“Clutter on the desk, clutter in the mind.”
A friend said that over 20 years ago, and I still remember it. I have a lot of clutter on my desk. And in my room. And in my kitchen. And around the whole house.
And it does seem to be a reflection of what’s in my mind.
I have a hard time organizing my time and prioritizing what to do. I think that’s one reason why I like to go to work. I don’t have much trouble deciding what to do. It is mostly already decided for me, and even when I do have choices, they are limited. I also have a limited amount of time to make those choices, so I can’t spend too much time agonizing over them. I have to pick something and move on.
This is why I work so much better under pressure. I don’t really like working under pressure, but the time limit helps me to focus and stay on task. And it helps me to keep moving and not get stuck trying to make everything perfect.
That problem of getting stuck because you want everything to be perfect is, I have been told, a main characteristic of a perfectionist.
Perfectionism is paralyzing
As the saying goes, “Perfect is the enemy of good.”
Perfectionists have a hard time getting started because they’re overwhelmed by the thought of trying to do things perfectly. Perfectionists think, “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right” – which isn’t generally a bad idea, unless your standards are so high that you become paralyzed by the daunting reality of what it would take to do it “right.” And then you feel exhausted, sit down, and never get started at all.
I recently heard it said that anything that is worth doing, is worth doing badly. That means, you have to start somewhere! You might not get it right the first time. Or the first hundred times. But start somewhere. Don’t wait until you can do it perfectly before you try.
Time Limits – One step at a time
We perfectionists do better with time limits because then why have an excuse why our finished product wasn’t perfect. And the fact that we have that excuse helps us to calm down just enough that we can get started.
It also helps to break down an overwhelming task into more manageable bite-size pieces. While the “clean the house” or even “clean the refrigerator” might seem overwhelming, setting a goal of “clean one shelf of the refrigerator in five minutes or less” seems like a goal I could accomplish.
It’s ok if it hasn’t been done perfectly when the time is up. It will still be a lot better than it was before I started!
It’s also inspiring to step back and see that something has been done. I think, “That wasn’t so bad. It didn’t take long, and it looks so much better.” It makes me want to set the timer for another five minutes and take on another bite-size task!