Beat Procrastination - Henriok Flensbourg

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Beat procrastination - right now!
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WHY THIS BOOK .....................................................................................................4
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK..........................................................................................5
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DIFFERENT TYPES ...................................................................................................6
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WHY HAVE YOU BEEN PROCRASTINATING? ..........................................................11
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TIME MANAGEMENT - MANAGE YOUR TIME BETTER .............................................15
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HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT’S IMPORTANT?...............................................................18
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REFRAMING - LOOKING DIFFERENTLY AT THINGS ................................................21
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Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 2 of 27

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Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg. All rights reserved.
No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or

by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the author.

,QWURGXFWLRQ
All material in this ebook is copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg.
You cannot give your copy of the ebook to anybody else, but you can
follow the link on the last page of this ebook to let your friends know
about it so they can download it themselves.
:K\WKLVERRN
Before writing this book I polled my newsletter subscribers and a few

forums dealing with self-development for the problems they were
having the most difficulties overcoming.
I got lots of good suggestions, but the majority wanted to know

something about overcoming procrastination.
This makes sense, as taking no action, or consistently taking the

wrong action, will lead you nowhere - fast.
So the topic would be procrastination.
Well, at first I thought that there must be plenty of self-help books that
focused on overcoming procrastination.
And there were, but since so many people were still looking for ways
to beat procrastination there must be something missing somewhere.
So this is my attempt at creating a book that will encourage, enable,

convince, coach and show you how you can finally take control and
end procrastination.

+RZWRXVHWKLVERRN
This ebook is divided into several parts.
It'
s best if you read it from A to Z the first time you go through the
ebook - There is reason for laying out the chapters in the sequence
they are in.
The next time you want to use the ebook, you can just go straight to
the action-chapter for specific tools and methods to use in vanquishing
procrastination.
First you'll be taken through a quick overview of some of the way you
can classify procrastination - you see, procrastination can have many
different causes and it can show itself in many different ways.
The next LPSRUWDQWVWHS is to UHDOL]H how you have been

procrastinating in the past.
Because it becomes so much easier to beat it for good once you know
why you've been procrastinating.
After you have discovered a bit about yourself in the chapter about the
nature of procrastination, you'
ll be taken to the action-chapter.
This is the chapter where you'

ll be given a lot of different tools that
you can use to sweep away procrastination - and keep it away -
forever.
The Resources chapter at the end isn’t directly related to

procrastination, but useful if you want to work more on your business
and yourself.

:KDWLVSURFUDVWLQDWLRQ"
'LIIHUHQWW\SHV
There are several ways to classify procrastination, but I'

ve chosen one
by Sapadin and Maguire as it seems to encompass many of the
different kind of procrastination I'
ve come in contact with.
Sapadin and Maguire define 6 different types of procrastinators.
Perfectionists
Dreamers
Worriers
Defiers
Crisis-makers
Over-doers
Perfectionists
Perfectionists don'
t start until everything is aligned perfectly.
Obviously it would be great if we could all start all of our projects

from a perfect starting point, but life doesn'
t work this way.
A Perfectionist will spend months compiling all the data they can on
countless digital camera models before they even begin to think about
which model to choose.
A Perfectionist will read all the books they can on self-development

because they don' t want to start changing themselves before they
know all the different models and methods available to them. And
they want to be absolutely sure that they pick the best tools.
Perfectionists won’t start on anything unless they are convinced that

they cannot possible fail, and that the outcome will be perfect.

Dreamers
Dreamers come up with all sorts of great ideas, but don'

t get any
further than dreaming.
Dreamers will go "I' ve got the greatest idea for a new business", but
will leave it at that while they dream up a new way to optimize
projects. And then they' ll think up a way to increase their ROI, but
won' t follow through because they "just got another great idea".
Dreamers create idea-avalanches, so they end up buried under a pile of

ideas - unable to bring any of them to life.
Worriers
Worriers put off things out of fear of making them worse.
They will put off fixing the brakes on their car because they think they
might break them.
A Worrier will not try to fix a failing marriage because they think they
might make the situation worse if they try to change their behavior.

