Ok, I must confess that when I was writing about procrastination in my last post, I was feeling a little high and mighty, as it is NOT my problem.  In fact, it is sooo not my problem because I do everything not only before the deadline, but as early as possible. But to my surprise while reading about procrastination, I learned that my being early habit,  just like procrastination, also represents a difficulty with emotional regulation, and has consequences of its own. So this week I humbly stand before you saying, “My name is Cynthia and I am a precrastinator.”

David Rosenbaum, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, published a study in 2014 in which he coined the phrase, “precrastination,”  which he defines as the tendency to tackle subgoals at the earliest opportunity, even at the expense of extra effort. More simply, it’s the inclination to complete tasks quickly, just for the sake of getting them done. Further research revealed certain characteristics about people who like to jump the gun.  Precrastinators are actually not impulsive. Rather they tend to be “highly rational and eager to show they’re worthy of responsibility, “ says Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and professor at the Wharton School. He describes precrastination as a perversion of diligence. Precrastinators are so worried about running out of time, especially when people are depending on them, that they may sacrifice quality or efficiency just to reduce the stress of having something on their to do list.

When you have tasks to do, it creates tension.  You could could run out of time to complete the task, or forget about it.  The more a precrastinator has to do, the stronger the tendency to go for the low hanging fruit.  “What happens when you precrastinate is that your anxiety about making progress causes you to dive in headfirst as opposed to giving yourself time to consider your options,” Dr. Grant said.  Other symptoms of precrastination are familiar to me – paying a bill early rather than collecting interest income, answering e-mails immediately rather than carefully crafting a reply, or doing something only to have to redo it as you find out more information. (I have actually had to redo applications or have people tell me to resend things to them because circumstances changed or they could not find something because I sent it in too early.)

So what is a humble precrastinator to do?  Slow down, to start with. Just as in procrastination, learning to tolerate the discomfort of having something to do is the first step.  Also like the antidote to procrastination, planning things out is helpful. Evaluating tasks and prioritizing them is important. But the precrastinator has to think through the benefits of waiting rather than just the relief of having something done.  What information might be good to gather? What people might be good to consult? How might the tasks be done better if more time is taken?

And what about just enjoying the moment?  How much have I missed by not letting myself relax until I get things done?   While the procrastinator misses the deadline because he was doing more preferred things, I just may miss the more preferred things because I make the deadline!  Maybe a little procrastination is a healthy thing after all.