It's now over 2 weeks since Hugh Kearns ran a workshop entitled "Self Sabotage: why we do it and what you can do about it" at UWA. A number of participants left the workshop inspired and determined to work in more effective ways, so now it's time to follow up and see how everyone is progressing. We've scheduled a follow-up workshop for tomorrow afternoon, which will be based on a brief recap. of material covered by Hugh, and an extended period of reflection, discussion and planning for the next step in developing more effective ways of working.
A"Self Sabotage Checklist" accompanied by a list of possible strategies to deal with self sabotaging behaviours and thoughts, will be used as a basis for discussion.
Self sabotaging behaviours include:
1. Procrastination
2. Perfectionism
3. Taking on too much
4. Always looking for something better to come along
5. Commitment to things that are unlikely to work within a reasonable timeframe
6. Disorganisation
7. Consistently underestimating time
8. Consistently comparing yourself negatively with others
9. A negative focus on the self
10. Excessive anxiety
11. Cognitive busyness (always busy with tasks that require little skill)
12. Not prioritising
13. Drug and alcohol abuse
14. Intentionally working ineffectively so that failure can be attributed to a lack of preparation, to anxiety, to too many other important commitments, to drug/alcohol use etc (ie "without my problem, I'd be a failure now; with it, I'm a success on hold")