When "Good Enough" Feels Like Failure
A Different Take on Perfectionism at Work
I've been staring at this opening for about twenty minutes now. Started with something clever about perfectionism being ironic, deleted it. Tried a statistic, felt preachy. Here's the truth: I'm supposed to write about perfectionism and productivity, and I keep getting stuck on whether this intro is good enough. Which is... yeah. The whole problem, isn't it?
Here's What's Actually Happening in Your Brain
You know that thing where you estimate a task will take an hour and it takes three? There's a name for that – the planning fallacy. We all do it, but perfectionists do it worse because we're not just doing the task, we're doing the task plus seventeen rounds of "but what if I..."
I learned this the hard way last week when a "quick email review" turned into me rewriting the entire thing at 10 PM. My colleague's response? "Thanks, got it." Three hours for a two-word reply.
The stupid-simple hack that actually works: Whatever time you think something will take, add 40%. Not because you're slow. Because you know you're going to fiddle with it. Might as well plan for reality instead of pretending this time will be different.
Let's Talk About What This Is Actually Costing You
Everyone says perfectionism causes stress. No kidding. But do you know what it's actually costing?
I did the math on my own work last month. Every time I revised something past "done," I tracked it. The damage:
- 12 hours on edits that nobody noticed
- 3 projects that never launched because they weren't "ready"
- Countless Sunday night anxiety spirals about Monday's supposedly "imperfect" work
- Perfectionism kills happiness
That's not productivity. That's theft – from yourself.
When you actually track this stuff (and I mean actually track it, not just feel guilty about it), you start to see patterns. Mine was presentations. I'd spend hours on slide transitions that people watched while checking their phones.
Different Brains, Different Traps
If You're Neurotypical
Your perfectionism probably sounds like "What will they think?" The fear that one mistake reveals you as incompetent. Here's what helped me: deliberately sending B+ work on low-stakes stuff. Internal emails. Meeting notes. The world didn't end. Actually, nothing happened at all.
If You're Neurodivergent
This might be about masking – trying to appear "normal" through flawlessness. But that mask is expensive. Every minute you spend perfecting is energy stolen from the work that actually matters. What if people knowing you're human actually makes you more trustworthy, not less? Consider exploring focus and self-management techniques designed for your brain's unique wiring.
If It's Your Environment
Sometimes it's not you. I worked at a place where typos in emails got mentioned in performance reviews. In that case, perfectionism isn't a problem – it's survival. The skill becomes knowing when to go all-out and when to save your energy for battles that matter.
The Part Nobody Talks About
There's this thing that happens around 3 PM where I convince myself that if I just push through and perfect this one thing, I'll feel better. I'll be "done." I'll have earned my rest.
It's a lie. There's always another thing.
Julie Smith has this bit in her book about how perfectionism creates procrastination – we literally can't start because we know we can't meet our own impossible standards. That hit me hard. I had a report sitting untouched for two weeks because I knew I couldn't make it perfect, so why start?
The only thing that works:
Lowering the bar for starting. Not for finishing, just for starting. Open the doc. Type garbage. Add "DRAFT - honestly, this needs work" to the subject line. Move.
A Weird Thing That Happened
Last month, I submitted a project proposal that was maybe 75% of what I wanted it to be. Formatting was off. One section was basically bullet points. I was mortified.
It got approved immediately. My boss said it was refreshingly clear.
I'm still processing that.
What to Actually Do About This
You don't need another framework. You need to start. Pick something you've been perfecting. Anything. Set a timer for 30 minutes. When it goes off, ship it. Send it. Submit it. Whatever "done" means for that thing.
Yes, you'll feel uncomfortable. Yes, your brain will scream. Do it anyway.
- Try it again tomorrow
- Make it a thing – one "good enough" task per day for a month
- Track the time you save
- Notice what nobody notices
The Real Questions
What if you're already good enough at 80%?
What if the last 20% you're killing yourself over is invisible to everyone but you?
What if "good enough" consistently beats "perfect" eventually?
I don't have answers. I'm literally figuring this out as I write. But I'm starting to think that sustainable B+ work beats unsustainable A+ work every time. Not because we should lower our standards, but because perfectionism isn't actually a high standard – it's just anxiety in a productive-looking costume.
Ready to Break Free from the Perfect Trap?
Look, I don't know if this helps. This whole piece feels unfinished to me, like it needs another edit pass, better transitions, more research. But I'm posting it anyway because that's literally the point.
If you want more structured approaches to dealing with this stuff, there are resources for productivity skills and stress management. They're probably more polished than this.
But maybe unpolished is what we need right now. Maybe good enough is actually good enough.
Or don't. But if you do, remember: the discomfort you feel hitting "send" too early? That's not failure. That's freedom. Each 30-minute reset leaves you with something new in your pocket. Relief now, plus a tool you can keep using.”
Start today. Ship something imperfect. Notice how the world doesn't end.
