• 1. Do you act as though if you ignore a task, it will go away? The midterm exam in your chemistry course is not likely to vaporize, no matter how much you ignore it.
• 2. Do you underestimate the work involved in the task, or overestimate your abilities and resources in relationship to the task? Do you tell yourself that you grasp concepts so easily that you need only spend one hour on the physics problems which would normally take six?
• 3. Do you deceive yourself by substituting one worthy activity for another? Suppose you clean your room instead of writing your paper. Valuing a clean room is fine but if that value only becomes important when there is a paper due, you are procrastinating.
• 4. Do you believe that repeated “minor” delays are harmless? An example is putting off writing your paper so you can surf the internet for five minutes. If you don’t

return to writing the paper after the five minutes have elapsed, you may end up chatting on-line and exploring the web all night, with no work being done on the paper.

• 5. Do you dramatize a commitment to a task rather than actually doing it? An example is taking your books on vacation but never opening them, or declining an invitation to go out with friends but still not pursuing the work at hand nor getting needed relaxation. This way you stay in a constant state of unproductive readiness to work – without ever working.
• 6. Do you persevere on only one portion of the task? An example is writing and rewriting the introductory paragraph of the paper but not dealing with the body and the conclusion. The intro is important, but not at the expense of the entire project.
• 7. Do you become paralyzed in deciding between alternative choices? An example involves spending so much time deciding between two paper topics that you don’t have sufficient time to write the paper.
• 8. Procrastination techniques:

Some common diversions include pleasurable activities (eg watching movies, shopping); socialising (eg sending texts to friends); distractions (eg sleeping, eating); daydreaming (eg about what you’d rather do); lower priority tasks (eg cleaning, checking emails). You can probably think of many other diversions such as surfing the net or playing computer games.

• 9. Truth is, I'm tired. Rate your fatigue, mood or motivation first from 1-10 then do your task for 5-

10 minutes. Re-rate your fatigue, mood or motivation and also review what you’re achieved in that time.

• 10. Time how long would it take for you to feel less tired, in a better mood or more motivated?
• 11. Which approach works best for you in regard to resources? Having all the resources you need before beginning a task or doing what you can with what you have at the time?