When you focus on doing over being perfect, you allow yourself opportunities to learn and grow. Say you have an assignment due in school. Instead of obsessing over every detail until it’s perfect, you turn it in and learn from what you can do next time. Many times you’ll find yourself able to do much better the next time around.
You can do the same thing with hobbies or things you want to do. Let’s say you want to learn how to play an instrument. You’ll never feel ready because there is always something to learn. If you just start doing it, you’ll learn what you enjoy about it and improve as you go. You may find that your first creation using the instrument you love actually sounds pretty good and that keeps you wanting to do more.
Doing instead of being perfect will also help you stop procrastinating. You’ll find that once you just start doing things rather than worrying about them being flawless, you start to feel good about getting things done. As you start accomplishing things you care about, you’ll build confidence in yourself.
15 Reasons Why Getting Something Done is Better Than Perfection
1. Making Progress
When faced with the pursuit of perfection, it often leads to inaction or procrastination. However, making progress, even in small increments, is vital for achieving your goals. Completing tasks allows you to build momentum, encouraging you to continue moving forward. You may find that when you focus on completing a task rather than perfecting it, you develop a sense of satisfaction and motivation that propels you toward your objectives.
Imagine you have a long-term goal, such as writing a novel. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect words to come to you, you can set aside time each day to write. By focusing on completing a set number of words rather than crafting the perfect sentence, you can see tangible progress each day.
As the days turn into weeks, you will accumulate a substantial amount of writing, enabling you to refine and polish your work later. This approach highlights how making progress, rather than obsessing over perfection, ultimately leads to significant achievements over time.
Moreover, this method is applicable across various areas of life, including professional projects, fitness routines, or personal development. When you approach tasks with the mindset of focusing on completion rather than perfection, you create a productive cycle of progress.
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2. Learning Opportunities
When you shift your focus from achieving perfection to simply getting things done, you create valuable opportunities for learning. Engaging in tasks, even when outcomes are less than ideal, allows you to experiment, explore, and develop your skills in ways that striving for perfection often inhibits. Each attempt, regardless of the result, becomes an educational experience that adds to your knowledge and understanding.
For instance, if you complete a project and identify areas that require improvement, those insights are invaluable. By making mistakes, you not only learn what doesn’t work but also gain a deeper comprehension of what does. You come to appreciate the nuances of your work and can adjust your methods accordingly. This process of trial and error cultivates resilience, enhancing your adaptability in the face of challenges.
Furthermore, embracing the concept of getting things done encourages a growth mindset. You begin to view challenges as opportunities for development rather than hurdles to perfection. This mentality will empower you to take on new projects that you might have previously avoided out of fear of not meeting high standards. As a result, you’ll find yourself more willing to take risks and innovate, ultimately leading to personal and professional growth.
The journey toward mastery is rarely a straight path; it is filled with twists, turns, and mistakes that lead to learning. By focusing on completing tasks instead of obsessing over flawless execution, you empower yourself to improve continually.
3. Building Confidence
Completing tasks, even when they are not perfect, plays a significant role in building your confidence. When you take action and see things through to completion, you learn to appreciate your efforts, regardless of the outcome. This process fosters a sense of accomplishment that can bolster your self-esteem, allowing you to feel more secure in your abilities. You may find that by embracing imperfection, you lessen the fear that often accompanies the pursuit of perfection.
Each completed task, whether large or small, serves as a stepping stone towards greater achievements. When you finish something, it reinforces the belief that you are capable of taking on challenges. Each experience, regardless of its perfection, teaches you valuable lessons and skills, contributing to your growth and resilience. As you continue to complete tasks, you are likely to notice an increase in your confidence levels, which can motivate you to take on new challenges.
Moreover, taking action despite imperfections encourages a healthier mindset towards personal and professional challenges. When you focus solely on achieving perfection, it may lead to inaction and frustration.
Conversely, completing tasks provides you with practical experience, fostering a more balanced view of success and failure. When you realize that you can still achieve goals, you become more willing to try new things, knowing that mistakes are part of the learning process.
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4. Reducing Stress
Perfectionism often acts as a double-edged sword; while it can drive you to achieve great results, it also comes with a considerable emotional toll. Many individuals find themselves caught in a relentless pursuit of flawlessness, leading to heightened levels of stress and anxiety.
You may feel overwhelmed by the constant need to meet unrealistically high standards, which can hinder both your performance and overall well-being. This stress can result in procrastination, burnout, or even a complete halt in progress, ultimately undermining your original goals.
When you prioritize completing tasks over striving for perfection, you actively reduce this pressure. By shifting your focus to delivering results, you allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.
This change in perspective can lead to a more relaxed working atmosphere, making it easier for you to enjoy the process rather than obsess over minute details. Emphasizing task completion can help foster a sense of accomplishment, alleviating the stress associated with perfectionism.
Ultimately, by recognizing the link between perfectionism and stress, you can make conscious choices to prioritize getting things done.
