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How to Overcome the Dirty Little Habit of Procrastination

© Keith Crovatt- All rights reserved
http://www.BreakBadHabit.com/procrastination.html
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We are all procrastinators. Either consciously or subconsciously we delay, stall and put off various tasks that will make a positive difference in our lives. Procrastinating is actually a habit developed over a long period of time. Habits are very hard to change without a conscious, deliberate action taken on our part.

Traditionally, procrastination has been associated with perfectionism, a tendency to negatively evaluate outcomes and one’s own performance. It is an intense fear and avoidance of judgment of your abilities by others. Heightened social self-consciousness, anxiety, recurrent low moods, and workaholism are the results of compulsory procrastination.

So how did we get into this mess? Procrastination is like any other habit. Our daily routine tends to be the same if we are not aware of the habits that this can create. We all seek pleasure in our lives. Most every action we take on a daily basis is done to avoid pain, save time, save money and increase pleasures.

We create a false sense of pleasure by delaying projects, weight loss goals, job searches and relationship issues with procrastination. It feels good to tell ourselves, “I will start this in the morning so I can go to the park this afternoon with my kids.” Unfortunately, this is temporary. It is also fatal. This procrastination leads to more stress. More stress leads to more procrastination to stop the pain. The cycle feeds on itself.

I read a quote that in summary says, “Yesterday is a canceled check with tomorrow an IOU but today is tasks at hand.” Read that line again! The most precious asset we all have is time. No one has more than you. We only have today as a promise on this earth. Stop putting off your dreams and desires by procrastinating. So how do I do that you ask?

First, dig deep into your soul. No one else has to know what you are feeling inside. Why are you putting this goal off? Are you a perfectionist? Do you think if it is not absolutely perfect it does not count? That is farthest from the truth.

Break down the goal or task into many small manageable actions. Do not try to lose 50 pounds, go to the gym every day, eat 50% less food all in one month. This is not reasonable. Start by only having 1 soda a day instead of 3. Switch from 2% milk to 1% milk for a month. After a month switch to skim milk. You will get use to it and the habit of drinking high fat content milk is over.

You must create new habits. New habits take 21 days on average to form. If you take on too drastic a change at first, the 21 days will become your nightmare in life.

Get mad! Emotions are the most powerful driving force in our lives. Admit to yourself that we all buy products, eat foods and relate to others by emotions. We will justify the actions in some logical way but the emotions drive our actions. “I am fed up with dieting and weight loss products” is a great emotional statement that will create action.

Tell other people what you are going through. Tell them your plans to stop the habit. Do not be embarrassed. They too have their own demons and secrets. Many times they will ask you to help them or join them to conquer procrastination together. Holding each other accountable for stopping procrastination is another powerful habit changing action.

Finally, momentum is the key. Momentum is an action moving fast that will not stop easily once the driving forces (you) starts the pushing. It is much easier to keep the procrastination demon at bay when the daily habits of actions and thoughts take hold. This is where other people are important to your success with procrastination. They will push you and coach you because they want you to do the same for them.

Procrastination, like many other habits, is easily broken when it is replaced by a new habit. New habits take time, effort and energy. You did not learn procrastination overnight and it does take 21 days to break that habit. Make today the defining point in your life to stop procrastination.

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Keith & TheSmackPack are a family internet information team.
For less than the cost of one counseling session, stopping
procrastination starts NOW not later.
Click => http://www.BreakBadHabit.com/procrastination.html
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What are 5 important steps to take control of your eating
disorders? In “Are Eating Disorders Related To BadHabits
(Part 1)” we discussed the various types of eating
disorders and some examples that will hit home with many
readers. In this article, we want to explore 5 ways to
break an eating disorder habit.

*The first step is often the most important and is the
hardest to accomplish! Nothing ever happens in life until
you actually make a move to change your habits. If we keep
our eating disorder habits to ourselves, we can slip and
slide and no one will be the wiser, right? Well, that is
about to change. The first step in controlling the yo-yo
weight gain/weight loss cycle is…drum roll please…tell
2 other people about your plans. I did not say tell them
about your hopes to lose weight. I did not say tell them
about your dreams of getting back in shape. I said tell
them about your plans. Plans are action items best written
down and read often. Your mind will react in a positive
way when you talk with yourself about a plan, an action and
an expected outcome. You may say “I can’t be caught dead
telling others I have this secret problem I have been
trying to stop.” Guess what? Everyone has some little
secret, hope, wish, frustration they are dealing with also.
Your confession will inspire others to start working on
their issues too. All of a sudden, you have a small
support group of 2 to 5 people helping each other out.
This creates accountability among your group.

*A second way to break eating disorder habits is to change
your daily routine. Do you remember the movie about the
man who relived groundhog day over and over again? He knew
exactly what was going to happen in his life every day
until he died if it did not stop. We all usually get out
of bed at the same time each working day. We have a
routine for cleaning, eating, and driving to school or
work. We look at the clock for lunch and think about our
usual afternoon snack. We may stop to get the same coffee
or pastry on the way in every day. This, my friend, is
called a habit. As this habit has been created, it can be
changed. It all starts in altering your routine.
Typically, it takes 21 days to alter a habit.

*The third method of breaking an eating disorder habit is
changing our menu. I know, it sounds obvious doesn’t it?
You will be surprised at how a simple change in the
quantity of food will alter the calorie intact of the foods
you eat. Here is an example. I love sandwiches at lunch.
I can either take them back to my office or eat them at a
nearby park. As I mentioned in part 1 of this article, the
restaurants are creating super portions of food that most
of us do not need if we sit at a computer all day. My
trick is simple. Order a kids meal or senior portion if
you are older and wiser. Most kids meals now offer fruit,
milk, and other healthy items. Not only is the cost lower
but the portions are smaller and are perfect for all of us.

