Practice #4: alk to Your Boss about Your op Projects ................80Practice #5: Ask Yourself, “What Will My Obituary Say?” ...........82
Exercise #5: Say No to Anything Tat Doesn’t Match Your Goals ............................................................................83
Big Rocks and How to Focus on What’s Important .....................86 Te Lesson of the Big Rocks Story ...............................................87 Action #1: Answer Tree Questions .............................................88 Action #2: Apply the 80/20 Rule to Your Schedule ......................89 Action #3: Block Out ime on a Calendar ...................................90 Action #4: Practice Batching and Create “Teme Days” ...............92 Action #5: Set Aside ime for Deep Work...................................94
Step #6: Implement 14 Daily Practices to Overcome Procrastination ...................................................................98
Practice #1: Resolve Any Potential Emergency .............................99Practice #2: Do a 5- to 10-Minute Daily Review .......................101Practice #3: Focus On Your MIs ...............................................102Practice #4: Eat the Frog .............................................................103Practice #5: Use the Eisenhower Matrix to Make Quick Decisions .....................................................................................104Practice #6: Complete Quick asks Immediately .......................110Practice #7: Create a Mini Habit for Challenging asks ............112Practice #8: Build Elephant Habits for Ongoing Projects ..........114Practice #9: Use Sprints to Work On Challenging Projects ........115Practice #10: Build the Discomfort Habit ..................................118Practice #11: Remove Hidden Blocks with the Awareness Habit .....121Practice #12: Bundle Rewards with Actions ...............................122Practice #13: Attach All asks to a Goal ....................................123Practice #14: Create Accountability for Your asks ....................124
Step #7: Create Your Game Plan for Overcoming Procrastination .................................................................132
Activity #1: Complete Four One-ime Exercises .......................133 Activity #2: Schedule a Weekly Planning Session .......................134 Activity #3: Build an Anti-Procrastination Habit-Stacking Routine .......................................................................................136 Activity #4: Challenge Your Daily Procrastination endencies ...140
9
YOUR FREE GIFT
As a way of saying thanks for your purchase, I’m offering a free
report that’s exclusive to readers of
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit
.
With
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit Quick Start Guide
, you’ll
discover a printable reference guide of all the exercises, action items and checklists you can use to implement the following framework. Everything you need to get started is included in the
PDF that’s part of the free companion website
.
10
JOIN THE DGH COMMUNITY
Looking to build your goal-specific habits? If so, then check out the Develop Good Habits (DGH) community at
. Tis is an excellent group full of like-minded individuals who focus
on getting results with their lives. Here you can discover simple
strategies for building powerful habits, find accountability partners, and ask questions about your struggles. If you want to “level up” the results from this book, then this is the place to be. Just go to
to join the DGH Community.
11
INTRODUCTION
Te following book
might
save your life.Pretty crazy claim, right?
But hear me out: if you pay close attention to the words you’re about
to read and
implement
the strategies that I recommend, then this information could have a major impact on your life. It could help you prevent personal catastrophe.How can I say this with 100% certainty?
Well, it relates to a simple word that has hundreds of meanings
(depending on who you talk to). Tat word is
procrastination
. We all have a basic understanding of what this word means. Look it up in a dictionary and you’ll see a definition like this one from
Dictionary.com: “Te act or habit of putting off or delaying, especially
something requiring immediate attention.”
But
how
we procrastinate and
what
we procrastinate on differs from
person to person:
»
A student will procrastinate in school, waiting until the last minute to study for a test or write a term paper.
»
A professional will procrastinate on a work-related task
Introduction
12
because it’s challenging and requires hard work.
»
And an athlete might procrastinate on getting an injury checked
out because he or she doesn’t want to miss an important game.
We all have personal reasons for procrastinating. And it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking it’s not a big deal. You might even say to yourself: “It’s just a bad habit that I have, but it’s not that big of a deal.”
