The curse of perfectionists

You do it every time! You want every piece of work you turn in to be absolutely perfect. However, while there is a chance that you want to consistently strive for perfectionism, chances are that it’s not doing you any good at all! Let’s face it, our employers dream of having a perfect employee, they want to see us make every effort to turn in picture perfect work each and every time.

The theory sometimes works better!

When we strive for perfectionism, it’s one thing. However, the standard dictionary definition of perfection is an unsurpassable level of excellence.  Sure, it’s great to strive for this level of perfection, but is it realistic? What happens when a perfectionist sets standards that are simply too high for most of us to achieve? What happens when they won’t settle for anything less that perfect? If you’ve ever worked for a perfectionist, you know the answer to that question: One failure after another!

The pain of perfectionists

One of the biggest problems for perfectionists is when someone else does a better job than they do.  In fact, people who consider themselves perfectionists often feel that if someone else does a better job, then their job isn’t that important anymore.  When they discover that someone else can do a task at a high level, they suddenly find themselves immobile. They are driven to do nothing rather than risk being shown up.

When you’re a perfectionist

Oddly enough, perfectionists often fall victim to their own self-imposed standards. This can create a cycle of procrastination as well! You might be wondering how these two tie together: It is actually rather simple, they plan everything down to the smallest detail before getting started. This creates what most of us see as a time-wasting period where they accomplish nothing because perfection doesn’t just happen, it must be meticulously planned!

Perfectionists often feel that that a very large project is almost impossible to handle. This is usually because they cannot see any way forward – they suspect that large projects require so much time and energy that the time frame is unrealistic. Perfectionists want everything cross-checked and demand a high level of detail before they get started on any project.

Discovering flexibility

One of the most important things to do to battle a compulsion to be perfect is to become more flexible. While you may find that you are not entirely happy with the final product, chances are that your employer (or others around you) will see your work in a completely different light! Do yourself a favor: Meet deadlines, and do the best possible work you can do within those deadlines.

But don’t get hung up so much on being a perfectionist. While it is a wonderful goal to turn in perfect work every single time, you are demanding so much of yourself that chances are you’ll find that no matter what you do you’ll feel like a failure. Remember, we live in a less than perfect world, do your best without putting extra pressure on yourself!