You are a perfectionist and you can’t help it, but it’s causing you a lot of grief. You just can’t let go of a project and call it done because there is always just one more thing you could do to make it perfect. The problem is almost no one else wants, expects, or appreciates the level of perfection that you demand. You’re expending all your energy on the apex of perfection when everyone else around you just wants ok. Let’s look at some time management strategies to help you get things done.
Set your standards before you start. Identify what things need to meet your standards and what you’re overdoing. Going over and above just puts you farther and farther behind, and few people appreciate your efforts. A good time management strategy for you is to clarify the required quality while in the planning stages before you start anything.
When the final product or service will be used by others you need to make sure you don’t exceed their needs. You may think that everyone wants perfection just like you, but in reality the end user often won’t notice the difference between perfection and good enough, and they certainly won’t value the difference enough to be willing to pay for it. Whether they are paying for it in terms of time, talents, or treasures they want their needs met, but they won’t be willing to pay for things over and above their needs.
You can do most things much better than most people, but there are a few things you don’t know how to do. A really good time management strategy that may be hard for you at first is to delegate and outsource the parts of any project that are outside your skill set or beyond your resources. When you are able to do this you can get the quality you expect without the unnecessary stress.
A final time management strategy tip is recognizing when something is better than nothing. Evaluate when it’s better to just have something than it is to have nothing. Many times when you have nothing because you just won’t let go of a project there are serious negative consequences. A prime example of this is the sales person who can’t hold appointments with clients until they have a perfect presentation. All the while you are striving for perfection you aren’t making any sales which means you have no income. Perfection in this case is a really bad and completely misguided expectation because the best sales people know that you don’t need a “presentation” you need to hold appointments with people and ask questions and listen.
When high quality standards are important you are the go to person. Make sure you clearly understand the requirements and have the resources to carry everything out. Recognize that having something is better than nothing, and before you know it you will find the best way to use this time management strategy to meet everyone’s needs.
Would you like to learn more about your time behaviors? Try this Time Management Analysis and find out where your opportunities for improvement are.
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