Diary of a Recovering Procrastinator (S01E05) Precrastination

To almost every ‘pro’ there is a ‘pre', the opposite end of the spectrum. The word precrastinate does not actually exist but it is not stretch to figure out what it means. If to procrastinate is to put off doing something then to precrastinate is to do something almost immediately. You get a hot email and you respond to it almost instantaneously.

A good thing right? In its extreme case precrastination could have negative outcomes but it is a better stance than its mirror opposite.

One of the best ways to make precrastination a part of your approach to getting things done is attacking the day before it even happens, planning out your to-do list for the next day in the evening. Ranking your deliverables in order of priority. Having your meetings listed so that your know how your day will play out.

Another way is getting ahead of critical items like giving feedback you promised way before the committed time. This shows that you’re on top of things. The procrastinator let’s things run away from them. Responses are only provided when a chaser is made and you do not want to be that guy.

One the other hand, precrastination has its own negative outcomes.

Imagine trying to complete a task immediately to get it off your plate without fully understanding the elements required in its completion. You will end up having to redo the work. That over productivity comes to bought.

With a finite to-do list, doing things with speed could result in plenty of idle time. This downtime could counteract any momentum developed during your precrastination zone and if you are known to procrastinate, chances are you will.

So should one pro or pre-crastinate? The later is less of negative vice. The goal is to find a middle ground leaning more towards precrastination so that you can get more things done.

My name is Nigel and I'm a recovering procrastinator...trying to precrastinate.

 

Diary of a Recovering Procrastinator (S01E04) Relapse

It happens more often than not. That sinking feeling, you’re afraid to look at your to-do list, your Microsoft Outlook inbox or boss’ boss standing over with a disappointed look on his face. Its happening again. The one thing you have been working so hard to banish is back with a vengeance. Some how after riding a wave of productivity, you’ve ended up back at square one. Procrastinating.

After a bit of head scratching and soul searching, I have come to the conclusion that a procrastinator’s relapse occurs for because of two reasons:

1. Complacency

The confidence that ticking things off your long list of tasks can be a serial procrastinator’s worst enemy. You believe you’re always in control of the situation and start letting one or two items spill over into the next day’s page of your organizer. The 2 items you had at the end of Monday turn into 5 on Wednesday morning and because you’ve let them hang around this long getting them closed makes you anxious because you have to walk into an offices to admit you dropped the ball…..or you’re back at it.

Solution = nip the carry over task in the bud. Simple. When you have someone to call to close out a pending item, do it!


2. No Support Structure/Robust Control

When you’ve struggled long with taking your time to do things tearing down the habits and mentality that complimented that behavior means building up new ones fast enough for old habits not to creep up. You’ll be wise to remember that your mind likes what is easy and what easy is what you’ve always been used to.

Solution = if you like opening emails that require a response and moving to the next in line, stop that… either you act on it, delegate it to someone else or delete it. A month of this and you’re on the road to recovery….AGAIN.

In my view, other reasons are offshoots of these core causes and number 1 would not exist if number 2 is firmly in place. It takes the form of vicious circle/cycle that seems easy to break in theory but difficult in practice.

My name is Nigel and I’m a recovering procrastinator….who relapsed.