Defiers
Defiers - the "I won'

t do it because you decided for me"-persons.
Defiers are the stubborn types.
"She has asked me a thousand times to fix the leaking pipe in the
bathroom, but I will only do it after she hasn'
t bugged me about it for
some time" - but they don' t know how long "some time" is, so they
won' t fix the pipe ever.
Crisis-makers
Crisis-makers turn everything into big and insurmountable problems.
It'
s important for a Crisis-maker to fail reaching their goals or
postpone getting started on them "because it' s such a huge task"
A Crisis-maker will refuse to start fixing a loose shelf if he can’t find

the right screwdriver to do the job. He will rather spend hours going
through all his tools looking for this one single screwdriver than use
any of the other screwdrivers in the house.
Over-doers
Over-doers keep piling on tasks, so they can postpone the ones they
dislike the most. Or they primarily tend to non-urgent/QRQLPSRUWDQW
tasks or urgent/QRQLPSRUWDQW tasks instead of focusing on the non-
urgent/LPSRUWDQWand urgent/LPSRUWDQW tasks.
An Over-doer will have a to-do list several pages long, neatly

prioritized, but unfortunately with all the non-important things at the
top of the list.

:K\LVLWLPSRUWDQWWRNQRZZK\\RXKDYHEHHQ
SURFUDVWLQDWLQJ"
s LPSRUWDQW that you know that WKHUHDUHPDQ\UHDVRQVZK\

It'
SHRSOHSURFUDVWLQDWH, because this means WKDWWKHUHLVQRWDVLQJOH
VROXWLRQWKDWZLOOIL[DOOSURFUDVWLQDWLRQSUREOHPVIRUHYHU\ERG\.
And it's also LPSRUWDQW that you UHFRJQL]H that you don' t necessarily
procrastinate for the same reasons for different types of tasks. So
again this means that there won't even be a fix-all-for-me solution.
Another YHU\LPSRUWDQW thing to realize and remember is that

procrastination is a EHKDYLRU - it is not ZKR you DUH or ZKDW you DUH -
it'
s the types of action you have been taken.
All too often people confuse EHKDYLRU with LGHQWLW\ and when they see
negative behavior in themselves they equal this to themselves being
lesser persons.
This is absolutely as far from any truth as it can possibly be.
You are still the same smart, loving, caring person no matter what
silly strategy you used to have for not getting things done.
So, the very first step in being able to change the procrastinating
behavior you have had is to IXOO\XQGHUVWDQG - in your mind, body
and souls - thatLWLVMXVWDEHKDYLRU, and behavior can simply be
changed by doing things differently.
And to find the solutions that works the best for you to beat the types
of ways you have been procrastinating, you need to find out why you
have been procrastinating.

Because, even though it’s just a behavior, it is there for a reason.
At some point in your life you decided - probably sub-consciously -

that this and that way of procrastinating supported you in defining
who you were - it helped underline some of your values.
So, the behavior you had served a purpose - it defined who you were.
If you just change your behavior without knowing what your previous
behavior intended to help, you will find yourself being torn between a
new behavior that you can see is helping you get rid of procrastination
and your old belief about who you are.
So, it’s important to recognize ZK\ you behaved like you did, so you
can design your new non-procrastinating behavior in a way that still
support ZKR you are.

:K\KDYH\RXEHHQSURFUDVWLQDWLQJ"
It’ s really quite simple to discover KRZ you have been procrastinating.
Take a look at KRZ you act and ZKDW you do and you can probably
find yourself procrastinating in one or more of the six ways defined by
Sapadin and Maguire.
But just knowing KRZ you have been procrastinating isn’ t enough -
you need to find out ZK\.
When you look at all the silly, non-logical and counter-productive

things you have done (the “KRZ¶V”) you know that there must have
been compelling reasons (the “ZK\¶V”) to do so - and therefore it’ s
imperative that you know and understand your why’ s.
If you don’ t, then you could end up working DJDLQVW some of your
strongest beliefs - and fail miserably.
So, the first thing you need to do is find one area where you know you
have been procrastinating.
Second, you need to find out what it is you do to put this task off.
And thirdly you need to find out why you did it.
Getting a straight answer to the last question - even from yourself (or
especially from yourself)- isn’ t always easy, but the following
questions will help you get it.
Ask yourself:
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³:KDWLVLPSRUWDQWDERXWSURFUDVWLQDWLQJWKLVZD\"´
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³«ZRXOGKDSSHQWRPHLI,GLGQ¶WSURFUDVWLQDWHWKLVZD\´
³:KDWNLQGRIDSHUVRQLVVRPHRQHZKRSURFUDVWLQDWHVWKLVZD\"´

