Most people at some time or another will have found themselves putting off starting a task, even though they feel uncomfortable about doing so. This is known as procrastination, which can be defined as: 'The act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time.' Or 'To voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.'This putting off of important tasks results in a sense of guilt that causes a loss of motivation and personal productivity. It can also lead to stress as a result of disapproval for not meeting commitments. Almost everyone is guilty of procrastination occasionally. High-priority tasks are usually difficult or time-consuming and it is often easier to find simpler, less important tasks to do instead. Sometimes delaying a high-priority task is completely justified because you don't have all of the information that you need or you feel that the task may be given a lower priority as circumstances change. If you feel uncomfortable justifying to yourself why you are not getting on with a particular task then you need to accept that you are probably guilty of procrastination. This eBook is designed to help you understand the problem better and learn some successful ways of dealing with it. Even if you don't suffer from this problem yourself, it is possible that someone in your team does and you may be able to help him or her to overcome it. If you want to improve your personal productivity, you will need to identify the types of job you put off and the reasons and excuses you give yourself.Many people admit to putting off jobs because: they find the job daunting or unpleasant, or they hope that the job will somehow go away, or they just don't know where to start. They may justify this by finding routine tasks to do instead. Alternatively, they may wait until the pressure is really on before starting to take appropriate action. Putting off jobs we dislike doing is a common trait. Unfortunately, most jobs that are put off don't go away - they remain waiting to be done, and they tend to stay at the back of our minds, often causing feelings of guilt and acting as a distraction. Another disadvantage of this type of behavior is that it tends to lead to an ever-increasing number of jobs that remain outstanding. This growing list becomes ever more daunting and it then becomes more and more difficult to make a start on any of them. If you find yourself using your 'To Do' list in the following ways you are delaying tasks and causing yourself unnecessary guilt and stress by doing so. You can also assess how much you procrastinate when making decisions by looking at how many of the common behaviors you exhibit.-Repeatedly handling papers rather than deal with it first time.-Keep on re-reading emails to put of deciding if you should delete / file / respond.-Distract yourself by leaving your desk rather than start on high-level task.-Postpone working on high-level task until you 'Feel like it!'-Start work on high-level task at last minute because you work better under pressure.The acid test is how your morale, motivation, and personal productivity are affected by putting off a particular task. If you are feeling guilty or embarrassed about your behavior then you need to understand why you are procrastinating as a first step to overcoming this tendency. If you keep a record of how you spend your day, you can now look back at it and see if you can identify any tasks that you normally have difficulty starting or sticking at. Once you recognize the types of task that cause you to procrastinate, you can try to manage and eliminate this behavior. One thing that you will need to guard against is the tendency to justify procrastination on the basis that you're just putting a job off until you're 'in the right mood' to do it.