This week I discuss three things: 1) a listener's comments about meaning and decisional procrastination, 2) a useful "mantra" in life - Not Helpful, and 3) some research on irrational beliefs (where I draw on the "not helpful" mantra as a strategy for change).

You can learn more about Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) in my Psychology Today blog posting.  If you want to know more about our research, check out procrastination.ca

Finally, if you want to think more about Jai Pausch's "not helpful" strategy, check out my blog about Randy's "Last Lecture."

This week, I'm sharing a letter from a reader of my Psychology Today blog, Don't Delay. It's an insightful, well-written (at times painful) first-hand account of coming to grips with procrastination. I comment on this story in relation to other listeners' notes to me, as I discuss the process of change for chronic procrastinators.

Want to learn more about procrastination? Check out our Procrastination Research Group Web site.

Every procrastinator knows the stress associated with that needless delay. The question is, does this relate to increased illness as well? In fact, it's not just the stress associated with procrastination that may affect your health. Treatment delay and fewer wellness behaviors have been implicated in the procrastination-illness relation.

In this podcast, I discuss the research of Dr. Fuschia Sirois (University of Windsor) who has been exploring the relation between procrastination and health. Note: Although I say otherwise in the introduction to the podcast, I end this podcast with a practical strategy to make your health-promoting behaviors a daily habit.

Bear with me today please, as I recorded this during a bout of the flu, so I do "wander" a bit. If you want to know about Dr. Sirois, you can check out her Health and Well-being Web site.

For more about procrastination, check out the Procrastination Research Group (including our Psychology Today blog, podcasts, cartoons and research). Here are a few of the studies I refer to today:

Sirois, F.M., Voth, J., & Pychyl. T.A. (under review). "I'll look after my health later": A longitudinal study of the linkages of procrastination to health and well-being.

Sirois, F. M. (2007). "I'll look after my health, later": A replication and extension of the procrastination-health model with community-dwelling adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 43 (1), 15-26.

Sirois, F. M., Melia-Gordon, M.L., & Pychyl, T. A. (2003). "I'll look after my health, later": An investigation of procrastination and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 35 (5),1167-1184.

Avoidance goals create a focus on avoiding or eliminating undesired outcomes. For example, avoid failing my exam. Approach-oriented goals involve reaching or maintaining desired outcomes; get an "A" on my exam. Although approach-oriented goals are related to more happiness and goal success overall, we all have avoidance goals in our lives. In this podcast, I discuss one of my avoidance goals and some strategies I use to help me get going on the task that is ripe for procrastination.

By popular request, I end this episode with my dog team howling good night after the evening feeding. If you'd like to learn more about my "other life" as a dog musher, check out this story from Mushing Magazine (Note: This is a 6 MB PDF document).

To learn more, see procrastination.ca. Our latest Carpe Diem cartoon has a focus on approach and avoidance goals.