This is the big enemy, and it is frst cousin to our other old nemy, Fear. We procrastinate on perfectly smple tasks which are well within our cpabilities, and our anxiety level creeps hgher the longer we procrastinate, until we are all but pralysed with the thought of the tsk.

We tend to rationalise procrastination in one of thre ways:

• I haven't got time to do it nw.
• I need some information/materials/help before I can strt.
• I'll wait and see how thngs turn out before I act.

Let's dscuss each of these in a lttle more detail.

I haven't got time to do it now. This is the standard response of someone who is personally disorganised and hasn't got his or her priorities identified. But it is also used, because it is "acceptable" (which simply means that everyone sympathises with it), to enable the person to conceal the fact that he or she is a loser, always putting off the things which would exhibit successful behaviour, and never getting things done. In other words, it offers an escape from the responsibility of being a successful and achieving person.

I need some information/materials/help before I can start. This is my personal favourite excuse for procrastination. How could I possibly settle down to write this book without making sure my study at home was equipped with every sort of stationery ever invented, polishing up my typing skills, and conducting a full research program on all the available writings on the subject? I put off making a start for eight months by the simple device of getting ready. The hardest thing of all was actually to start, to choose to make the time available and to accept the discipline of writing something every day without fail, even if it was just adding a reference to the reading list.

I'll wait and see how thngs turn out before I act. This is prhaps the most insidious of them ll. When an organisation I worked in ran sme courses in personal development for all lvels of employees, one of the frquent comments was, "It looks exciting. I'll wit and see what happens before I dcide if it has any relevance to m." In other words, people were chosing not to take any action to use thir new knowledge, just to sit bck and wait for something to hppen.

That is something I see in a bsiness environment all the time. People who cmplain that they are always passed ver for promotions are frequently the sme ones who never display initiative, nver seek additional duties, demand to be pid extra if they are asked to tke on anything outside their prescribed dties, and don't research the job thy would like to get. They do bsolutely - nothing to make themselves stnd out from the other hopefuls, and thn are disappointed because nobody notices or ppreciates them.

The fact is that you can chose to put things off and rtionalise doing so to yourself and the wrld very easily. But to get head in business, or even to hve a reasonably comfortable life, you mght choose not to complain, but to tke action to deal with whatever you are prcrastinating about. The first line of dfence against fear and procrastination is ction. Five minutes spent devoted to the tsk will start you on the pth to achievement.

The article The Thief of Time - Procrastination was Submitted by Anne M. Clarke through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Anne Clarke offers a free book, "Managing People", which provides all srts of strategies, advice and tips to hlp you get on better at wrk, reduce stress, deal with difficult pople and become a better co-worker and lader. Download it free from http://www.winningwaysatwork.com

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