Do you find yourself waiting until the last minute to finish a critical document? Do you schedule and announce meetings just in the nick of time? Do you take work home on the weekends, every weekend?

If so, procrastination may be sneaking into your life, stealing valuable time and eroding your productivity.

Most of us stall to varying degrees because procrastination is so seductive: Short-term positive rewards come from putting things off. When you have too many things to do, deciding not to do any of them can reduce your immediate tension and stress. If you are lucky, maybe they will go away or someone else will do them.

Procrastinating can also be exciting: It causes crises and the adrenaline rush that goes along with them. You are pitting yourself against the odds, and gambling that not only will you win out over stress, fear, hunger, and fatigue, but that the mail will arrive on time, the copier will not break, the other person is not out sick and the tire will not go flat as you race to your meeting. When you make it, you probably feel high and slightly euphoric. These are intense feelings, much more so than the quiet, calm satisfaction produced when the project is completed early.

Waiting until the last minute to start a difficult task can also be used as a defense for poor performance. You can always claim that it would have been better had there been more time.

But once delay becomes a habit, it undermines your ability to function effectively. In trying to overcome procrastination, do not decide all at once that you will never do it again. Be reasonable and fair to yourself: The habit may have become so automatic that you don't realize all the ways you talk yourself out of getting started.