Perfectionism and Procrastination: Are they stopping you from achieving your goals?
Focusing on being perfect zaps your energy. Focusing on being perfect robs you from enjoying your life. Is your need for perfectionism making you procrastinate? Do you procrastinate about tasks, assignments, chores that need to get done because you need everything to be just right and perfect? Do you procrastinate about getting stuff done and find that you are preventing yourself from getting on with other activities and events in your life?
The reality is there that there is no such thing as perfection. Perfectionism is not excellence or high achieving. Perfectionism is about procrastinating. And procrastination is based in fear. The fear you might fail.
Procrastination is an irrational tendency to delay tasks that need to be accomplished and completed.
Procrastinators place unrealistic demands on themselves when it comes to completing work or school tasks or activities or projects at home that need to be completed.
Both Procrastinators and Perfectionist put an unrealistic emphasis on the importance of continual success
Do you procrastinate? Here’s how to stop it
1) break down tasks into pieces, and finish one piece at a time.
2) take the time to reflect on what you’re saying to yourself… are you trying to live up to other people’s expectations and goals?
3) Determine what is more important? Is it important to finish the task or repeat the same task 20X until its 100% perfect. People will be happy to receive a finished product than no product at all.
4) What is distracting you? Turn it off TV, Facebook, email, your cell phone, the radio?hesn.
5) Imagine what it will be like once you’re finished this task. Imagine the joy, relief, pleasure you will experience once the task is done and you no long er have to procrastinate.
6) You don’t need a perfect plan. As Nike says it “Just Do It!”. Start working on the task at hand and commit to working on it uninterrupted for 20minutes.
7) Reward yourself. While you didn’t just run a marathon or climb Everest, there isn’t anything wrong with giving yourself a pat on the back and being pleased that you got that task done today.
Just in case you’re not sure if you’re a perfectionist here’s a link to a quick online Perfectionism Test. Click now and don’t wait to find out.
