10 Reasons Why Done is Better Than Perfect
You might have heard Sheryl Sandberg’s quote “Done is better than perfect”. But why would striving for perfection be a bad thing? Shouldn’t we always try to do our best?
Well, perfection itself of course isn’t in any way bad. But while trying to reach that point, we often lose sight of what really matters and what is the best way to spend our time.
One of my favorite phrases is “practice makes perfect”. Because doing something over and over truly does make a difference over time. But if you focus just on the outcome, it’s hard to make much progress.
It’s good to keep in mind that saying “done is better than perfect” doesn’t mean that you should never try your best or the quality of your work doesn’t matter. Of course it does.
But focusing on getting things done will ensure that you in fact get those things done instead of just wasting time on perfecting the little details.
Keep reading to find out the key reasons why perfectionism and having extremely high expectations for yourself isn’t necessarily always good and why you should instead prioritize simply getting things done.
1. You have to focus on progress
Whatever you are working on, your main goal is to make enough progress to finally reach the finish line. But how do you reach that point? Only by taking action.
We often want to do our job as well as possible and do our best in life. But that doesn’t mean that we should strive for absolute perfection. Very few things in life require perfection to begin with.
If you want to become good at whatever you are pursuing and do well in your life, focusing on making progress is your best bet. That way you are constantly getting closer to the finish line and becoming better.
2. Perfectionism will hold you back
While perfect of course is better than good, in reality, we are hardly ever anywhere close to perfection. Perfectionism easily leads to procrastination and feelings of inadequacy. That’s why striving for immaculate results all the time will likely just hold you back.
If you expect your work to constantly be of the highest quality, you might leave things till the last minute or spend endless amounts of time making sure that tiny details are just right.
That’s not good for your progress or your mental health. If you do a good job, that’s almost always more than enough.
3. You can always edit later
One great thing about focusing on progress instead of perfection is that you get things done faster and have plenty of time to edit your work if necessary.
If you’re for example writing something, it’s much easier to first just write freely and then go back and make any changes you deem necessary.
Telling yourself that you can always edit your work later can be especially helpful if you are working on some big project that you find overwhelming or whenever you are doing something creative and there are no clear rules on what you should do.
4. You need to not be afraid of failure
A lot of people are afraid of failure and avoid trying new things because of that. Awfully many even let go of their dreams for this reason.
If you are one of these people, you need a mindset shift. Failure is not a bad thing at all. It can teach you valuable lessons and make you more perseverant.
If you really want to succeed at whatever you are working on or hoping to achieve, the only way to do that is to simply try and keep trying.
Related article: How to Embrace Failure Instead of Giving Up
5. “Perfect” often isn’t much better than done
There are many situations in life where the quality of your work doesn’t matter all that much, as long as it’s decent. Doing better than that might not even make any difference. If this is the case, you might want to focus on just getting it done and leave time for more important things.
If you have a habit of working on every little project for a long time, start setting a timer whenever you start working to make sure you don’t let yourself waste too much time.
6. Focusing on efficiency will get you further than perfectionism
If you have a lot to do or you want to become better at something, the most important thing for you to do is to take action. Planning is a good thing, but you won’t make much progress if you spend too much time thinking about every single step you need to take.
To get things done, you have to be efficient. You have to stop holding yourself back and just take the next step even if you’re not sure what is the very best way to do that. Don’t be afraid to be less than perfect.
7. Learning from your mistakes is a great way to learn
When you’re learning something new, you might feel pressured to be good at it from the beginning. This usually isn’t realistic. Practice works much better than trying to get it right immediately, which for example this ceramics class experiment showed.
Making mistakes is a fantastic way to learn. If you focus on perfection, the opportunity cost you are losing is the experience you could have gotten and benefited from.
So next time you are doing something for the first time, remember that the most important thing is to simply take action and practice.
8. It’s not possible to reach perfection
Sometimes we are especially fixated on perfection. For instance, your thesis or your first book might feel like things that you just have to get exactly right. You might spend hours and hours making sure that every single word sounds good.
But no matter how much time we put into something, there really is no “perfection” to reach. And especially when it comes to text, how good it is tends to be objective. Wanting to work hard is a good trait, but don’t let it hold you back.
9. You don’t need to be stressed
If you are able to let go of the pressure and aim to get things done instead of trying to reach perfection, you will for sure be less stressed.
Society might make you feel like being average is not enough. But you don’t have to do your very best work all the time. Sometimes done is more than enough. Learn to push the pressure and stress aside.
10. You have more free time
Perfectionism can take up much more time in your life than you even realize. You might often spend three times as much time on things than necessary.
That’s why you need to learn to set limits. This way you will have more time to do other things and just enjoy your life.
Conclusion
Done really is better than perfect. Focusing on making progress and being efficient will serve you much better than being worried that what you are producing isn’t absolutely impeccable or that someone is better than you.
You might be a perfectionist now, but you can make a positive change in your life by cutting yourself some slack. You are good enough already. And it’s ok to fail sometimes. That’ll just teach you to be better.
Don’t be afraid to try new things and do things badly sometimes. You don’t have to do your best every single time you do something.
What do you think about the quote “done is better than perfect”? Does it inspire you? Let me know! And make sure to share this post!
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