Where to begin…

We are at the peak of social media.  As a result, the world we live in has, seemingly, become much smaller and has granted us access to people, places and things that, fifteen years ago, might have seemed impossible.  But as we make the rest of the world smaller by inviting it into our own, we also invite bigger problems too.  One glaring problem I’ve encountered is the notion that everyone else’s lives appear to be 🅰🅼🅰🆉🅸🅽🅶

Successful.  Rich.  Amazing house.  Fancy car.  Ripped body.  Gorgeous holidays.  Selfless activism.  Great friends.  Loving relationship.  Angelic kids.  The list goes on…  To see all this, then compare it to ourselves, it’s no wonder it takes some of us 30 minutes to write-then-rewrite two sentences in an email.  Or a text.  Or a blog…  Seriously, you should’ve seen how many attempts this paragraph took.  And so we get to:

PERFECTIONISM

Despite our better judgement — “there’s no such thing as perfect” — it becomes harder and harder not to feel the pressure of perfection when it’s around us every day — “practice makes perfect.”  But does it?  

ASK YOURSELF: “What imperfect work have I completed that resulted in a positive outcome?” 

Think about it, there must have been a time when that scrappy, rough-and-ready project that got turned around under pressure yielded far better results that that piece you spent hours…days…weeks pouring over?  That’s not to say you should phone it in — we can ditch perfectionism whilst still maintaining professionalism — but if we’re talking productivity, then taking too long to complete a task can result in over-thinking, set you behind schedule and pile up more work that could’ve already been started.

TOP TIP: Set realistic deadlines for your work and stick to them.  

In regards to perfectionism, a deadline is simply a boundary that stops us from going off on one and running ourselves into the ground to chase something unattainable.  Getting it done within the allotted time promotes focus and puts the ball, I dunno, out of your court?  Basically with a deadline it’s got to be done.  So get it done.  And if it ain’t perfect, it ain’t perfect, because guess what?  It ain’t perfect.

“How do I know when my work is good enough?”

Well, if the work is for someone else, let them set the criteria of what is and isn’t “good enough.”  And be specific.  This will narrow your focus and set a bar for the future.

If this is a personal project, then getting feedback from others on works in progress is vital.  But choose wisely.  No one wants their broth spoiled by too many cooks, and some folks simply enjoy giving an opinion even when really there’s no need for one.  This is about productivity, so eliminate those time wasters and creativity suckers.  A select few trusted individuals will do the job.

REMEMBER: Even Oscar winning movies have continuity errors.  Your work can be excellent and world class without being perfect.

Finally: cast your eyes back to the first sentence of this blog: Where to begin…

With perfectionism, a task, particularly something with no instant, tangible result (i.e. “the big stuff”) can be so daunting that the mindset can become “I’ll do it when I’m ready.”  You may even have a plan in place and the stars in alignment, and yet the fear of “doing it wrong” can prevent you from even beginning.  So, where to begin?  Well, firstly, cross out the where and the to and just begin.  Because with perfectionism, that’s the best thing to do.  Push through the fear and start.  Get going.  Proceed.  And don’t sweat it.

It’s not going to to be perfect anyway.