Tip of the Week: Become an Imperfectionist

By Anne Zelenka Sep. 17, 2007, 2:00pm 3 Comments

Which way do you like this popular quote: “the best is the enemy of the good” or “the good is the enemy of the best”? If you like the first way — the way Voltaire said it — you’re ready for this tip. You probably know that aiming for the best at all costs can lead to anxiety and procrastination. If you don’t keep it in check, the healthy pursuit of excellence can all too easily turn into pathological perfectionism.

In a work-life balance podcast led by Karen Salmansohn, Leslie Bennetts and Marci Alboher talked about how corrosive perfectionism can be, and what you might do about it:

Become an imperfectionist – Bennetts says the burden of perfection women feel is enormous. Pointing to women’s magazines as the emblem of this burden, Bennetts argues that women’s magazines are centered on articles about making yourself better, whereas men’s magazine are about cool gadgets. To combat the vicious perfectionist cycle, Alboher says she is trying to become an imperfectionist — and implores women to drop three things from their to do list. [Daily Cents]

Of course men suffer from perfectionism too.

How do you combat perfectionism? We have a few ideas that might help: