Docpotter, I have a question! (Click to ask a question)

My work habits are pretty bad and I am blowing my job.

I am a 40 year old female who cannot get to work on time. If you have any ideas on how I can learn punctuality PLEASE let me know. And I am a perfectionist personality currently on meds. Plus I have bad work habits due to being disorganization and having low self esteem. I am making too many mistakes and my performance is unreliable not because of not trying, but rather maybe because of trying too hard. I can't stand it!

Docpotter's Reply:

Lateness: You must identify the factors causing the lateness. Are you late to most things? Or just to work? If just work, then observe all events in morning before work. What are you thinking - specifically? What time to you set clock? Get up? Eat? Dress? Etc. Write this all down. You may have to observe the nights before. What's the problem? Staying up too late and unable to get up? Leaving home too late? Etc. Once you've identified the problem, then you can begin a plan to intervene.

Perfectionism is one of the worse things to be saddled with and very hard to change. Behavioral psychologists consider it to be a "thinking disorder'. The roots are in your self-talk What you say to yourself about things and what you notice about thing. Perfectionists notice only imperfections and errors. You need to retread your mental habits. This is very hard to do alone. You could benefit from working with a cognitive psychologist. Avoid insight approach, it won't help at all.

The perfectonism that you are laying on yourself is like an internal mental "program" that controls what you do. Change the program and you will change your life. Start NOW! If you do not rescue yourself you will become more and more miserable, day by day.

You could benefit from reading the following books:

Handbook To Higher Consciousness by Key Keyes

A Guide To Rational Living by Albert Ellis

-docpotter