*A fourth step in breaking an eating disorder habit is
back to our support group. Are you talking with others at
work, school, church, neighbors about hooking up with you?
I can bet most of us have friends we can walk with at
lunch. A lot of lunch places are close enough for a walk.
Think about it. The next time you drive “down the street”
to get lunch, clock the mileage. You will see that instead
of powering up your car, using gas and in many cases stuck
in traffic, you could walk there faster. Trust me on this.
Try it, walk it, get others involved with you.

*The fifth method is the most fun. Create a “reward” day
every week. A single sweet delight, pastry or chocolate
covered yogurt bar will not put 10 pounds on your body. By
rewarding yourself for daily changes in your routine, the
guilt and feeling of being trapped in a diet go away. I
love this part and you will too.

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Keith & TheSmackPack are a family internet information team.
For less than the cost of one counseling session, eating
disorders can be drastically altered by using habit breaking
techniques.
Click => http://www.BreakBadHabit.com/stopeatingdisorders.html
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Eating disorders are characterized by an abnormal obsession with
food and weight. Eating disorders are much more noticed in women than
in men due to the fact that men often don’t seek help.

We believe, that for most people, a link exists between habits
formed long ago and eating disorders.

An eating disorder is a complex compulsion to eat in a way which
disturbs physical, mental, and psychological health. The eating may
be excessive (compulsive over-eating); to limited (restricting); may
include normal eating punctuated with episodes of purging; may
include cycles of binging and purging; or may encompass the ingesting
of non-foods.

Being overweight is generally caused by the intake of more calories
(by eating) than are expended by the body (by exercise and everyday
living). Factors which may contribute to this imbalance include:

* Limited exercise and sedentary lifestyle
* Overeating
* Genetic predisposition
* A high glycemic index diet (i.e. a diet that consists of meals
that give high postprandial blood sugar)
* Hormone imbalances (e.g. hypothyroidism)
* Metabolic disorders, which could be caused by repeated
attempts to lose weight by weight cycling
* An eating disorder (such as binge eating disorder)
* Stress
* Insufficient sleep
* Psychotropic medications
* Smoking cessation

The amount of body fat is regulated to some extent subconsciously by
the brain (by controlling caloric intake through appetite and food
preferences). Although the exact mechanisms by which this occurs are
not entirely known, one common theory suggests that each person may
possess an inherent “set point” weight which the brain attempts to
maintain, and that this set point may vary for each individual
depending on a variety of factors including genetic predisposition,
environment, and past experience. A habit link from the past can
trigger this set point.

This leads to the conclusion that some individuals may be
predisposed to naturally maintaining different body weights than
others, and thus it may be easier for some people to avoid being
overweight, while others may find it much more difficult. It also
suggests, however, that an individual’s set point may be changeable
with appropriate environment and conditioning.

Treatment

A large number of people undergo some form of treatment to attempt
to reduce their weight, usually either in an attempt to improve their
health, to improve their lifestyle, or for cosmetic reasons. The
generally recommended treatment for being overweight is a modified or
controlled diet in conjunction with increased exercise. For those who
are obese rather than overweight, more intensive therapies such as
drugs or surgery are sometimes used.

Studies suggest that reducing calorie intake by itself (dieting) may
have short-term effects but does not lead to long-term weight loss,
and can often result in gaining back all of the lost weight and more
in the longer term. For this reason, it is generally recommended that
weight-loss diets not be attempted on their own but instead in
combination with increased exercise and long-term planning and weight
management.

Moreover, for all individuals, repeatedly losing weight and then
gaining it back (”yo-yo dieting”), is believed to do more harm than
good and can be the cause of significant additional health problems.

Is there a underlining issue that may work better than dieting for
eating disorders?

Definition: Habit - Noun - Singular

1. an action done on a regular basis.

Example: It’s become a habit of mine to have a cup of
coffee after dinner.

Let’s take the above example. Many years ago, we started a habit of
drinking coffee after dinner. It was a time to relax and talk about
the day. Unfortunately, the coffee must have 2 teaspoons of sugar
for our tastes. If we wanted 2 cups of coffee that became 4
teaspoons. Every night, day after day, week after week the sugar and
calories added up.

Another example was our lunch time at work. The sub sandwich shops
figured out years ago that to increase the revenue per customer, a
combo meal made a great “up sell”. Unfortunately, the combo meal
usually included a large selection of chips. High in fat and
questionable nutrition value, chips have become a habit in our eating
styles.

How many of you also stop at the local coffee store on the way into
work for calorie loaded coffee and maybe a muffin to make you feel
full going to work?

Each of these examples OVER TIME becomes a habit. The habit makes
your brain crave the food/drink/mood when you stop or alter the
routine. We now know that good habits can replace bad habits if the
desire is truly there.

Our next article will talk about what steps you must take to change
the habits creating a chaotic eating disorder.

======================================================
Keith & TheSmackPack are a family internet information team.
For less than the cost of one counseling session, eating
disorders can be drastically altered by using habit breaking
techniques.
Click => http://www.BreakBadHabit.com/stopeatingdisorders.html
======================================================

Do you have a bad habit that is keeping you from enjoying your life? Are you overeating? Do you bite your nails? Do you procratinate (don’t we all!)?

Our site is for discussions and treatments to change the bad habits into GOOD habits. Incredible changes have been made in our lives by realizing the habit, acting on it and replacing it with a new good habit.

Come on board and join us for a lively discussion and suggestions to how the habits can be changed.

Blessings to all,

Keith & TheSmackpack