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5. Time Management
In today’s fast-paced world, effective time management is crucial for achieving personal and professional goals. When you strive for perfection, you often find yourself investing an excessive amount of time in refining details that may ultimately be inconsequential.
Instead of focusing on the end result, you get caught up in an endless cycle of revisions and adjustments, which can lead to inefficiency and frustration. By prioritizing completion over perfection, you empower yourself to make more effective use of your time.
When you allow yourself to complete tasks without becoming fixated on making every aspect flawless, you’ll discover that you can accomplish much more in a shorter span. For instance, when you are drafting a report, spending significant time perfecting every sentence can severely delay your ability to finish it.
Instead, by concentrating on getting the draft done first, you create a framework that allows for easier adjustments and edits at a later stage. This iterative process not only saves time but also provides you with the satisfaction of seeing progress in your work.
6. Encouraging Creativity
When you prioritize getting things done over striving for perfection, you inherently create a space that encourages creativity. Many individuals find themselves stifled by the pressure to achieve flawless results; this pressure often leads to fear of failure and a reluctance to explore new ideas.
By embracing a mindset that values completion, you open the door to innovation and imaginative thinking. You may discover that the process of completing a task can lead to unexpected insights and original ideas.
Creativity thrives in environments where risks can be taken and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities. When you allow yourself to be imperfect, you permit exploration without the constant fear of judgment. This shift in perspective can lead to unique solutions that you may not have considered otherwise.
Envision a scenario where you are developing a new project. If you focus solely on perfection, you may hesitate to present your ideas or try new approaches. However, by prioritizing completion, you might discover entirely new paths and concepts that would have remained unexplored under the weight of perfectionism.
7. Creating a Positive Cycle
Completing tasks plays a crucial role in fostering a positive cycle of productivity. When you accomplish a goal, no matter how small, it often leads to a sense of satisfaction and achievement. This feeling can inspire you to take on bigger challenges, as your confidence grows with each completed task.
Essentially, getting things done acts as a catalyst that propels you forward, enhancing your motivation to pursue additional tasks. The psychological impact of completing a task can be profound; it reinforces your belief in your abilities and encourages you to take further action.
Moreover, when you consistently engage in this cycle of action and achievement, you begin to establish productive habits. You may find yourself naturally gravitating towards getting more done, as each completed task fuels your desire to accomplish even more.
This positive feedback loop not only keeps you moving but also enhances your overall efficiency. When you focus on completion rather than perfection, you shift your mindset. You start to recognize the importance of progress over an unrealistic ideal of flawless execution.
8. Fostering Teamwork
When you prioritize getting things done over striving for perfection, you inherently foster a spirit of teamwork and collaboration among your peers. In environments where perfection is the sole focus, individuals may become more competitive or self-centered, causing friction within the group.
This fixation on achieving a flawless outcome can lead to isolation, as team members might hesitate to share their ideas or collaborate openly due to fear of criticism or mistakes. Consequently, such an atmosphere can undermine morale and stifle creativity.
On the other hand, a focus on completing tasks encourages a more supportive and cooperative environment. When you emphasize progress and collective achievements, you cultivate an atmosphere where team members feel empowered to contribute freely.
This encourages open communication, idea sharing, and collaboration, allowing everyone to feel valued and engaged. You create a safe space for exploration, where the team can experiment with new ideas and solutions without the fear of being judged or falling short of perfection.
Moreover, striving for completion rather than perfection allows for the recognition of individual strengths within the team. Each member can play to their unique talents and skills, resulting in a more effective division of labor. This collaborative approach not only enhances productivity but also builds relationships within the team. As you work toward shared objectives, you develop trust and camaraderie among team members, which is essential for long-term success.
9. Developing Resilience
When you focus on getting things done rather than striving for perfection, you naturally develop resilience by learning how to handle imperfections and recover from setbacks. Perfectionism often creates a fear of failure, leading to hesitation or avoidance. However, by prioritizing action and task completion, you embrace a mindset that sees mistakes as part of the journey rather than as a final verdict on your abilities.
Consider this scenario: you are learning a new skill, such as painting. If you wait until you feel confident enough to create a flawless masterpiece, you may never even start. Instead, by consistently completing imperfect paintings, you expose yourself to challenges and learn through trial and error. Over time, this habit builds resilience and confidence in your ability to navigate difficulties and persevere.
By shifting your focus to progress and outcomes, you create an internal environment that values adaptability. When challenges arise, you’re more likely to respond proactively, finding creative solutions rather than getting stuck in self-doubt. Resilience, once developed, extends beyond tasks and projects, helping you approach life with a stronger, more flexible mindset.
10. Improving Decision-Making
Perfectionism often leads to overthinking and indecision, a phenomenon commonly referred to as “analysis paralysis.” This is when the fear of making a wrong choice causes you to delay decisions or avoid them altogether. However, when you prioritize task completion, you train yourself to act decisively, relying on the information and resources at hand rather than waiting for ideal conditions.
