I have a tendency to want to make things perfect, or at least very high quality.
But the thing about perfect or very high quality is that it takes a lot of time and energy. Maybe more than I actually have. So I’ve learned to focus on getting things done with a level of quality that is at least adequate, but usually more than adequate, even though its not perfect.
This is not my natural way of wanting to do things, but its been an adjustment that I’ve needed to make if I want to advance in certain areas of my life. Not to mention that it’s a lot less stressful than trying to make things perfect.
For example, I was working on this graphic the other day that displays at the bottom of posts to draw attention to the fact that I have free short stories available to be downloaded.
After a little while of playing around with it, I began to question it in a number of ways. The gradient in the text felt like it could use some tweaking. I wasn’t sure if I needed a button or other text to get more clicks on it. Was it explanatory enough? Or did I need some more text?
But as I questioned it more and more, I recognized something. It had reached a level of adequacy, my gut feeling told me to leave it alone for now, and I could always make changes/improve upon it later.
It was totally fine to go up on my website, and to continue to tinker with it would probably just make me a little insane. Because with anymore tinkering I would be trying to get it “perfect” on the first try rather than getting something done that needed to get done–namely a graphic that was pointing people in the direction of my free short stories.
As a one-woman indie author show, there are things that just have to get done where I can’t spend the time and energy that I naturally want to. It’s okay. It will be fine. (I tell myself.) It’s more important to get these things done than it is to try and make them perfect.
Because, also, perfect doesn’t really exist. I like to think it does. And I like to think I can get there on the very first try(!) but really it’s just an abstract concept where I think all my problems will be solved and nothing bad will happen. 🙂
Letting go of perfect can be difficult. But, really, when I’m striving for perfect I’m denying myself all of the really cool things that can happen if I just get it done.
Photo by Jonathan Hoxmark on Unsplash
Amanda Linehan is the author of North, about a young woman on the run from her past, the law and an old adversary out to get her. Her newest release is Bored To Death: A Vampire Thriller, about a 300-year-old vampire trying to restore the balance between life and death. She has published five novels. Get a free short story every month when you sign up for her newsletter.
I like how you ended that Amanda – “denying yourself the cool things that can happen if you just get it done.” I think the graphic is playful and fun! As a fellow “recovering perfectionist,” I think that you nailed it when you said it’s done when it accomplishes the task it needs to do – point to the short stories. I think trying to get it “perfect” has its place — when we are working on a writing project (even then, we have to draw the line somewhere). But most things don’t have the exact same importance. Which is something I am trying to learn to do too — decide what calls for polishing and what just doesn’t. I want to play more too, and not having to “be perfect” stop me from creating things.
Ritu-Yes, I think trying to get it perfect does have a place too, in the sense of continually improving something, but knowing that you’ll never actually reach perfection. I try to remind myself that I don’t have to get it right on the first try. That it’s better to get something done and go from there. 🙂
Ah, perfection: the bane of writers everywhere! That endlessness of tweaking this and switching that, moving two words around in the pursuit of perfection when very likely, an editor will come along and chop both words ouy of the manuscript! Good advice here, Amanda!
Yes, complete agree Amanda. Perfectionism is definitely about trying to do something perfectly the first time round. I want to really work on it this year and get less perfectionistic.
D.M. – Yes, if you’re not careful the tweaking and the fiddling and the switching around will never stop… 🙂