The Temptations of Procrastination

After Christmas I decided to treat myself to Focus: The Power of Targeted Thinking, written by Jurgen Wolff; Pearson Education Ltd (2008).

He discusses the Temptations of Procrastination;
"One reason is that the attractiveness of the ‘bad’ option is very strong in the here and now. The attractiveness of the ‘good’ option (or the punishment of ignoring it) tends to be weak in the here and now, and strong only in the long term. The ‘bad’ option therefore is stronger in the moment e.g. if I chose to surf the web for the next couple of hours that is fun right now. If I don’t work on the project that is due in 2 weeks there is no immediate punishment or drawback. The punishment will arrive later… The short term option often engages our senses and emotions whereas the long term option – because it is not present right now – only engages our intellect i.e. cream cake now or losing weight…

The secret of choosing the ‘good’ option is to make as vivid, emotional and compelling in the moment as the ‘bad’ option. Use your imagination to see, hear, taste, smell and feel the ‘good’ choice even more strongly than the ‘bad’ choice. Close your eyes and visualize the outcome (end result) of your ‘good’ choice. What will you see, hear, feel? The more vivid and exciting you can make this, the more energy you will free up for getting started.

When you’ve visualized whatever is most motivating for you, stay in that state of excitement after you open your eyes, and suddenly watching TV or surfing the internet will seem pretty boring by comparison. Launch into the task while the feeling is still fresh."

He also says:
Think: What would it be like to be the person who does what you dream of (writes)? What qualities do they have? Imagine you are that person…..
Imagine who you will be if you Don’t do it!