I didn't realize PREcrastination is a thing. I can say that sometimes I do this, even though I didn't know about it.
You know that procrastination refers to putting off a task until the last minute. “Precrastination is the tendency to hurry to get things done as soon as possible, even at the expense of extra effort,” says David A. Rosenbaum, Ph.D.,a professor of psychology at the University of California.
“People do it to reduce anxiety, largely by getting rid of the mental load of having to remember what they need to do,” explains. In other words, one less thing on that neverending to-do list in your head. Essentially, the idea is that haste makes waste.
Examples include:
- You’ve just pulled into the driveway after a trip to the grocery store. It’s late, and you need to get dinner started. So, you pop the trunk and make a call: Do you take multiple trips or do you grab all the bags at once, even if you risk a broken carton of eggs or sore forearms? Grabbing all at once is just one example of what’s called precrastination.
- Immediately answering unimportant emails in order to clear your inbox, even if your responses are unclear or if it zaps you of energy needed for the rest of the day.
- Parking in the first spot you see, resulting in a much longer walk to your destination.
It’s not always a bad thing because precrastinators get stuff done. However, the double-edged sword is that they often don’t give themselves time to, say, craft thoughtful responses or get really creative. They can tend to get sucked into tasks, and maybe even convinced to take on other people’s projects as well.
1.Wait. Giving yourself that time to think may lead to smarter solutions and clearer responses.
2.Gather info first, act second. For example, “Don't work hard on assignments before you know what's really required,” he says and “don’t send incomplete work to supervisors before they say they want it.”
3.Don’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s better to spread the work out than try to power through everything in too short a time.
4.Get a second opinion.
In other words, slow down, take a deep breath, and prioritize; or as he puts it, “Chill.”
(BHG) Photo: Getty/Mypurgatoryyears