the last minute.
Action Illusion
I’m very busy, so I must be making some progress .
No one appreciates quite how much I’ve done .
There’s so much to do, I just can’t stop .
An action illusionist, as the name suggests, is the magician of the procrastinating world. But rather than waving a wand to make people or rabbits or the Statue of Liberty vanish, they use all their sleight of hand to make time disappear. They’re the sort of people who, rather than studying for exams at school, will spend endless hours writing and rewriting their study schedule, and then say, “I just didn’t have enough time.” Or they’ll pop onto the Internet to do some research and will still be there hours later, answering emails that have no correlation to their project. When challenged, these crafty people repeat their mantra: “I have done a lot with my time!” This, of course, is the biggest illusion of all, because they didn’t accomplish the one thing they were supposed to do.
The most interesting thing about suffering from action illusion is that you can quite often spend more energy not doing work than it would take to get your task done.
Dealing with Action Illusion
If you’re an action illusionist, the key to breaking this type of procrastination is to understand that you are not doing what needs to be done. You may technically be working: you keep checking your inbox; you have another look at the monthly data; you even reorganize your desk because the clutter is somehow imposing on your goal of completing your task. Yes, you are busy doing work-type tasks, only they’re not the tasks that really need to be done.
Break this type of procrastination by deciding what would be a successful outcome from your effort. Decide what you can do first that would most help you achieve your goal. Do that one thing first, and then decide what would be the next step toward completing your task. Don’t let anything come between you and your objective.
What’s Your Excuse?
The secret to overcoming procrastination is to find out how, in any given situation, you are procrastinating. Then, it’s just a short step toward working out what you can do to teach yourself new habits.
To find out what your excuse is, think about something you’re putting off. Then, consider the following fifteen statements, and circle the number that represents how true you think each statement is for the situation you’re thinking about.
Mark each statement in the following manner:
Circle 1 if the statement is Not at all true .
Circle 2 if the statement is Rarely true .
Circle 3 if the statement is Sometimes true .
Circle 4 if the statement is Often true .
Circle 5 if the statement is Totally true .
1. This doesn’t concern me much. 1 2 3 4 5
2. I’m not going to enjoy doing this at all. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I really won’t be able to do this properly. 1 2 3 4 5
4. I’m too stressed/tired/excited to do this now. 1 2 3 4 5
5. I’m very busy, so I must be making some progress. 1 2 3 4 5
6. It’s not very difficult, I can do it anytime. 1 2 3 4 5
7. I’m not in the right frame of mind. 1 2 3 4 5
8. I’m very busy, so the results should follow soon. 1 2 3 4 5
9. It won’t take very long, so I’ll fit it in later. 1 2 3 4 5
10. I’ve failed at this before, so I’m bound to fail again. 1 2 3 4 5
11. This is going to take a really long time. 1 2 3 4 5
12. I’m just not in the mood to do this right now. 1 2 3 4 5
13. It’s a big step, and I’m scared I may not be able to cope. 1 2 3 4 5
14. It’s really unpleasant, so I’ll start another time. 1 2 3 4 5
15. I know what I have to do, so I’m already halfway done. 1 2 3 4 5
Tally Your Numbers
Add up the numbers you chose for the statements as follows:
Statements #1 + #6 + #9 = ______ (Complacency)
Statements #2 + #11 + #14 = ______ (Avoiding discomfort)
Statements #3 + #10 + #13 = ______ (Fear of
Action Illusion
I’m very busy, so I must be making some progress .
No one appreciates quite how much I’ve done .
There’s so much to do, I just can’t stop .
An action illusionist, as the name suggests, is the magician of the procrastinating world. But rather than waving a wand to make people or rabbits or the Statue of Liberty vanish, they use all their sleight of hand to make time disappear. They’re the sort of people who, rather than studying for exams at school, will spend endless hours writing and rewriting their study schedule, and then say, “I just didn’t have enough time.” Or they’ll pop onto the Internet to do some research and will still be there hours later, answering emails that have no correlation to their project. When challenged, these crafty people repeat their mantra: “I have done a lot with my time!” This, of course, is the biggest illusion of all, because they didn’t accomplish the one thing they were supposed to do.
The most interesting thing about suffering from action illusion is that you can quite often spend more energy not doing work than it would take to get your task done.
Dealing with Action Illusion
If you’re an action illusionist, the key to breaking this type of procrastination is to understand that you are not doing what needs to be done. You may technically be working: you keep checking your inbox; you have another look at the monthly data; you even reorganize your desk because the clutter is somehow imposing on your goal of completing your task. Yes, you are busy doing work-type tasks, only they’re not the tasks that really need to be done.
Break this type of procrastination by deciding what would be a successful outcome from your effort. Decide what you can do first that would most help you achieve your goal. Do that one thing first, and then decide what would be the next step toward completing your task. Don’t let anything come between you and your objective.
What’s Your Excuse?
The secret to overcoming procrastination is to find out how, in any given situation, you are procrastinating. Then, it’s just a short step toward working out what you can do to teach yourself new habits.
To find out what your excuse is, think about something you’re putting off. Then, consider the following fifteen statements, and circle the number that represents how true you think each statement is for the situation you’re thinking about.
Mark each statement in the following manner:
Circle 1 if the statement is Not at all true .
Circle 2 if the statement is Rarely true .
Circle 3 if the statement is Sometimes true .
Circle 4 if the statement is Often true .
Circle 5 if the statement is Totally true .
1. This doesn’t concern me much. 1 2 3 4 5
2. I’m not going to enjoy doing this at all. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I really won’t be able to do this properly. 1 2 3 4 5
4. I’m too stressed/tired/excited to do this now. 1 2 3 4 5
5. I’m very busy, so I must be making some progress. 1 2 3 4 5
6. It’s not very difficult, I can do it anytime. 1 2 3 4 5
7. I’m not in the right frame of mind. 1 2 3 4 5
8. I’m very busy, so the results should follow soon. 1 2 3 4 5
9. It won’t take very long, so I’ll fit it in later. 1 2 3 4 5
10. I’ve failed at this before, so I’m bound to fail again. 1 2 3 4 5
11. This is going to take a really long time. 1 2 3 4 5
12. I’m just not in the mood to do this right now. 1 2 3 4 5
13. It’s a big step, and I’m scared I may not be able to cope. 1 2 3 4 5
14. It’s really unpleasant, so I’ll start another time. 1 2 3 4 5
15. I know what I have to do, so I’m already halfway done. 1 2 3 4 5
Tally Your Numbers
Add up the numbers you chose for the statements as follows:
Statements #1 + #6 + #9 = ______ (Complacency)
Statements #2 + #11 + #14 = ______ (Avoiding discomfort)
Statements #3 + #10 + #13 = ______ (Fear of
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