Precrastination: when the early bird leads the loser

My milk teeth did not fall, I tore them off, with roots and everything, as soon as they detached themselves.

I could have saved myself a great pain if I had let nature take its course, but I am a "Precrastinator" in series: I return the pancakes before bubbles form on the surface; I arrive at the supermarket before it opens; I deliver the work before the deadline. The need to complete a task is so great that I go from the front even when I know that if I wait, I could get better results.

Yes, it may sound a little illogical, but it is very common.

David Rosenbaum, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Riverside, published a study in 2014 in which he coined the term "precrastination," which he defined as: the tendency to reach sub-goals at the earliest opportunity, even if it involves additional effort.

"It's like going to the supermarket, filling your basket with a bunch of apples, then going from one place to another with them while you go shopping, even if you know you'll go back to where the apples are. are on the way box, "commented Rosenbaum.

In a similar study conducted in 2018, led by Lisa Fournier, professor of psychology at Washington State University, participants were tasked with collecting two buckets of bullets. One was at a distance of 2 to 4 meters from them, the other at a distance of 2 to 3 meters. Eighty percent of participants picked up the first bucket and took it with them to the second, then brought them back to the starting point.

"We usually start with the task that can be accomplished as soon as possiblesaid Fournier.I do it with my to-do lists"

In factThe longer your list of pending cases, the more likely you are to contract pretrastin. To make this clear, Fournier and his coauthors led some participants to increase their mental load by asking them to memorize a list of numbers they should remember after the bullets are collected. The result: the percentage of pre-roasters has increased to 90%.

Why is it so difficult not to anticipate events?

An explanation is related to the evolution. If you do not take the fruit that is hanging from the tree at that time, it's likely that it will not be there later. You could end the time to complete the task or forget it completely. Carpe diem, right?

"In fact, I interrupt people a lot, because I'm afraid that otherwise, I forget what I was going to say," Fournier said.

The other explanation is the minutia. Research shows that people who prefer are not impulsive, but are generally quite rational and anxious to prove that they are responsible. Adam Grant, a corporate psychologist and professor of administration and psychology at Wharton, said that precrastination is an alteration of diligence.

"It's the dark side of being very good at accomplishing things," he said. "It comes from the fact that you do not have time to do anything good, especially when other people are depending on you."

Rosenbaum added that the evidence suggests that we perform a pre-rotation to free up working memory.

"Mentally, it is too expensive to keep a list of slopes in mind, so we adopt behaviors that allow us to reduce this cognitive burden, even if it involves a greater effort," he said. .

It does not matter that you really do not have to "remember" to pick up the bucket when you return. "When you have a job to do, it generates a bit of tension," said Rosenbaum. "And this tension will remain present until the end of the task."

It is intrinsically satisfying to delete items from our to-do list. Princeton Neuroscientists have discovered that the center of the brain's reward, called the nucleus accumbens, is activated more strongly when you have completed a task that requires less effort.

Nevertheless, paradoxically, all these boxes of palomeados can affect your productivity. Most people, faced with a long list of tasks or a complex task, are attracted to tasks or sub-objectives that can be realized more quickly and with a more immediate reward.

"Our brains are very much stimulated when we focus on time," said Meng Zhu, badistant professor who studies the sense of urgency at the Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University. "You stop wondering why you're doing something and you're just doing it."

In other words, you needlessly carry a "bucket" for the sole purpose of recovering it, even if it prevents you from achieving other goals.

"What happens when you pre-counter, is that your anxiety to move forward makes you jump your head first, instead of giving yourself time to consider your options," he said. Grant.

"During my graduate studies, I met a guy who had written his thesis on the first topic that came to my mind," Grant said. "Before he could deliver it, his hard drive broke down, he realized that his thesis was not working at all and he wrote a completely different one that ended up being a lot better, Is something that only happens for precackers. "

In addition, precariousness can even become a burden for others. "I have a student who always sends me rough drafts in which he has not worked long because he wants to get rid of that earloop to give it back to me" Fournier explained. "It drives me crazy."

"The simple fact of being aware of this trend can be very helpful," said Rosenbaum, but that will not make you reach the goal. Here are some tips that might help you.

Zhu's research has shown that the less busy you are, the less likely you are to be precrastinous.

"Eliminate any nice but useless task," said Julie Morgenstern, Productivity Expert. Then choose which tasks you can reduce (for example, order food at home rather than cooking from scratch) and which ones you can delegate (for example, ask a member of your team to respond to a new request instead of doing it yourself).

2. Program your ear loops

"To all my clients, I tell them to incorporate their list of pending files into their calendars," said Morgenstern. For recurring tasks, such as responding to emails, try grouping them together: instead of replying as soon as you receive each message, plan a few minutes of the day to manage your inbox. If there is a message that you can not or should not type in a hurry, plan it.

"I have an old friend who takes years to answer emails," Rosenbaum said. "So, even if I'm a pre-restorer, I avoid answering it until six weeks have pbaded." Not responding immediately removes the pressure on others and yourself.

3. Also schedule your appointments

"What is important in life? health, family and love"Said Zhu."But some of us have never scheduled a medical examination, which could save our life, nor walk with our children, because there is no deadline for do it."

If this is relevant when you are on your death bed, put it on the calendar. Plan your day to spend time on meaningful but not necessarily "productive" activities, such as meditating or spending quality time with a partner.

4. Redefining the concept of progress

This seems contradictory, byor slow down can help you recover time at the end.

Whether it's redecorating your room or writing a proposal, you need to start by "generating a certain amount of ideas," Grant said.

"You should not measure your initial progression by the number of words you have written or the number of strokes you have given, but for how many possibilities you put on the table"

* Copyright: 2019 The New York Times News Service