{"id":76309,"date":"2022-08-15T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=76309"},"modified":"2022-08-24T10:40:49","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:40:49","slug":"procrastination-perfectionism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/procrastination-perfectionism\/","title":{"rendered":"How Perfectionism Drives Procrastination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do your perfectionist tendencies cause you to procrastinate<\/a>? How does perfectionism prevent you from getting things done? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we procrastinate because we\u2019re worried about what can go wrong with a task or project. This happens especially when we demand perfection from ourselves. But perfectionism only exacerbates procrastination by making you more stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how perfectionism drives procrastination and what to do about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Done Is Better Than Perfect<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perfectionism is the most common reason we procrastinate: We set such high standards for ourselves and tell ourselves there will be dire consequences for not meeting those standards. As a result, we find it hard to even start working on something. If your goal is to be perfect, you\u2019re all but guaranteed to fail\u2014so why even put in the effort?<\/p>\n\n\n

For example, a student might tell herself she has to get straight As or else she\u2019s a failure who\u2019ll never get a good job. Fiore points out that we often adopt these standards from others\u2014parents, teachers, bosses, and so on.<\/p>\n

Then, once we procrastinate, we typically feel bad and tell ourselves we\u2019re lazy. That negative self-talk<\/a> creates more anxiety, which in turn only makes it harder to get back to work by creating even more pressure. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

Avoid Perfectionism by Emphasizing Starting Rather Than Finishing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even once you have a detailed plan for tackling a major project, you might still find yourself procrastinating instead of doing the work<\/a>. Fiore says this is another place where perfectionism gets in our way. He explains that we often focus too much on the end product<\/strong>\u2014and because we want the finished product to be perfect, we never take the first steps of actually starting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To counteract your perfectionism and procrastination<\/a> tendencies, Fiore recommends you think of a project as a series of small starts<\/strong>. This advice works well with the previous suggestion to break down projects into their component tasks\u2014instead of worrying about how you\u2019ll finish <\/em>all of your Christmas shopping, you can consult your list of small tasks and decide which one to start <\/em>in your next 30-minute work session. (Shortform note: There\u2019s value in getting started especially when you don\u2019t feel like doing so or when you feel like you don\u2019t know how to do something. As Mark Manson points out in The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck<\/em><\/a>, we often wait to be inspired to work on something when in reality, action leads to <\/em>feeling inspired<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on starting is also a psychological shift\u2014it doesn\u2019t literally mean that you always start something new and never come back to a partially completed task. The idea is that emphasizing starting instead of finishing removes the pressure to be perfect or to get things right the first time<\/strong>. Fiore warns that sometimes we think <\/em>we\u2019re working on a project when in fact we\u2019ve fallen into a trap of never-ending research, preparation, and planning\u2014past a certain point, he says, activities like these are just another form of procrastination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Starting sometimes means deliberately<\/em> doing an imperfect job. For example, in Bird by Bird<\/em><\/a>, writer Anne Lamott suggests beginning every writing project with a \u201csh**ty first draft\u201d<\/a>\u2014just getting words down on the page without worrying about phrasing, typos, or even whether your ideas make any sense. The idea is to break through perfectionism with the knowledge that once you\u2019ve made a first effort, you\u2019ll have something you can later refine into a more polished product.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do your perfectionist tendencies cause you to procrastinate? How does perfectionism prevent you from getting things done? Sometimes we procrastinate because we\u2019re worried about what can go wrong with a task or project. This happens especially when we demand perfection from ourselves. But perfectionism only exacerbates procrastination by making you more stressed. Here’s how perfectionism drives procrastination and what to do about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":55246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,30],"tags":[722],"class_list":["post-76309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-work","tag-the-now-habit","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Perfectionism Drives Procrastination - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do your perfectionist tendencies cause you to procrastinate? 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