Precrastination: When the Early Bird Gets the Shaft

My baby teeth never fell out. Instead, I yanked them out, roots and all, as soon as they were loose.

I could have saved myself considerable pain by letting nature take its course. But I’m a serial “precrastinator”: I flip pancakes before bubbles have formed on the surface; I get to the grocery store before it opens; I turn in work before it’s due. The urge to complete a task is so strong I forge ahead even when I know waiting would lead to a better outcome.

Yes, this might sound a little nonsensical. But it’s not uncommon.

David Rosenbaum, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, published a study in 2014 in which he coined the term “precrastination,” which he defines as the tendency to tackle subgoals at the earliest opportunity — even at the expense of extra effort.

“It’s like going to the grocery store, loading up your basket with a bunch of apples, then schlepping them with you as you shop even though you know you’ll pass them again on the way to the checkout counter,” Dr. Rosenbaum said.

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