Procrastination is the art of leaving all the workload To your future selfknowing that in the end it will touch you to do it, but with has a hurry and higher doses of Anxiety and frustration.
However, and against all prognosis, there is also its counterpart: Precrasticationor not to bear to leave the tasks for later. Although it does not seem like it, precostination is an obsession that also It has negative effects.
What is precostination?
The term was coined by the professor in psychology David Rosenbaum in his study ‘Precrastication: Accelerate the achievement of a subopjective at the expense of additional physical effort‘In 2014. Rosenbaum showed with his experiment that people sometimes choose the option that implies more physical effort Just to cross out a task of your list.
To get to that conclusion, the participants were asked to choose between two cubes with water that had to take to the end of a hall. One of these cubes was sometimes closer to the beginning of the hall and sometimes a little further. However, the researchers observed that, often, the participants chose the cube that was closer to the exit point to take it to the end, even when choosing the second cube meant loading it for a shorter distance.
When asked why they had chosen the first cube, most participants replied: “I wanted to finish the homework as soon as possible“
This behavior marked a tendency to advance the task assigned to any cost, even at the expense of implying greater physical wear in the process. At work, this translates into the need to finish everything as soon as possible, motivated by the idea that speed is equal to efficiency. However, that is to start from a wrong premise since speed is not always efficiency.
People with a tendency to precostination may feel satisfied at the end of the work ahead of time, but those hurries to finish the tasks can lead to errors and lack of focus on execution.
“It’s like going to the supermarket, filling the basket with a lot of apples and continuing to buy carrying them despite knowing that you will go through the place where they meet when you go to the box,” explained the psychologist
Obsessed with crossing homework
Precrastication is a problem more common than it may seem. Who suffers its effects is often shown as an example of productivity in a society that values immediacy and we need everything “for yesterday.” This affects the quality of work and it is not valued that, some tasks, require time and reflection.
Precostination is not always easy to identify. We are completing tasks, believing that we are being productive. However, finishing things ahead of time, without due dedication, it can generate stress, errors and exhaustion. If you feel you need to balance your way of working, these tips can help you:
1. Plan your tasks
If you are aware of your tendency to precostine, try to contain your first instinct to launch yourself to Complete everything immediately. Take a time to analyze and prioritize what tasks do you really need your immediate attention. You can use The ABCDE method to prioritize tasks according to their urgency and importance.
2. Set reasonable times
Not all tasks must be executed at the time, so It is important to reflect about its impact on the project or your day. Before acting, ask yourself: “Is it necessary to solve immediately? Is it urgent to answer that email immediately or can you do it later?”
Impose waiting periods For non -urgent activities for Force that reflection and give you space to reflect and address things with a clearer and more serene mind. It is very likely that you discover new ways of addressing it in a more creative way.
A good strategy to face precrastination is the one proposed by the “Slow Work”, which defends the idea that work at a more leisurely pace It favors creativity, concentration and improves the quality of the final result.
3. Concentrate on one thing at the same time
The impetus to finish tasks can make you fall into multitasking. An error that brings only heads to those who put it into practice, exhausting the energies and avoiding that The brain deepens in the tasks between hands.
Instead of trying to cover everything at once, focus at the present time and Complete a single task After another. That will help you better value the resolution process of the tasks, instead of obsessing with the rapid results.
4. Live with uncertainty
One of the features that leads the precostinators to finish tasks ahead of time It is his uncertainty intolerance of having pending things, in a kind of ‘Zeigarnik effect‘.
Be aware that Everything has its rhythms and processes is key to face the need to cross out at all costs the tasks of the list. Practice patience and focus on what you can control.
5. Manage your energy
He Mental exhaustion It is one of the greatest dangers of precostination. Knowing that there is an incomplete task is an additional mental burden for those who have a tendency to precostine.
To avoid it, be sure to include regular breaks in your dayincluding them as another task in your day. This will allow the brain to recover part of its energy and you can address your tasks in the best cognitive conditions.
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Image | Unspash (The Drink Luis Villasmil)