What does A+ work look like to you? An A? A-? B or even a C? Keep breathing. I know it’s hard to think about doing anything less than supremely, super stellar work. It goes against all of your thinking, and perhaps, even the very soul of who you are. I like practicing what I call selective perfectionism. There are…
Category: Perfectionism
Clean Desk Policies
At work, a manager in another department recently sent me an email to ask how she could make sure her staff complied with a new clean desk and office policy she was writing. Oh, this doesn’t sound good… Managers who have OCD, perfectionistic and hyper-organized tendencies will never be truly happy with the people underneath them unless they are exactly like the manager… When I work with clients whose managers view them as disorganized, I have a few tricks up my sleeve:
Perfectionism and the Case of the Over-Thinking Weedeater
The drought and my lack of watering have killed most of my lawn, and I cancelled my lawn service. I realized that I needed to stop paying someone to mow dead grass. A month later, I realized the remaining grass clumps were growing and needed to be mowed. Instead of calling a lawn service, I decided I would buy a weedeater and just “mow” my clumps. Easy!
Do It Scared: Overcoming Fear and Procrastination
I forgot the question, but I remember the answer. I heard it during the National Association of Professional Organizers’ Conference in Boston several years ago. During the Organizing Outside the Box panel, Donna Smallin, one of the panelists, told the crowd, “Do it scared.”
Never Happy Enough, Never Good Enough
It’s never enough it seems. A guy running for president says he was born in the U.S., and it’s not enough. His birth certificate isn’t enough… I see this time and time again with my organizing clients. I tell them perfection is a myth, done is perfect, and it’s going to be okay.