This week I have devoted to studying about procrastination, and these are the things I have learnt.
The word procrastination is formed from two Latin words – pro (meaning forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow/until next day). So the word literally means putting off for/to tomorrow.
Now, if you have too many things on your plate, it makes sense to put things off for tomorrow, when you will be able to focus on it better and give a better output.
But there is a difference between doing fewer things so that you can provide better output and being purely lazy about working hard.
Because the thing is, what is stop you from putting it off for the next day and then the next and so on? When would that string of tomorrows end?
Probably that’s why, over time, procrastination has come to imply putting things off for later owing to habit or pure laziness.
And then I had another thought. If procrastination means putting off until tomorrow, does its opposite mean finishing off yesterday?
Turns out, it does.
The accepted antonym of procrastination is pre-crastination, and here is a definition from Scientific American:
Pre-crastination is the inclination to complete tasks quickly just for the sake of getting things done sooner rather than later.
To be honest, I hate procrastination, but I don’t want to precrastinate as well.
It has to be a middle path. Going at our own natural face, without getting lazy about the task or being in a hurry to finish off without bothering about outcome and its quality.
But being on the middle path is difficult; we tend to veer towards either sides. Anyone who drives can attest to this.
That’s why, as in driving, so in life, we must be intentional about where we are going with the pace at which we work. Remember, there is a fine line between going at a natural pace and procrastination.
QUESTION TIME
How often do you cross the fine line between going at a natural pace and procrastination? 😜
That’s all for today.
Adios and Happy Friday!
