Procrastination

I think this is a good topic for me since I procrastinated myself right past my last four blogs. Yep! that's right. FOUR blogs. You would think that the guilt after two would corral me into fulfilling my obligations on number three and four. But, no. **sigh**
So here I go. Procrastination: Seven times Seventy Ways to Break the Habit of Procrastination.
Number One: Stop reading this blog and go back to work.




Still with me?
Yes?
Then you are cut out of the same cloth as I am, dear reader.

It is not a coincidence that I used the phrase seven times seventy in the title. Although the Biblical reference is different (Jesus is indicating how many times we must forgive.), the principle of breaking a habit is the same. First you must forgive yourself for succumbing to the old pattern. Actively forgive yourself. If you don't, you power up the urge to do it again. That's right. The negative attention you give to the behavior you want to eliminate, actually keeps the behavior active. Forgive yourself. Don't dwell on the circumstance where you have fallen. OUCH! Get up, dust yourself off, and get moving.
Then, say no the next time, and the next, and the next. In fact, if you have to, say no seven times seventy times.
It honestly won't take that long. You should be able to establish a new pattern of behavior in less than a week.
REMEMBER: #1 replace the bad behavior with a good one. In this case, instead of procrastinating, deliberately achieve one of your goals for the day.
#2 don't become complacent. After you have established the new behavior, don't be surprised if much later you slip and return to the bad. Tsk! Tsk! naughty, naughty.
Shall we dwell on it? NO!
Shall we begin the regime of no, no, no again? YES!

Now let's see if it works. I should post again on June 16th. Watch for that day and keep me accountable.