Come up with as many similar questions you can until you have a
good idea of why you have been procrastinating.
Then run this reason - or driving force - through the following litmus
test.
Ask yourself this question:
³+RZGR,NQRZWKLVLVWUXH"´
And answer the question with a pure truth that comes straight from
your soul in the following way:
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LPSRUWDQWEHFDXVHILOOLQZKDWLWJHWV\RX!´
Example:
“ I don’ t get started on my assignment without first having all the

research material available because I don’ t want to produce a lousy
report”
³$QGKRZGR,NQRZWKLVLVWUXH"´
´,NQRZWKLVLVWUXHEHFDXVHP\VWRPDFKLVDFWLQJXSXQOHVV,KDYHDOO
WKHPDWHULDODYDLODEOHIURPWKHVWDUWDQGLW¶VLPSRUWDQWEHFDXVHLI,
SURGXFHDORXV\UHSRUWLWPHDQVWKDW,¶PDIDLOXUHDQG,GRQ¶WZDQW
WREHDIDLOXUH´
So the real reason wasn’ t to avoid the lousy report, but the idea that he
would be a failure if he produced a lousy report.
So not getting starting started before all the material was available was
a way to protect him from becoming a failure.
So for this guy it’ s important that his new behavior will still help him
to not be a failure (in his own mind).
Now go through this exercise yourself to uncover the UHDO reasons

why you procrastinate.

Take your time with this step, because it’ s important that you get to
know as much as possible about yourself before designing your new
behavior.
Notice how P\ values are shining through here? J
Once you feel comfortable with these new insights you move on to the
next chapters.
These chapters will show you several different ways to change what
you do, how you do it and how you think about it.
Some methods are more relevant to you than other methods, so just
pick those you feel will benefit you the most right now.
Then come back later and look at the remaining ones - I’ m sure you
will find them useful as well.

+RZWRRYHUFRPHSURFUDVWLQDWLRQ
There are so many ways to overcome and beat procrastination. Some

are better than others for different types of procrastination, some work
better for one type of activity than another type of activity and other
factors influence how great each method works for you.
The important thing is to VWDUW using one or more of these techniques.
As you move along you will become better and better at it, and you
will find your own twists to the methods, so they’ ll fit you the best for
optimal results for the kind of tasks you use them on.
And it'
s only when you start to put these methods into action now that
you will see how each of them helps you the best.
You will notice as you go through each method that some methods
will be good solutions for the way you have been procrastinating and
others will seem so far off that you'
ll think I'
ve lost it.
I didn't loose it, but these methods are simply not suitable for you for
the situations you' ve been in and the way you have been putting things
off.
So let’ s take a look at the first method: Time Management

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Doing something at another time (or maybe not at all) than the most
appropriate time has something to do with poor - or non-optimal -
time management skills.
So one way of removing this part of how you have been

procrastinating will be to become better and better at determining
which tasks should be done first.
One of the reasons people prioritize their time wrong is because they
mix up Importance and Urgency.
It'
s easy to confuse Importance with Urgency if it's not something that
you have been paying attention to before - and this leads to wrong
prioritization.
So when you become better at distinguishing between Importance and

Urgency you will be able to prioritize your time better. And when you
prioritize your time better you will get more done.
So what is the importance between Importance and Urgency?
Important / urgent
One way to become better at distinguishing Importance from Urgency

is to use the following matrix:
,PSRUWDQFH
,PSRUWDQW 1RQLPSRUWDQW
Urgent/Important Urgent/Non-important
8UJHQW
8UJHQF\
Non- Non-urgent/Non-
XUJHQW
urgent/Important important
1RQ

