Previously we have looking at how troublesome patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior can be changed.  Today we begin to survey specific habits, starting with procrastination.

The key to understanding procrastination is understanding the relationship between the level of stress and the level of performance.  When it comes to stress, performance rides along an inverted-U shaped curve, where the best performance happens on the top of the curve.

Too low stress produces errors of omission (carelessness); too high stress brings errors of commission (impulsive mistakes).  Surprisingly, procrastination often happens because people think they should act TOO quickly, missing the middle sweet-spot where stress is optimal for performance.  Such moderate stress also engenders motivation, that is, if we notice it.

A procrastinator avoids doing the work when the stress is too low. That is actually a good start.  Unfortunately, yelling at oneself about procrastination distracts ones attention away from discovering the right point to do the work.

Wait for it, notice it, catch the wave, and ride it.

A second cause for procrastination is the natural ambivalence people have toward the obligation to work.   It can seem that the point of work is to stop working, so the sooner the better.

We think work is the enemy, but committed effort is actually the essence of feeling alive.  As I wrote in yesterday’s Facebook posting:

Many people work toward the end of work – bad idea. To retire is to expire. Instead, work to find something to love in everything that you do – not all of it, but some of all of it. Of course, as you put love into your work, also work at the love in your life.

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