Procrastination stopped me from writing this… Oh, hold on a second!!!
It has been said that perfectionism is procrastination disguised as quality control. I like that idea. The idea that I Don’t/Won’t do something until it’s perfect.
Why would I want to subject anyone to less than my best?
That is a perfectly reasonable question.
Well, it is if it wasn’t just a flaming pile of horse manure. You see the human mind is capable of coming up with an infinite number of excuses to not get things done. Perfectionism rates near the top as people wave it around as a virtue, rather than what it really is…Fear!
We don’t do it because we don’t want to look bad. To feel judged. To feel that our best efforts are not good enough.
So Not doing something that gets us judged is in reality smart (at least in the short term).
In the long term, it kills us. It kills our hopes, our dreams or desires. It leaves our future flat and lifeless.
There is a cost for inaction no matter what our excuse is, perfectionism or otherwise. The cost is the “If only I had” or the pain of regret. The life unlived.
There is a solution. Actually, there are more than a few. So here I have plucked several quick fix ideas you can put in your toolbox to get you moving.
1. Think Like a Programmer: Be willing to put out your Beta version.
- Use an MVP (minimum viable product): Sometimes we want all singing and all dancing when just enough is all you need.
- Smallest Step – Ask: What is the tiniest action that I can do to move this forward?
- WHO: If not you then who else can you bring on board to get this moving?
- What One Thing: Eliminates all others or Starts the Dominoes to topple.
- How Can I Gamify This (or make it fun)?
When it comes to procrastination you don’t have to get it perfect you just have to get it going. Be willing to get something done, then iterate or edit. That moves you forward and one step closer.