8UJHQW,PSRUWDQW
A leaking water pipe inside the house is a prime example of

something that is both Urgent (you need to do it NOW) and Important
(water doesn'
t come cheap)
1RQXUJHQW,PSRUWDQW
A leaking water pipe outside the house is an example of a Non-urgent

(you can easily fix this after the weekend when you' ve had time to buy
the right tools to fix it) and Important (water doesn'
t come cheap)
tasks.
8UJHQW1RQLPSRUWDQW
Watching Super Bowl live is Urgent (because tomorrow it isn' t live

anymore) but Non-important (because it doesn't help you get closer to
your goals).
1RQXUJHQW1RQLPSRUWDQW
Watching yesterdays Super Bowl on tape is Non-urgent (because you

can just watch the tape another day) and Non-important (because it
doesn't get you closer to your goals)
Notice the difference between Urgent and Non-urgent?
The first two examples are both about a leaking water pipe, so they are
equally Important (because of water prizes), but you need to fix the
pipe inside the house most Urgently.
But just looking at Urgency isn'

t enough to prioritize your tasks right.
Take a look at the Urgent/Important and Urgent/Non-important

examples.
If you have a leaking water pipe inside the house and Super Bowl is
on live, then obviously you need to take care of the pipe first (because
it’ s Important) - even if both things are equally Urgent.
So, Important things should be on your prioritized list - and Non-

important things shouldn't even be allowed on the list.

And you should take care of the Urgent/Important things before the
Non-urgent/Important things, but strive to have as few Urgent things
on your list as possible.
The ideal is to have only Non-Urgent/Important things on your list.
Oh, by the way, cut the "to" from your "to do" lists - make it a "do
list", because these are things that you are actively doing something
about. "to do" has a nasty procrastinating ring to it don’ t you think?
So by looking at just two things, Urgency and Importance, you are

better at making decisions about when to do what - and so, the
tendency you had to procrastinate, will diminish.

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VLPSRUWDQW"
One thing is to know WKDW you should put Important things on your list
and keep Non-important things off it.
But KRZ do you determine what'

s important and what'
s not?
How do you find out ZKHUH\RXVKRXOGIRFXV your energy?
Cartesian Logic
"Cartesian Logic" could be one answer - and it's a deceivingly simple

way of making sense of all the different pro'
s and con's you run into
when you start evaluating the importance of a new task.
Once you start making better decisions about which tasks should go
on your list, you will be able to spend more time on each task - or
complete tasks far bigger than you previously thought possible.
Cartesian Logic is a simple system that looks like this:
:KDWZLOOKDSSHQLI, :KDWZLOOKDSSHQLI,
GR" GRQ
W"
:KDWZRQ
WKDSSHQLI :KDWZRQ
WKDSSHQLI,
,GR" GRQ
W"
Don't make the mistake of discarding this system as being "too

simple" or "just 4 ways of asking the same question" - it really is a
powerful tool, as you will see when you begin to use it regularly.
Now, in the last chapter I called watching Super Bowl a Non-

important task, and you might have thought "yeah, Non-important for
you maybe, but it's Important for me"

So, let'
s use watching Super Bowl in this example.
:KDWZLOOKDSSHQLI,GR>ZDWFK6XSHU%RZO@"
³,ZLOOKDYHZDWFKHGWKH6XSHU%RZO´
:KDWZLOOKDSSHQLI,GRQ
W>ZDWFK6XSHU%RZO@"
³,ZLOOKDYHWLPHWRZULWHWKHUHSRUW,ZDVVXSSRVHGWRZULWH´
:KDWZRQ
WKDSSHQLI,GR>ZDWFK6XSHU%RZO@"
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WJHWZULWWHQ´
:KDWZRQ
WKDSSHQLI,GRQ
W>ZDWFK6XSHU%RZO@"
³1RWKLQJ´
Go through these 4 questions several times until you have a small list
of answers.
Now convert each answer into a question, so you can DQVZHUZKDW

V
LPSRUWDQWDERXWLW.
Like this:
,ZLOOKDYHZDWFKHGWKH6XSHU%RZO becomes +RZZLOOLWKDYH