Te truth is that procrastination can have a serious effect on your life.
It could even create a life-or-death situation. For instance, let’s say you’re experiencing pain and discomfort in your chest. Nine times out of ten, it
might be
nothing. But there’s a small chance that it’s a warning sign of an impending heart attack.
Unfortunately, some people will ignore (i.e., procrastinate on) a symptom like this and will die because of their failure to act. If
only they had gone to the doctor the moment they experienced this warning sign, their life could have been saved.Don’t believe this happens? Well, let me tell you a quick story to illustrate this point.
The Day My Father Almost Died
In 2007, I was in Virginia with my family visiting my aunt and cousin.
On the day we were ready to drive home, my father complained of a painful discomfort in his chest.
He said something like: “I’ll
probably
make an appointment this
week with my doctor and get it checked out.”
THE ANTI-PROCRASTINATION HABIT
13
My response was the typical sarcastic comment you’d get in my family: “Yes, dad, that sounds like a
great plan
. I’m sure nothing
bad will happen with your heart in the next five days. Or maybe
you could go to the emergency room right away and make sure it’s nothing serious.” At first, my dad blew off this comment.But on the drive back, he thought about what I said and realized
that maybe, just maybe, I had a valid point. So, he scheduled an
emergency appointment with his doctor to make sure everything was okay with his heart. Te prognosis?My dad required an immediate quadruple bypass heart surgery.In fact, the doctor told my dad that if he waited even a
few
more days, he might have had a fatal heart attack.Let me say it another way: If my dad
procrastinated
on an obvious heart issue, he would be dead right now. Fast-forward ten years; my dad is still an important part of my life. I see him twice a month
when we go to the movies, have dinner together, and grab a few
beers. He’s also someone I turn to whenever I have a complicated
business question. And he was there to see the birth of my son,
Eugene, who also happens to be his namesake.
Now, I’m not sharing this story to brag about how I saved my
dad’s life. Honestly, I don’t remember even making that sarcastic
comment. (It’s something that he reminded me of years later.) Te purpose behind sharing this story is to illustrate how the smallest
choices we make can often have the biggest impact on our lives. My
Introduction
14
dad is still here ten years after that warning sign because he chose to
not
procrastinate. I’m sure he was terrified at what the doctor might
tell him, but he faced this issue head on by taking immediate action.
So, yes, the procrastination habit might
seem
like a small thing. But in the wrong scenario, it can have a massive—even lethal—impact on your life.
What Is Procrastination?
Now, before we move on, let’s briefly talk about how I define pro-crastination and how it can negatively affect your life. As I said before, procrastination can be defined as “the act or habit
of putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate
attention.” But there’s a lot more to that definition. Procrastination can lead to:
»
bad grades;
»
poor job performance;
»
unhealthy diet choices;
»
health issues;
»
financial problems.
Simply put: If you’re someone who procrastinates, then this bad
habit is limiting your success in a variety of ways. If you don’t address
this issue, then you’ll reduce the likelihood that you’ll achieve your major goals.
Tat’s why it’s critical that you focus on eliminating your procrastination
tendencies by building what I call the “anti-procrastination habit.”
THE ANTI-PROCRASTINATION HABIT
15
Whether you’re someone who lets the occasional task slip through the cracks or you always do things at the last minute, you’ll discover an abundance of actionable advice in the following blueprint that’s appropriately titled
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit:
A Simple Guide to Mastering Difficult asks
.
About
The Anti-Procrastination Habit
Tis book is a straightf0rward, systematic framework for building an action-oriented habit throughout all the areas of your life. It’s a breezy read, full of strategies that you can immediately implement in your life.
