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THREE COPING STRATEGIES THAT DON’T WORK

The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.

—JAMES BALDWIN

Because we are often human doings, rather than human beings, we’ve cleverly devised ways to keep ourselves on top of the great mountain of things to do. As much as these tactics seem to help in the moment, they only trick us into thinking we are doing something about the problem.

This chapter describes the three most common coping strategies: procrastinating, multitasking, and saying you’re too busy. We explain why they fail and how eliminating them leads to greater satisfaction, less stress, improved productivity and more time for you.

STRATEGY 1: PROCRASTINATING

The dictionary definition of procrastination is to defer action; to ...

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