PRYHGPHFORVHUWRWKHJRDOVRQP\
GROLVW
WRKDYHZDWFKHGWKH6XSHU
%RZO"
,ZLOOKDYHWLPHWRZULWHWKHUHSRUW,ZDVVXSSRVHGWRZULWH becomes
+RZZLOOLWKDYHPRYHGPHFORVHUWRWKHJRDOVRQP\
GROLVW
ZKHQ,
ZULWHWKHUHSRUW,ZDVVXSSRVHGWRZULWH"
7KHUHSRUW,
PVXSSRVHGWRZULWHZRQ
WJHWZULWWHQ becomes +RZ
ZLOOLWKDYHPRYHGPHFORVHUWRWKHJRDOVRQP\
GROLVW
ZKHQWKH
UHSRUW,
PVXSSRVHGWRZULWHZRQ
WJHWZULWWHQ"
Armed with the answers to all these questions it will be so much

easier to determine what'
s really important, and what' s just apparently
important.
When you use this method consistently to evaluate the importance of

things you are thinking about doing you will automatically move
really important things to the top of the list, and move non-important
things to the bottom of the list - or even completely off the list.

And when you start to move non-important things off your list you
will have accomplished yet another great thing:
If they are not on your list then you can'

t beat yourself up for not
getting them done.
No more getting depressed about all the things you used to put off - or
the low self-esteem you used to have because you though "there must
be something wrong with me since I put these things off indefinitely"
Out of sight - out of mind
When they are not on your list, you won't waste unnecessary time or
energy on them and you can use this surplus to get your really
important things done even faster.
Now, it one thing that you are now better at prioritizing your time and
that you have become better at filtering the Non-important things from
the Important things, but another thing to look at - and do something
about - is how you look at things.

5HIUDPLQJ/RRNLQJGLIIHUHQWO\DWWKLQJV
Reframing is simply a way to look at things from another perspective.
What you will learn in this chapter is how to use reframing to actually
use the way you used to procrastinate to overcome that exact way of
procrastinating.
Reframing can be a bit of a mouthful because it involves new ways of

thinking, so go through this chapter as many times as needed.
I can (almost) guarantee you that you will get a few light bulb
moments as you explore different ways to look at things.
And because each type of procrastination inherently has it'

s own point
of view we are going to go through each type of procrastination.
Perfectionists
Since perfectionistic procrastinators strive for perfectionism,
reframing for them has to do with making "taking action" the result of
a perfectionist thinking.
So examples of thinking could be:
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³*HWWLQJWKHILUVWRIWKHMREILQLVKHGSURSHUO\LVWKHSHUIHFWZD\WR
JHWWLQJLWGRQH´
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JRDOEHWWHU´
Dreamers
Dreamers are idea generators, and it’ s important for them to be able
dream up new stuff because this is what fuels them.
³,I,GRQ¶WJHWVWDUWHGRQWKLVQRZ,ZLOOQHYHUVHHP\GUHDPFRPH
WUXH´
³:KDWZRXOGEHWKHEHVWZD\WRILQGRXWZKLFKLGHDWRZRUNRQILUVW"´

Worriers
Worriers won’ t touch things or start new tasks out of fear of breaking
them or making it worse.
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³,I,GRQ¶WGRDQ\WKLQJLWZLOOEUHDNIRUVXUH´
³'RLQJWKLVQRZZLOOSHUKDSVQRWEHIDLOSURRIEXWZDLWLQJZLOORQO\
PDNHLWZRUVH´
Defiers
Defiers make their own decisions when they themselves see fit, so it’ s
important that they are in charge.
³,KDYHGHFLGHGWKDWLIWKH\GRQ¶WDVNPHWRGRWKLVDQGWKDWZLWKLQWKH
QH[WGD\VWKHQ,P\VHOIZLOOGHFLGHWRGRLWRQ0RQGD\´
³,I,KXUU\DQGPDNHDOLVWQRZLWZLOOEHPHZKRGHFLGHGZKHQWRGR
ZKDWDQGQRWVRPHERG\HOVH´
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EHWWHUVR,¶PLQFKDUJHRIZKHQ,GRVWXIIDQGQRWWKHP´
³,IWKH\DVNPHZKHQ,ZLOOGRLW,ZRQ¶WDQVZHUµVRRQ¶EHFDXVHWKLVLV
ZKDWWKH\H[SHFWPHWRDQVZHU,ZLOODQVZHUWKDW,¶OOGRLWRQ
7XHVGD\EHFDXVH,¶PLQFKDUJHRIP\RZQOLIHDQG,GHFLGHZKHQ,
ZLOOGRWKLQJV´

