PUTTING OFF IMPORTANT JOBS UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT
David Rosenbaum, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, focuses on the perils of “precrastination”, the tendency to rush too quickly into tasks. It can result in an expenditure of unnecessary effort that could be avoided with a bit of planning.
The real downside of precrastination comes when, in your rush to finish, you encounter the naturally higher chance of doing your work incompletely or inaccurately. In the case of emails, sometimes waiting to respond can show respect for careful thought over expediency. Of course, precrastination is not without its benefits. It must also realise that it’s OK to set trivial things aside, because they will not require huge mental energy later in the day.
He argues that the managers of today would be wise to acknowledge that it’s not always best to do everything as quickly as possible. “It should be agreed in our society that it’s okay to smell the flowers,” he says. “To be deliberate, mindful and to be allowed to slow down.”
REFERENCES
BBC News shorturl.at/zBS03 9/9/2020 Interview by Maddy Savage.
This article has been written by CALVIELLO Mateo, GIULIANO Franco, GRANDE Joaquin and LAURINO Manuel.