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3 simple ways to stop being a perfectionist and become more productive
Finding your “yes”
It's much easier to say no to things when you can identify your yes. A good yes should align with your core values and leave you feeling fulfilled.
Ask yourself these five questions to find out how you feel about an opportunity. If you answer "no" to any of these questions, you should probably let it go.
- Do you want to take this on?
- Why?
- How much time will it take?
- Do you have the time?
- Does it fulfil you?
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What you must know about procrastination
- You can put things off without being lazy.
- It's your emotions that decide to procrastinate, not logic. Emotions prioritize short-term gratification.
- The problem is no...
The more you work, the less it feels like a grind
Procrastinators severely overestimate how hard it is to finish a task.
While it can be very tough to start, you'll gain momentum and achieve ten times more work with the same willpower. The result will also be much more rewarding.
The optimistic procrastinator
You overestimate your skills and underestimate the challenge. Your goals may be too small, or you didn't break the big goals into daily tasks.
What you find yourself doing: You don't write a deadline on your calendar, but promise to start tomorrow. You may even tell everyone how easy it is or what you plan to do.
Solution: Commit to a deadline, or make it a challenge to get done as much as possible.
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The Wild Procrastinator
You are indecisive and often deals with things in the nick of time. But procrastination has a physical and social toll as your body and your coworkers get stressed over it.
Solution...
The Perfectionist
You are obsessed with your idea of perfection and end up spending way too much time on a specific task. This leads to feelings of being overwhelmed, missed deadlines and delaying other priorities.
Solution: Make sure you have achievable standards that don’t get in the way. Train yourself to do things that fall short of your idea of perfection until you begin to accept that the “imperfect” but functional is enough for most things.
The Underestimator
You often miscalculate how long it will take to do something to the point of missing deadlines and having to reschedule.
Solution: Schedule more time than you expect to take to finish a task, learn how to work faster and to estimate time more accurately. Reviewing past assignments duration will give you good time estimates for future reference.
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Have one daily priority
Many of us start our mornings with dozens of things we need to get done, but later realize that we haven't crossed any of them off our lists. We did get stuff done, but none of the things we pl...
Make planning a habit
Some mornings we feel motivated to create a to-do list, but that is often the exception. We need to get things done, even when we feel disengaged.
Start by setting the alarm for your daily planning session at the same time every day. Tack your new daily planning session onto an existing habit like drinking your morning coffee.
Align your to-do list with goals
- Break down your big goals into daily tasks. You can't add "Get in shape" to your daily to-do list, but you can add "spend 30 minutes on my bike."
- Consider your week as a whole. You likely have multiple goals. Some goals benefit from daily activity, while working towards others a few times a week can create momentum.
- Add your have-to-do tasks last. We often fill our to-do lists with have-to-do tasks that crowd the whole day. Adding it last forces you to fit your have-to-do tasks around your goal tasks.