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Perfectionism Some years back, I used to work for a perfectionist. Sometimes I felt sorry for him and other times I wanted to strangle him. His perfectionism kept him from being successful. It kept his staff in a constant state of frustration. He hired and fired numerous employees because they weren’t up to his standards. He never understood that the problems he had with staff came from him. He was always looking for someone to blame and constantly made excuses. He had being a martyr and whining about his dilemmas…well, perfected. Perfectionism causes us to be critical of others. We see something they are doing wrong and think it is our duty to correct them. We do this to our spouses, our children, our employees and sometimes even to total strangers. One of the most dangerous sayings is “If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all!” So we get the attitude to do nothing because we fear we can’t do it right. Other times we take the opposite approach and we tear apart too much to get done in the time we have. Many times we put off doing something because it is just too hard to get all of our ducks in a row to get started. People delay because they want to do the project perfectly. Waiting until the last minute and having to crisis-manage the project causes even more mistakes than you might have imagined from the start. To overcome perfection procrastination, set deadlines for yourself. Share the deadlines with another person and ask them to keep you accountable. Recognize that getting the project done ahead of schedule allows you time to fix any flaws. Maintain your high standards, but don’t spend hours on tiny details. Perfectionism is, for many people, a serious problem which affects not only their productivity, but their self-esteem, relationships and other areas of life. On a lighter note, here are some fun sentences so you can see the perfectionist in you. You might be a perfectionist if… ...you spend hours cleaning the grout with a toothbrush when there is a sink full of dishes. ...you leave the groceries sitting on the counter getting warm while you drag everything out of the refrigerator and clean it. ...you fuss if someone does not load the toilet paper paper-side out (or in). ...while doing laundry, you spend hours trying to get a stain out of a $10.00 shirt when there are 12 piles that need to be washed and put away. ...you spend six hours balancing your business account looking for a penny mistake. ...you put off paying your bills because you haven’t taken the time to balance at all in the last six months. |
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