Crisis-makers
Crisis-makers turn every task into the biggest problem in the world,
and use size or complexity as an excuse for not getting started. So
useful sentences could be:
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³%URNHQGRZQLQWRVPDOOHUSLHFHVPDNHVWKLVWDVNYHU\PDQDJHDEOH´
³,FRXOGHDVLO\VHWELJJHUJRDOVEXWKLVWDVNKDVMXVWWKHULJKWVL]HWR
JHWVWDUWHGRQULJKWQRZ´
³,¶YHKDQGOHGELJJHUWDVNVWKDQWKLVEHIRUH´
³,I,GRWKLVQRZLW¶FDQ¶WWXUQLQWRDELJWDVN´
Over-doers
Keeping long lists ensures that an Over-doer can postpone tasks they
don’ t feel like doing - and they can still be seen as being very busy
people.
Keeping a long list is important for the Over-doer, so the ‘trick’ is to

prioritize it properly.
³:KHQ,DGGDQHZWDVNWRP\OLVW,PXVWUHPHPEHUWRSULRULWL]HLW
SURSHUO\´
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³,FDQ¶WDGGWKHVHWDVNVEHIRUH,¶YHFRPSOHWHGWKLVWDVNWKDW,ZLOOGR
QRZ´
³,ZLOODGGQHZWDVNVDQGLGHDVWRWKLVOLVWEXWRQO\PRYHLPSRUWDQW
WDVNVWRWKHOLVWRIWKLQJVWKDW,ZLOOGR´

3RVWVFULSW
Beating procrastination is all about deciding to do it because you
know how it will benefit you, it’ s about becoming aware of how you
have been procrastinating, it’ s about designing new behaviors and
learning new skills, and finally it’ s a question of consistency.
If you go through this book once and don’ t do anything because you
think “ I already know this - and it didn’ t help the last time I read or
heard it” , then you are doing yourself a big disservice.
If you read or heard this before and didn’ t do anything about it, then
you really don’ t know it at all - it’ s just something that you’ ve read or
heard.
It’ s only when you DFWLYHO\ do something new, that you can say that
you have learned it and you know it, and taking action - the right kind
of action, at the right time- is WKH key ingredient in beating
procrastination.
Resolve to adapt just one idea from this book right now and make it a
permanent part of your daily life and you will have taken a giant step
away from procrastination compared to those who just read about it
and fail to do anything.

Start each day with the intention of paying special attention to how
you accept, prioritize and do tasks.
And end each day by looking back on all the things you did and all the
decisions you made.
Go through all the right decisions you made during the day, and
congratulate yourself on your progress
Go through all the things you did right and congratulate yourself on
the new and more effective person you are becoming.
Then look back on the things you didn’ t do right or the wrong
decisions you made and discard these actions and decisions as invalid
- as some you don’ t want to do again.
Then go over all the right things you did again and go to bed knowing
that you’ re improving day by day and that it will be easier and easier
to make the right decisions about what to do when.
You’ ll soon discover that you are not only procrastinating less and
less, but you are also becoming better and better at discarding bad
habits and accepting good habits into your life.
So what is the first step, that you will take right now, to get you
started right away?

3D\WKLVHERRNIRUZDUG
Does any of your friends procrastinate?
And how would you like to help them get their hands on their own
copy of this ebook?
My mission with writing this ebook is to get it into the hands of as

many people as possible because once we leave procrastination behind
and start taking action there’ s no limit to what we can achieve - and
how fast.
You can help me with this mission.
When you click here to go to the page you were taken to right after
deciding to download this ebook yourself and fill out the form at the
bottom of the page, you are helping your friends get their own copy of
the ebook - and there’ s even a small bonus for you, if just a few of
your friends decides to take a look at the ebook.

