How To Avoid Perfectionism And Embrace Excellence
Until very recently, I didn’t consider myself a perfectionist. I was just trying to do my best work. It didn’t occur to me that agonizing over every sentence was, in fact, taking the pursuit of excellence a bit too far.
Working to get rid of that perfectionism hasn’t been easy, and it’s still a work in progress. At first, however, it felt like I was giving up something important. How could I make sure my work was the best it could be if I wasn’t spending weeks editing? What do you mean other people write blog posts in an hour and publish them the same day?
It’s important to remember that perfection is an impossible goal. Excellence, on the other hand, is achievable. So, how do we change our perspective and get rid of perfectionism to pursue excellence instead?
Aim for consistency, not perfection
Perfectionism is trying to protect you from something — rejection, shame, ridicule — by preventing you from taking action. You may get fixated on every little detail to the point you never finish what you’re doing, or you may procrastinate and never even get started. In fact, one of the main signs of perfectionism is procrastination. The task causes so much anxiety that you just put off doing it.
However, you can’t achieve mastery unless you practice. A lot. As a writer, that means posting as much as I can. This doesn’t mean I have to settle for lower the quality of my work.
So, instead of obsessing over the flow of my sentences or my use of punctuation, I choose to focus on following a schedule.
You’ve probably heard that ‘done is better than perfect,’ and it’s true. Pay attention to your thought process while working. Are you ruminating? Procrastinating? Spending too much time on a detail that won’t affect the overall quality of your work? Shift your focus to getting your task done, instead.
Forgive yourself
While trying to let go of perfectionism, I was afraid the quality of my work would decrease. If I don’t work long hours to make sure everything is perfect, I’ll miss something — a typo, a mistake, a clunky sentence.
For a perfectionist, screwing up feels shameful, like a sign of incompetence that reflects poorly on you.
However, just because it feels like that, it doesn’t mean it’s true. We need to accept it’s impossible to not make mistakes. In fact, obsessing over perfection is taking away something crucial for our growth as professionals and as humans — the lessons we learn from our mistakes.
Only by accepting that life is about learning and growing are we able to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes.
I propose we see mistakes in a positive light. Let’s not fear them. Let them teach you and help you improve.
Take more breaks
We might think that perfectionism improves our work or that it makes us more productive. It’s not true.
In fact, a meta-analysis of perfectionism in the workplace ‘found no link between perfectionism and performance.’ Perfectionists work longer hours and pressure themselves to perform at the top of their game at all times, which can lead to burnout.
This may sound counterintuitive to workaholic perfectionists, but one of the best ways to improve performance is to, well, take breaks.
By working smarter, not harder, you get quality work done and still have time to rest. And by rest I mean disconnecting from work, not checking your work email while pretending to watch Netflix.
Give your brain time to recover and you’ll find it easier to concentrate and do the fantastic work you dream of.
Have fun
Even those tasks you might have enjoyed become a drag when you spend so much time agonizing over details and ruminating about the worst potential outcomes.
A reasonable goal is to have fun while doing the thing. Letting go and finding joy in what you do not only will make you stop dreading it, but it may help with creativity and problem-solving.
But how does one have fun at work? That’s a question many a perfectionist would ask. Start by focusing on what it feels like to finish a task. Even those projects you’re not thrilled about can be more fun when you picture yourself celebrating after you’re done.
Celebrating your achievements big and small is a big part of bringing more joy to work and taking your focus away from rumination.
Another way is by connecting with your coworkers. By relying on your team for feedback, ideas, celebrations, and an occasional cheering up, it’s easier to keep a more realistic perspective and enjoy work more.
Review your goals
Perfection is not achievable. It’s no wonder perfectionists spend so much time chasing after the impossible and feel disappointed when they make a mistake or miss something.
The alternative is not to accept mediocrity or lower your standards. Not at all.
Instead, how can you translate your tendency to perfectionism into measurable goals?
One way to tackle this is to give yourself a deadline. This shifts your focus from checking every minor detail to getting the job done by a certain date.
Another way to shift your perspective is to focus on results. This helps you think about which tasks will get you the results you want and which ones are distractions. Will the font or background color of the presentation you’re working on influence the content you’ll deliver? Of course not. Instead, ask yourself what do you want to achieve with it. Do you want to close a deal? Convince your coworkers your idea is the way to go? Present the results of a project? Make a list of all the tasks that will get you that result and focus on that.
When you are a perfectionist, letting go of it can feel scary at first. But it doesn’t mean your work will suffer. On the contrary, by pursuing excellence instead of perfection, you can let go of the roadblocks to produce the work you’ve always dreamed of.
