The goal is to teach yourself some necessary skills.

"Procrastination is generally a process," says Knaus. "You find something uncomfortable or boring, and then you do something different, off target, to get away.

"An executive I worked with several years ago was in deep water," recalls Knaus. "He wasn't turning in research assignments that were due. He went through all kinds of activities, making sales calls, walking through the plant - anything except digging into the research area."

Knaus asked that he read a two-page paper on procrastination, and three weeks later the executive came back to describe how he'd wasted 30 hours avoiding the two-minute assignment. In the end, he swiftly read through it just before their meeting.

"That's the magic of procrastination," Knaus says. "Instead of tending to the relevant activity, you tend to divert yourself."

Procrastination is easy, he says. Change is hard.

Cognitive therapy approaches help. You can build your awareness of how you spend your time, understand the patterns of your work and life, and log it all on a daily basis. You can try steps like the five-minute plan to get back on track. And then you keep working it.

"Find out what works and what doesn't," says Knaus. "Build mental and emotional toughness."
By doing a daily exercise, you can teach yourself new work habits that can be just as hard to break as bad habits.

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams