There’s a well-known assumption that persistent procrastination can make you poor.
While it’s true that putting important tasks off in your freelance business can lead to cash flow issues, there are many strategies you can implement to help overcome them. These include breaking down big tasks into smaller ones, doing the most challenging task first, and seeking accountability, among many others. We’ve written about some of the better ones in a previous post: 7 Ways to Overcome Freelancer Procrastination.
But have you heard of precrastination? A term first coined by researchers David Rosenbaum, Cory Adam Potts, and Lanyun Gongin in their 2014 study, it’s the opposite of procrastination and is the phenomenon where you rush to do a task just to get it off your desk – in other words, you do it earlier (and often more hurriedly) than necessary.
Getting tasks done quickly seems like a good thing, but when you break it down and look at it in the extreme, precrastination might even be as problematic for your freelance business as procrastination!
Let’s look at some ways it may manifest itself so you can quickly identify if it applies to you and take action (or not!).
1. You can miss out on the finer details
When you rush a task just to get it off your desk so you no longer need to worry about it, you can miss out on the finer details, especially if you perform tasks manually.
Take invoicing, for example. It’s an important task that needs to be done, but in your rush to get the invoice ‘done and dusted’, if you are creating invoices manually, for example, on a Word document, you might inadvertently miss an important piece of information, resulting in your payment being unnecessarily delayed down the line.
To counter this and still get paid fast, take advantage of quality invoicing software that offers multiple payment options so you can get paid at the click of a button.
Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoices, fast online payments, expense tracking, and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.
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2. You don’t allow enough thinking time
Most professional writers concur that their content is often much better when left a day or two before hitting the publish button. This gives the author time to process the copy, new ideas to ferment, and corrections, revisions, and refinements to be made. Before any professional copy goes to print (or is published online), it’s also good practice to have a second pair of eyes look over your work or, even better, to hire a proofreader/editor.
The same advice can be applied to written client agreements and proposals. These need time for you to consider all the possibilities and also outline how best you can help your client rather than rushing something off without taking everything into account.
This is especially the case for freelancer proposals for longer-term projects or retainer agreements. By sending out cookie-cutter templates or rushing the proposal because you are concerned the client won’t hire you unless you get it to them super quickly, both parties could lose out. The client won’t benefit from all you have to offer, and you could lose out on a lucrative contract.
3. You say ‘Yes’ when you should be saying ‘No’
When offered freelance work, it can be tempting to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, especially if you are new to freelancing or have already experienced the dreaded freelance feast or famine cycle.
By taking on all the work offered to you, you will not only distract yourself from the bigger picture, and other client work might suffer, but adding this to your proclivity for getting everything done as fast as possible could also lead to freelancer burnout.
Furthermore, it can become an obsession and permeate other areas of your life. For example, when tasks come in outside of your regular work hours, they can disrupt your work/life balance and encroach on your quality downtime with loved ones.
Remember – it’s perfectly okay to decline work if you don’t have the capacity to do it. It’s also a great opportunity to refer colleagues in your freelancer network.
4. Priority tasks can get demoted
Unless you have a routine and work schedule that you rigidly stick to, priority tasks can get unintentionally knocked off the list if you are constantly firefighting, rushing to do the latest task that comes in, are distracted by emails, or just too busy overly engaging on social media.
Not properly thinking things through will impact the quality of your output. While clients want prompt delivery, they also value quality. Another consideration is that too fast is often equated to rushed and low quality, so think about this in your brand positioning, too.
Being quick on the draw can also have an unintended impact on your online reputation. For example, a well-timed media announcement can go a long way toward enhancing your reputation, in contrast to an off-the-cuff and not thought out social media post response that could unintentionally harm your brand and your business.
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You may have heard that patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. This applies to business, too. Sometimes, it’s smarter to be the tortoise and not the hare.
If you know of anyone who might benefit from reading this post– please share. Thank you.