“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
– Confucius
My client recently shared with me that he felt overwhelmed and exhausted – that his “all or nothing” approach was getting in the way of finalizing slides for an upcoming presentation to the CFO.
During our conversation, my client talked about how he was spending too much time writing and rewriting his power point slides to achieve a perfect outcome– that is a “perfect” presentation.
He realized it was time to let go. Other important tasks were becoming bottlenecked and his tendency towards perfection was now creating a time management issue.
When does striving for perfection get in our way – and good is simply good enough?
Strategies for achieving results without getting bogged down by perfection:
- What am I trying to achieve?
- What are my priorities?
- Am I able to delegate in this situation? Remember delegation is an opportunity for your direct reports to develop their own abilities as well as give you time to be more strategic and show up as a leader.
- What is the most efficient use of my time to achieve these results? One client who was hyper focused on one project, listed out his other projects and within five minutes he decided how much time to spend on each project and where to let go. As a result, he became more efficient, centered, and relaxed.
- How can I self-check to make sure that I’m not getting caught up in my perfectionistic tendencies? Is there someone I trust who can help me keep perspective?
- How might humor help me gently acknowledge my perfectionist tendencies and get back on track to achieving a more realistic, efficient outcome?
Remember perfection is an illusion, do your best, and check in with someone you trust (the reality check) to know when it’s time to keep going and when it’s time to let go. Good luck!