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Precrastination: The Dark Side of Getting Things Done
Other causes of precrastination
- Cheap satisfaction: we get immediate satisfaction from checking off the little things on our to-do lists.
- Survival instinct: going after the easy, low-hanging fruit in life probably made more sense in our history than putting things off in order to get a long-term payoff.
- Time management vs Energy management: most of us are taught to think about work and productivity in terms of managing our time well.
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Precrastination
This is the compulsion to immediately work on new tasks, despite long-term costs and tradeoffs.
While the procrastinator delays important tasks too long, the precrastinator doesn’t delay unimportant tasks long enough.
Precrastination
This is the compulsion to immediately work on new tasks, despite long-term costs and tradeoffs.
While the procrastinator delays important tasks too long, the precrastinator doesn’t delay unimportant tasks long enough.
What causes precrastination
The ultimate cause of precrastination is short-term, emotionally-driven decision-making.
Just like in procrastination, precrastination involves making a decision based on what feels good in the moment rather than what’s in our long-term best interest.
Other causes of precrastination
- Cheap satisfaction: we get immediate satisfaction from checking off the little things on our to-do lists.
- Survival instinct: going after the easy, low-hanging fruit in life probably made more sense in our history than putting things off in order to get a long-term payoff.
- Time management vs Energy management: most of us are taught to think about work and productivity in terms of managing our time well.
Stop precrastinating
- Awareness is always the first step. It’s difficult to stop doing something if you’re not aware that you’re doing it in the first place.
- Practice emotional tolerance: precrastination is all about emotion. This means that working through precrastination will always involve working through difficult emotion.
- Start by improving on one small area of precrastination before moving on to more challenging areas.
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Plan the Rest of Your Day
When you don't feel like working on your tasks, take a few moments to plan your day.
Even if you do it as a form of procrastination, to postpone doing the actual work, it will help you...
Smaller Manageable Parts
Break the project you don't want to start into smaller pieces.
Breaking it down into small tasks and adding those to your to-do list isn't exactly fun, but it is less overwhelming than working. And it's also useful: When you finally do get around to starting, you've got a strategy.
Clean Something
Clean something every time you don't want to get started on a work project. Don't listen to a podcast or turn on the radio. Just clean. Make it as boring as possible, so that your mind wanders.
This does two things: it delays actually working on your project and it gives you time to think, possibly generating ideas that will come in handy whenever you get back to the project you're trying to put off.
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Defense Mechanisms
Our defense mechanisms really kick into high gear during situations where we feel threatened. That doesn’t necessarily mean physically threatened, but also in high-stress environments where ...
Avoidance
Mechanism motto: I’m going to stay as far away from that stressful thing as possible.
The problem with avoidance: Things don’t go away just because you ignore them. That assignment will still need to get done. That conflict with that co-worker will need to be resolved eventually.
Denial
Mechanism motto: There’s no way that’s going to happen.
The problem with denial: Denial is more than just avoiding a potentially threatening thought or circumstance—it involves vehemently denying the fact that it even exists. It blinds you with unrealistic optimism.
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The advantages of procrastination
There are two kinds of individuals in this world: those who procrastinate and those who do the things in advance.
In what the first category is concerned, there is some evidence that p...
The drawbacks of procrastination
While procrastination might have some advantages, it certainly has proven drawbacks. Individuals who procrastinate tend to be more stressed and, therefore, suffer from stress-related illnesses. Furthermore, students who procrastinate have lower GPAs than the ones who don't. So you would better think twice before postponing an action next time.
The reasons behind procrastination
Whenever somebody decides to procrastinate, this happens whether because the task seems too unpleasant or because the planning wasn't done properly and, therefore, the need to delay.
Intentional or not, procrastination ends up having the same effects on your everyday life. And these are not always good.
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