Published by Mark Matloff, Ph.D

• My New E-book
• How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Achieving
• About the Author
• Subscription, Unsubscription, Questions

My New E-book

I am proud to announce that my new e-book has been launched. The name of the book is "Strength in Caring: Giving Power Back to the Alzheimer's Caregiver". This e-book is a book that you can download to your own computer. It is meant to provide information and emotional empowerment for the people who care for others with Alzheimer's disease. It includes articles by a physician educator, an attorney, and a clinical psychologist.

Please check it out. You can learn about it and download a free version at www.StrengthinCaring.com Just click on the link and scroll down to the offer.

"I'll start later."

Sound familiar? It should. We all put things off at one time or another. How many times have you considered working on some task, studying, starting a new project, going on a diet, learning something new, getting a chore done, having that

important talk, and so on - only to put yourself off? Procrastination is a universal behavior.

If we can understand how and why we procrastinate, we can learn to overcome it.

There is good news and bad news about procrastination. The good news? It gets us off the hook for right now. That's a relief. Oftentimes that avoidance reduces the anxiety many people feel whenever they try something new or return to something they weren't too wild about.

The bad news? We never accomplish what we need to do. And that avoidance has a price. At some level we realize that we are ducking our responsibility and feel badly about that. So, we have to invent excuses to explain away our procrastination.

Our typical excuses are some variety of these two types:

1. "I'll wait until conditions are perfect in order to start well and do best."
    
2. "It is too hard to start now. I'll do better if I wait until later, when it will be easier."

The problem with both these types of excuse is that each one is irrational. First, there is never really a PERFECT TIME to get started. There are always hassles and frustrations to deal with.

Second, waiting indefinitely does not make things easier. This is because whenever we behave in a certain way, we are building a habit which may very well continue. Waiting teaches you to WAIT, not to START. And, in most instances, things are usually no better later on.

1. So, how can you fight procrastination?
    
2. Make your plan.
    
3. Commit to someone that you will get started.
    
4. Report how you are doing.
    
5. Be ready for your natural inertia and natural excuses.
    
6. Show yourself how your excuse (s) is irrational.
    
7. Refuse to feel guilty for procrastinating. But refuse to be controlled by an excuse!
    
8. And GET STARTED.
   

Good luck. You can read more about dealing with procrastination in my e-book, which has a lot of useful self-help chapters.

Maybe someday, when conditions are better, I might write some more about procrastination...

About the Author:

Mark Matloff, Ph.D. is a psychologist, coach, trainer, and consultant with over 27 years of experience helping people and organizations change for the better. In addition to his
private practice, he teaches undergraduate psychology courses at Columbia College. He has done research in gerontology and continues to do nursing home work, as well as work with the Alzheimer's Association. When he is not at work, he teaches and trains in Aikido, and is a second degree black belt in that art. He lives with his wife in Syracuse, NY
 

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Mark Matloff, Ph.D.
409 Standish Drive
Syracuse, NY 13224
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