NUTs

The May/June 2010 AARP Magazine has an article about Dr. Oz and his 6-month plan for getting healthy. To me, the most interesting month of the 6 was month 4 on managing stress. There's an "Oz Tip" that really resonated with me:

Among the major stressors in our lives are Nagging Unfinished Tasks (NUTs, I call them). Try to identify the NUTs in your life and then resolve to fix them, so they don't become a constant source of anxiety.

This is so true for me, and probably for many other procrastinators as well. I sometimes expend more energy thinking about and stressing about something I'm putting off than it would take just to get the darn thing done. I've understood and acknowledged this about myself for years, but, unfortunately, that didn't result in any behavior changes.

Interestingly, when I read this tip from Dr. Oz, it did result in a behavior change. I got up early on Monday and wrote a document for work that I'd been procrastinating on for a looong time.

Face it, I have enough stress in my life and seeing these NUTs as contributing needlessly to the stress load was just the trigger to prompt action.