Imagine you’re tasked with planning an event at short notice. Striving for perfection might mean spending countless hours debating minor details, such as the font on the invitations or the perfect menu. Meanwhile, deadlines loom, and stress builds. Conversely, focusing on completing the essential tasks—such as finalizing the venue and sending out invitations—ensures that the event comes together successfully, even if some details are less than perfect.
By emphasizing action, you learn to weigh the pros and cons efficiently and make timely choices, reducing stress and increasing productivity. This approach to decision-making helps you maintain momentum, achieve results, and avoid the stagnation caused by perfectionism.
11. Achieving Work-Life Balance
Perfectionism often demands excessive time and effort, leaving little room for rest, relationships, or personal fulfillment. By focusing on completing tasks instead of perfecting them, you can allocate your time more effectively, ensuring that other areas of your life receive the attention they deserve.
For instance, if you’re working on a presentation, perfectionism might lead you to spend hours tweaking slides, reviewing the same content repeatedly, and second-guessing your choices. This can eat into time you could spend with family or pursuing hobbies. By aiming for a good but “done” presentation, you can free up time to relax, recharge, and engage in meaningful activities outside of work.
This shift in focus helps you prioritize what truly matters and fosters a healthier relationship with your goals. It prevents burnout, improves your mental and emotional well-being, and allows you to enjoy life while staying productive.
12. Increasing Accountability
When you focus on completing tasks, you become more accountable for your work and the results you deliver. Perfectionism often creates a convenient excuse for not finishing tasks—after all, you can always claim you’re “still working on it” to make it perfect. However, prioritizing completion over perfection requires you to take ownership of your progress and deadlines.
In professional settings, this sense of accountability is especially valuable. For instance, if you’re managing a team project, your ability to deliver results—even imperfect ones—sets an example for others and fosters trust. People see you as reliable because you consistently follow through on commitments.
Moreover, accountability creates a feedback loop for improvement. When you complete a task and receive constructive feedback, you gain insights into what can be done better next time. This continuous cycle of action, feedback, and refinement helps you grow while maintaining a track record of delivering results.
13. Reducing Fear of Failure
Perfectionism often amplifies the fear of failure, making it difficult to take risks or step outside your comfort zone. By focusing on getting things done, you redefine failure as a stepping stone to growth rather than a reason to stop trying.
Take the example of starting a small business. A perfectionist might delay launching their product until every single aspect—branding, packaging, website—is flawless. Meanwhile, someone focused on completion would launch a minimum viable product, gather feedback from customers, and make improvements along the way. The latter approach not only leads to faster progress but also reduces the fear of making mistakes, as each step is part of a learning process.
When you see failure as a normal part of progress, you’re more likely to take bold steps, innovate, and achieve greater results over time.
14. Encouraging Personal Growth
Focusing on getting things done encourages you to step out of your comfort zone and tackle challenges you might otherwise avoid. Perfectionism often keeps people stuck, as they fear taking on new tasks that might not yield perfect results. However, by embracing action over perfection, you open yourself up to learning experiences and personal growth.
Consider someone learning a foreign language. If they wait until they’re fluent to start speaking, they miss countless opportunities to practice, make mistakes, and improve. On the other hand, by engaging in conversations—even if imperfect—they gradually build confidence, vocabulary, and fluency.
This mindset fosters continuous development. Each completed task, no matter how small or imperfect, contributes to your skillset and self-awareness, enabling you to grow in ways that perfectionism often stifles.
15. Delivering Results In The Real World
Think about delivering results in real life; once again, it applies to deadlines, team projects, etc. When you go to deliver something you worked on, it matters more that you gave it than how perfect it is. If you care more about shipping things instead of perfecting them, you’ll go further than if you let your ideas die on paper.
For example, if you wrote an adequate report for work and turned it in on time, that’s way better than writing the perfect report and taking weeks to turn it in. If you give your work on time, someone else can take that info and help your team or company move forward. The same concept can be applied to your goals outside of work. Help yourself in the real world by taking action rather than waiting for your life to be perfect before you take action.
Delivering REAL WORLD results will help those around you and help you feel like you are doing something worthwhile.
Conclusion
We’ve covered some critical points about why you should let go of perfection and just get things done. You learned that perfectionism can be the leading cause of not getting work done and holding you back. Once you learn this, you will open up other doors and allow your ideas to grow by embracing imperfection.
You learned that by just getting things done, you’ll learn more and grow more each time you take action. You’ll become more confident in your abilities and know that by just taking action, you can open up a whole new path that you never knew. You’ll achieve results you didn’t think were possible by just going out there and taking the chances with your ideas.
You learned that by not trying to be perfect, you won’t be hard on yourself if you fail at something. You’ll accept your mistakes and learn from them instead of pouring your energy into never trying again. Not only will you build skill, but you’ll build up your mental strength as well.
So next time you’re working towards your goal, remember to just get it done! You’ll be happier, more productive, and lead a healthier life if you learn to accept that nothing is perfect.
Thanks for reading!
Jimenez.
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