October 2003 Anticrastination Tip Sheet

What's the opposite of Procrastination?
THE ANTICRASTINATION TIP SHEET
An Idea and Tip Sheet to Blast Away the
Procrastination Habit
From Rita Emmett
Author of THE PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK
& THE PROCRASTINATING CHILD: A Handbook for Adults to Help
Children Stop Putting Things Off
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Quote for October

The best things in life usually are not things.
--- Anonymous
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Want to see what our US troops in Afghanistan are doing to avoid procrastination?

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Message for October

STEALTH CLUTTER:

Do you ever say, "I just got rid of all that clutter and now it's back:

How does that happen??"

Stealth planes are airplanes (bombers) that fly below radar and as a result, are undetected. It's as if their approach was invisible. When they arrive, the questions are usually:

How did they get here?
Where did they come from?

Stealth Clutter arrives after you've worked hard to clear out, organize, and eliminate all your clutter. Everything looks neat and clear, then the next time you look, you've been bombed with a ton of new clutter. And you stand there – stunned and bewildered --- wondering:

How did this get here?
Where did it come from?

One moment your garage, dining room table, basement, desktop or whatever is immaculately clean. Streamlined. Spotless. Clutter free. And next time you turn around, it's all cluttered again.

How did it get there?
Where did it come from?

This month, let's explore one of the many causes of Stealth Clutter.

Incoming Stealth Clutter Cause #1:
THREE PROCRASTINATION PLATEAUS

Each and every time you land on any of these THREE PROCRASTINATION
PLATEAUS, you will subtly generate clutter.

PROCRASTINATION PLATEAU #1: "I can't decide whether I want to keep this or not. So I'll set it down here for just a minute and I'll decide later."

BOOM: You've got clutter

PROCRASTINATION PLATEAU #2: "Well, I've decided that I AM going to keep this but now I can't decide WHERE to keep it. So I'll set it down here for just a minute and I'll decide later."

BOOM: You've got clutter

Also, the opposite is an equally insidious Procrastination Plateau. "Well, I've decided that I'm NOT going to keep this but now I can't decide how to get rid of it. So I'll set it..." You know the drill.

PROCRASTINATION PLATEAU #3: "Well, I've decided whether to keep it or not, AND I've decide where to put it. But I'm just too, too weary and pathetically exhausted to put it there. So I'll set it down here for just a minute and I'll put it away later”

BOOM: You've got clutter.

WHERE TO START: First, start to become aware of when you are pausing on one of these Plateaus. Most of the time, simply realizing that you have hit a Procrastination Plateau is all you need to counterattack hose "I'll do it later" bombs.

Then every time you recognize when you've hit one, you can shift gears or smack yourself in the face and just scramble off that Plateau right then and there. No matter which Plateau you are on, the next step is what you've heard all you life: DO IT NOW!!

SOLUTION:
Awareness of Plateau
Decide now
Do it now
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Watch for Rita in Green Bay & Westfield, WI and Indianapolis in the next few weeks.

***** Need extra help getting rid of clutter? *****

Rita has some super helpful audio recordings on both CD and cassette to give you that boost you need to cut the clutter.

Go to www.ritaemmett.com and click on the Products link.
Have fun!
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