Let Good Enough Be Good Enough

This is the time of year when it seems like we’re all striving for perfection–the perfect Thanksgiving turkey, the perfect Christmas card photo, the perfect balance of food and fun at a holiday gathering. I don’t know about you, but I often find it difficult to acknowledge that what I’ve done is good enough, even if it (obviously) isn’t perfect.

Believe it or not, that impulse toward perfectionism is often at the root of our procrastination. It makes sense, when you think about it: we put off the holiday decorating because we’re convinced we won’t have enough time to “do it right.” Why even bother in the first place? Just as we put off things we don’t enjoy, we avoid starting things we don’t want to mess up. Or, if we get started, we have a hard time wrapping up because we’re convinced we can make things better. Maybe even perfect.

Whether or not you’ve actually made things perfect usually doesn’t matter.  Still, doing my best is often my primary concern. I worry about it at work, at home–pretty much all the time, honestly.

At some point, though, most things just have to get done. Those imperfect Christmas cards have to be mailed. The question is, how do we get ourselves to the point where we can say That’s good enough? How do we quiet the inner perfectionist who won’t just let us enjoy the fruits of our imperfect labor?

I’m not sure we can. At least, I’m not sure I can. But I’ve been practicing this on a daily basis, and I’ve come up with a few strategies that make it a little easier to shut down my inner perfectionist at the end of the day.

Have a wrapping-up ritual.

Doing specific things that signal the end of a project is a very effective way of telling your brain We’re done with this now. Time to move on. At the end of each work day, for instance, I make a to-do list for the following morning. That helps me get focused as soon as I arrive at the office. It also helps me realize that there’s still plenty of time to get everything done.

With that in mind, I can leave the office behind and focus on what’s happening at home. And that, in turn, helps me realize that I actually do have time for pulling out the holiday decorations and getting started on the next project.

Think ahead.

But not to tomorrow–that’s already been taken care of, if you’ve created a to-do list. Think ahead to what you want to accomplish now that you’ve completed whatever you had on today’s list. Since I love to cook, I often spend the drive home from work thinking about what to make for dinner and determining whether that requires a trip to the grocery store while I’m out.  If my dinner plans are in order, I can think about how I want to spend my evening.

The key here is to let yourself make a mental transition: let one piece of your day be done and the next piece come into focus. That leaves less room for your inner perfectionist to mess around with the work you’ve already finished. Just as important, it signals to your brain that you’re moving forward with whatever task is next even though your work on the previous task might have fallen short of being perfect.

Trust that somebody will tell you if you’re not done. 

A few weeks ago, I received an email reminding me of a report that was a week overdue. I’d forgotten all about it (something I rarely do, so I was completely flustered by the oversight.) I had no time to get it done in any meaningful way. So I pulled together something in the little time I had between appointments, and I sent it off.

I didn’t feel good about what I’d submitted. In fact, I was a little embarrassed by it. But I figured that, since it was already overdue, making a good faith effort to get something done was important. And if my report was way off the mark, I knew someone would let me know. Then I’d apologize, revise, and do better.

What actually happened? I received an email response complimenting me on the report. Definitely good enough. (Take that, inner perfectionist!)

 

There’s a big difference between completing a task and feeling like you’ve done your best with it, but sometimes just being done is good enough. Getting those holiday cards in the mail–even with an imperfect family photo on the front–is an accomplishment all on its own. It’s certainly better than beating yourself up about the fact that you didn’t manage to get them in the mail at all.

And remember: your friends and family members will love seeing your smiling faces in the mail–even if some of those faces aren’t looking at the camera.