A quick hack to overcome perfectionism
Matt Saunders
Strategic design & marketing for forward-thinking charities | Certified business coach & mentor
Hey
Perfectionism is disastrous for productivity. I'm not saying you shouldn't hold yourself to high standards. I?am?saying that those standards shouldn't stop you from getting sh!t done.
It's way too easy to busy ourselves with details. I could write and edit this newsletter?endlessly?in the pursuit of perfection.
But then I would simply never hit "send". You want to find a level of satisfactory?readiness?rather than perfection.
Ready is better than perfect
The work will never be done. There will always be room for improvement. Accept this and give yourself a deadline for readiness.
Having a newsletter that goes out every Thursday has meant that I simply don't have the luxury of endlessly tweaking each one I send out. It has to be ready by the time it is sent. Can you apply the same principle to all your work?
For example, you might allow yourself 2 x 25 minutes to write a blog post.
Write for 25 minutes, then stop. Edit for 25 minutes, then?hit publish.
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The key is to reach a level of readiness,?not?perfection. And a deadline can facilitate this.
If you mentally commit to the idea that "I have two sittings of 25 minutes to write this blog post" you will find a way to make it happen.?Parkinson's law ?stipulates that things take as long as the time you give them. That's why deadlines are so powerful, and without them, perfectionism will keep you working on the same thing indefinitely.
This edition of my newsletter is imperfect. I'm happy with it, but I?know?I could tweak, extend and even rewrite parts of it.
But it's going out in less than 14 hours and I'm calling it a day. The deadline is here.
Think about all the time you've wasted obsessing and iterating the details. Now commit to giving yourself a deadline and doing your damndest to hit it.
Thanks for continuing to subscribe,
Matt Saunders
P.s. get my newsletter before I post it here, subscribe !
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1 年I laughed out loud ( at myself) when I saw ‘write a blog post in 2 x 25min sessions’ - OMG, it takes me a couple of weeks ??. Done in an hour would be the dream - but I’m sure my perfectionism (and procrastination) wastes a couple of those days. ??
The designer for startups who want style.
1 年Interesting hack! I'll try setting deadlines on each phase of my next project and see how it works. You know what else I like? Your suggestion I aim for my 'dream clients' rather than what my skills can produce. That's a new way of thinking about it for me. Thanks Matt!
Independent Business Consultant. Associated with The Common Cents Group
1 年Agree!!!! Having written long papers for my school. And making them as perfect as I can get them.... WHEW!!! That’s that!!! So right. Real world time is important. Your newsletter is perfect in my eyes. Thanks Matt.
I was raised by wolves, artistic wolves.
1 年It's somewhat the same for cover illustration deadlines, Matt. 1.) read the story 2.) several fast interpretation sketches emailed 3.) approval/choices by art director 4.) building a final image or two. 5.) step back and have a cup of coffee 6.) send best 7.) flexibility -option for changes 8.) billing invoice 9.) sleep