Tat said, this book also requires a bit of effort on
your
part. Not only
do I expect you to read the material but I also want you to complete
each of the exercises provided at the end of each step. I realize this is
a big request to ask of someone who struggles with procrastination. Tat’s why I’ve simplified each exercise, so it’ll only require 30–60 minutes of your time. You will learn a variety of things in
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit
, like how to:
»
clarify all your professional tasks to understand why you’re
choosing to do each activity;
»
manage those day-to-day emergencies that pop up, which
often can feel stressful and overwhelming;
»
evaluate all the opportunities that come your way and decide if they are worth pursuing (my philosophy is it’s easy to not procrastinate if you never agree to do a task in the first place);
Introduction
16
»
prioritize your life so that you focus on what truly matters and
“let go” of everything else;
»
complete that challenging task (even when it’s something
you’ve been dreading);
»
find that elusive work-life balance where you’re able to work
hard, play hard, and spend all those extra moments with people
who enrich your life. What you’ll discover in
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit
is a simple approach to managing all that comes into your life without feeling
overwhelmed. You’ll learn how to laser-focus on
your
priorities, respond appropriately to those emergencies, and permanently
eliminate everything else (instead of procrastinating on them).
Finally, no author writes a book in isolation. Like you, I love reading
books about productivity and personal development. So, whenever I discover a great strategy from someone else, I love sharing it with my readers. Tat’s why you’ll discover that I often reference concepts that were previously covered in great books and websites, like
,
,
,
,
,
While I do my best to provide the “golden nuggets” from these
resources, I encourage you to check out each of these them because they provide a more detailed explanation on some of the material covered in
Te Anti-Procrastination Habit
.
THE ANTI-PROCRASTINATION HABIT
17
About the Author
Before getting started, let me introduce myself and provide a little
context about my belief on procrastination.My name is Steve “S.J.” Scott. I run the blog
, and
I’m the author of a series of habit-related titles, all of which are available
ment can lead to a better life. Instead of lecturing you, I provide simple
strategies that are easy to use, no matter how busy you get during the day.Like many folks, my interest in procrastination started with a personal challenge that I had to overcome. You see, for many years, I was what I like to call a “functional procras-tinator.” I was great at achieving long-term goals (like writing books, managing multiple internet businesses, and running marathons). On
the other hand, I was
terrible
at following up on many of the day-to-day
issues that didn’t seem urgent, like getting the oil changed in my car, doing my taxes, or even grocery shopping.
Te result was that I often let important priorities slip through the
cracks because I thought I was “too busy” to do them.My excuse was the standard line, pulled straight from the procrastina-tor’s playbook: “I will get to them
someday
.” And, as you have probably guessed, “someday” almost never happened.
I would go through life focusing on my long-term goals while allowing
important issues to pile up on my desk. Te big wake-up call came from what I call “My $2,348.97 Mistake.”
Introduction
18
Like many procrastinators, I always filed for an extension on my taxes
every year. Sometimes I prepaid some of the money, while other times I waited until the last minute, paying what my CPA calls a “stupidity tax.”
Well, one year I filed my typical extension on my personal taxes, but I forgot to do the same thing for my business. After eventually filing in October of that year, I received a nice letter from the Internal Revenue
Service that talked about my failure to file an extension for my business
taxes. With interest and penalties, the letter stated that I owed the US
government exactly $2,348.97—in addition to the money that I already
paid for the year.
Sure, I could argue about the unfairness of the US taxation system. But
the harsh reality is that I was $2,348.97 poorer because I procrasti-nated on a task that would have required only a single day of effort. In fact, even if took an extra five minutes to fill out the extension for my
business, I would have paid only a fraction of the interest and penalties.
After making that expensive mistake, I vowed to myself that I’d never let something stupid like that slip through the cracks. I swore that if something important popped up, I’d take care of it right way, without delay. And I promised myself that I would create a framework for my
personal life where I would create that perfect balance between the
important long-term goals with the urgent day-to-day stuff that we all deal with.
Tat system I created is what you’re about to learn in
Te Anti-
Procrastination Habit
.Now, let’s get started by talking about why many people procrastinate.
