When I first came upon the word, precrastination, I assumed that it was a misspelling. Intriguing as it might be, it sounded like another New Age dictionary term desperately trying to gain acceptance in the vernacular. No, it is a real term, a verb, birthed from a Psychological Science Journal study and has been defined as follows: “To jump into a task without thinking it through, simply to cross it off a list.”
Who operates this way, even if only on occasion? Guilty, guilty, guilty! I was not the student who jumped into the term paper before the professor finished explaining the requirements, but I was the lab partner who raced into the experiment prematurely, causing overall delay. How many of us replace avoidance with early action just to get it over with?
Who doesn’t sometimes prefer to DO rather than THINK? There is satisfaction from completing a task and getting it out of the way, however, it can be at your own peril. Quickly checking off rote tasks is one thing, but finishing the project before knowing the details may mean more work ahead. Getting on the road before your GPS reveals the route might prove to be wasted time, and worse, having to listen to the recalculate directives. It almost makes procrastinating more appealing!
• S L O W down- notice your natural tendencies • Weigh the importance of the task at hand • Gather the information you need, timetables, ingredients, etc. before jumping in
©MWeisner2014