5HVRXUFHV
Site BuildIt: If you want to start your own internet-based business or

promote your offline business using the internet, without having to
learn all the technical stuff, then you should definitely look into SBI
from Ken Evoy.
Self-Starters Weekly Tips: If you need any internet business or web

marketing tips, then Lynn Terry’ s SSWT is a newsletter for you. And
for a very generous and helpful forum you should also visit the SSWT
forum.
Improve Your Life: The goal of Improve Your Life is to offer

personal coaching to help you create the life you’ ve always wanted.
Together with Abbey Landis you’ ll pursue your passions, dreams and
goals, explore your innate but untapped potential and create a new
personal foundation - all of which will enhance your life experience.
You will also gain insight and learn techniques on how to engage in a
balanced and purposeful life
GoalPro: If you want to manage your goals, your time and your tasks,
then GoalPro comes highly recommended.
The Top 101 Experts: Or as it’ s really called: “ Self Improvement: The
Top 101 Experts That Help Us Improve Our Lives” . If you’ re not
quite sure which author to begin with, then turn to David Riklan’ s
ebook first. It’ s a massive encyclopedia of the self-improvement
industry.

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eCover designed by Hock Ng of eProductCover.

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 2 of 27

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg. All rights reserved.

No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 3 of 27

All material in this ebook is copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg.

Before writing this book I polled my newsletter subscribers and a few

I got lots of good suggestions, but the majority wanted to know

This makes sense, as taking no action, or consistently taking the

So the topic would be procrastination.

So this is my attempt at creating a book that will encourage, enable,

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 4 of 27

This ebook is divided into several parts.

The next LPSRUWDQWVWHS is to UHDOL]H how you have been

This is the chapter where you'

The Resources chapter at the end isn’t directly related to

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 5 of 27

There are several ways to classify procrastination, but I'

Sapadin and Maguire define 6 different types of procrastinators.

Obviously it would be great if we could all start all of our projects

A Perfectionist will read all the books they can on self-development

Perfectionists won’t start on anything unless they are convinced that

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 6 of 27

Dreamers come up with all sorts of great ideas, but don'

Dreamers create idea-avalanches, so they end up buried under a pile of

Worriers put off things out of fear of making them worse.

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 7 of 27

Defiers - the "I won'

Defiers are the stubborn types.

Crisis-makers turn everything into big and insurmountable problems.

A Crisis-maker will refuse to start fixing a loose shelf if he can’t find

An Over-doer will have a to-do list several pages long, neatly

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 8 of 27

s LPSRUWDQW that you know that WKHUHDUHPDQ\UHDVRQVZK\

Another YHU\LPSRUWDQW thing to realize and remember is that

This is absolutely as far from any truth as it can possibly be.

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 9 of 27

At some point in your life you decided - probably sub-consciously -

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 10 of 27

When you look at all the silly, non-logical and counter-productive

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 11 of 27

Ask yourself this question:

“ I don’ t get started on my assignment without first having all the

Now go through this exercise yourself to uncover the UHDO reasons

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 12 of 27

Notice how P\ values are shining through here? J

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 13 of 27

There are so many ways to overcome and beat procrastination. Some

The important thing is to VWDUW using one or more of these techniques.

So let’ s take a look at the first method: Time Management

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 14 of 27

So one way of removing this part of how you have been

So when you become better at distinguishing between Importance and

So what is the importance between Importance and Urgency?

One way to become better at distinguishing Importance from Urgency

Copyright © 2004 by Henrik Flensborg Page 15 of 27

A leaking water pipe inside the house is a prime example of

A leaking water pipe outside the house is an example of a Non-urgent

Watching Super Bowl live is Urgent (because tomorrow it isn' t live

Watching yesterdays Super Bowl on tape is Non-urgent (because you

Notice the difference between Urgent and Non-urgent?

But just looking at Urgency isn'

Take a look at the Urgent/Important and Urgent/Non-important

So, Important things should be on your prioritized list - and Non-

,ZLOOKDYHZDWFKHGWKH6XSHU%RZO becomes +RZZLOOLWKDYH