Remember in school, we’d have these reports where we’d write our report on a manila paper and then report it
There was always this one groupmate who was never happy with the manila paper report
We’d have to make the entire thing again because of this classmate
And in the end, it wouldn’t even make that much of a difference.
Ever have that experience?
Now a lot of us have this problem -
wanting things to be perfect and working so hard for our work to be perfect
When it doesn’t really make that much of a difference.
Is could show itself in different ways such as:
Taking 30 minutes to type a simple email
Editing and reediting a report over and over for hours
Updating the design of a social media image until you feel 100% confident in it
In the end - it didn’t matter
This is the curse of perfectionism
Perfectionism stops us from completing a task on time and causes us to waste resources
In the current world and business climate, speed matters more than perfection.
I’ve had friends who were starting a business but because they took too long, someone else beat them to the market.
Because, and I want you to remember this: Done is better than perfect.
When I launched the VABootcamp, it had so many mistakes.
If I waited to perfect everything, someone else might have beat me to it.
I would still need to re-do it anyway to update it.
The time I would have wasted making changes and perfecting everything, I used that time for marketing and creating more valuable content.
To clarify, I’m not saying that you should submit low quality work
But there comes a point when we’re working on something that any additional time spent on it provides very little quality improvement.
Personally, I submit work when I feel around 80% confident in it.
If it takes me 1 hour to get to 80% confidence in my work, it would take an additional 4 hours to get it to 100%.
So remember, done is better than perfect.
Never wait until you’re 100% confident in something, because that will never happen.
Try to notice when it’s time to move on. When the time, effort, and energy you’re spending on a task or project are no longer beneficial
Maybe spend those extra 4 hours with your family.We all want things to be perfect. But sometimes, that’s a bad thing.
Let’s talk about it in this episode of 5 Minutes to Happy