Can We Let Go of Perfectionism?
As you attempt to learn more about perfectionism, you begin to accept it little by little. Then you may gradually start letting go of being a perfectionist.
Being a perfectionist can have unwanted, destructive effects. It hurts the most when you are unaware of such a trait at work. Ironically, perfectionism is defined as a positive trait. However, I have realized that every good trait has its downsides too.
I think, I have gained a better understanding of perfectionism, so far, and know how it works. Nevertheless, I still need to work on this trait to find where it has been holding me back or slowing me down.
In this blog I am going to share my views and other similar insights about perfectionism:
- How I struggled with perfectionism
- Other designers’ view on perfectionism
Procrastination
I believe that perfectionism can be layered like an onion or have many faces, so to speak. Procrastination has been one of its outcomes. As for me, a large part of my procrastination habit was because I could not digest the fact that most of my goals would be achieved through an iterative process and not overnight. And, certainly not in one perfect step where every box is checked.
Not only that, I was in a rush to achieve my desired image. I wanted to have a giant leap forward instead of taking small steps. So, I thought to myself “if I am unable to achieve something in one go, I’d rather not do it”. I would tell myself that I’ll do it when I am perfect or know what to do exactly.
This mindset was accompanied by feelings such as “not being enough” and “guilt”. In other words, what was the point of doing something if I was not going to be perfect, outstanding, and highly efficient? So, I either delayed starting tasks or gave up too soon.
Confusion
The other face of perfectionism came in a form of overwhelm and confusion. I got confused when I exposed myself to new information or consulted someone.
I also got overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information online, especially if the topic was new or I wanted to learn something that I have no firm background in.
Doing research, finding information, and talking to people is a big part of my job now. You might ask how this relates to being a perfectionist? Well, when you are a perfectionist- like me – you want to be able to understand everything immediately. This is not possible, though. It’s like wanting to devour a cake all at once or wanting everything to become crystal clear to you instantly.
Understanding, however, takes time and effort and is a process. Not wanting to go through that process got me confused and overwhelmed, especially, considering today’s world where we are immersed in a sea of information and trends.
I became more realistic, coming to terms with not understanding everything first-hand. I gave myself time and permission to go through the process. There is always going to be something you don’t understand and that is the painful reality.
Philosophically speaking, human beings always remain partial. Although I knew this all along, it was not easy to deal with this in practice. Also, not everything said or done is useful for me personally, because of our differences.
I realized that not only do I have to filter the information based on my needs and circumstances but also, I can find patterns in this sea of data and information. Finding patterns would help me gain a better picture and probably find solutions that fit me best.
Other designers and savvy have talked about perfectionism and I am going to share one here with you.
Other Views and Shared Experiences on Perfectionism
Ran Segall a Designer at Flux academy mentions how we work all the time, yet we are never happy with our work.
“Things are taking more time than I thought, and I can’t manage to do other things that I have planned.”, many of us may have heard or expressed this. We may think we are slow, but the real problem is with setting boundaries or keeping with the deadlines rather than being slow.
The reason we are unable to meet deadlines or set boundaries is that we are never happy with our work. We think we are not good enough and if we work harder, we will get better, become happy and proud of our work.
The problem is that as you get better, your expectation also rises. There is a sort of gap between your expectations, and your performance all the time and this is frustrating. So, you have a sense of “not being enough” which is always there.
This feeling is inevitable and seems to be part of the journey. As you are pushing yourself to become better, whether you are an athlete, designer, or businessperson, the feeling of frustration is going to accompany you.
The idea is to finish the job with the deadline in mind and move on. You have to be able to break down the work into actionable items to hit the final deadline. It is important to have the capacity to say this is what I could pull off with the time I had, accept the fact that you may not be happy with the work, be aware that it’s not perfect, and yet be able to move on to the next step.
If you are unable to stay true to your deadlines, what will happen is that eventually, you’ll burn out. Perhaps you’ll get stuck with that client or the project. Besides, you will realize that you weren’t able to keep a balance in your life, work on your other projects, or follow up with other leads.
Make sure you attend to other tasks and don’t get stuck on one thing. Hitting your deadlines and dealing with perfectionism is painful, but if you keep doing this consistently you will eventually get better.
Wrapping Up
I intended to share my ideas and experience about perfectionism in this blog. I wrote about my experience in dealing with perfectionism and another designer’s view on the topic.
I think the essence is about embracing our imperfections and moving forward. Otherwise, we delay our growth or worse even hinder it.
So, let’s do this, let’s start.