In my office, I have a white board by my desk. I have a few words of encouragement to help get my through the hard days… “Your speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward.” “You are not a waste of space.” Et cetera. Well, one day, I decided to add a phrase that had been on my mind for a while: “Done is better than perfect.”
So what does that mean? Well, sometimes we struggle with completing our tasks. Maybe we’re overwhelmed from so much to do. Maybe we’re dealing with depression or anxiety. There could be any number of reasons that we can’t seem to get it all done. Here’s the trick, though… don’t expect perfection. We often pay so much attention to the minutiae that we take two, three, even four times as long. When we do that, it adds to our anxiety about finishing everything.
Instead of trying to perfect the details, focus on getting the work done. Go through it and get it done. Finish your work, move on to the next thing, and knock it all out. Then, if you have time, go back and fix the tiny details (that likely no one else will even notice). You’ll notice that your productivity and motivation will probably increase as you complete everything. You’ll also focus better when you’re not stressing so much.
Done is better than perfect. If you try to perfect everything, you’ll never finish anything.
