Friday, June 29, 2012

The opposite of procrastination

I'm not a procrastinator. Quite the opposite in fact. I’m the sort of person who gets chores out of the way before doing fun stuff, who completes their uni assignments weeks before others have started theirs, and who sometimes rushes into a decision before she has all the facts (not ideal, I know). Lately I’ve been searching for a word to describe non-procrastinators such as myself. The Macquarie Thesaurus (www.macquarieonline.com.au) shows four synonyms for procrastination – avoidance, idleness, indecision and lateness – but no antonyms.

Anyway … I've recently been rereading Susan Coolidge’s What Katy Did series of books, which were originally published between 1872 and 1890. They're kids’ books, but still enjoyable to read now I'm an adult. In the fourth book, Clover, Katy is described as having forehandedness and it seems that this is the opposite of procrastination.

Delighted to have found the word I was seeking, even if it is rather archaic! Have a great weekend.

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