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Ass-Kicking Email – How to Combat Perfectionism Procrastination

Hey,

A work ethic is the values that pride the ability to work hard. I’d
argue that perhaps more important than a work ethic is a completion
ethic–or the values that pride the ability to complete things.

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Many students I know (perhaps you as well) suffer from
perfectionism procrastination. That is, they never finish anything
because they are constantly doubting themselves on whether it is
good enough to say, “Done!”.

This perfectionism wouldn’t be too bad on its own, except that it
fosters a mean streak of procrastination. Not only do these people
struggle to get things finished, they often procrastinate to avoid
the lingering feelings of doubt about their abilities.

—

Defeating Perfectionism Procrastination

The key to defeating this monster is to develop a completion ethic.
That is, you need to start valuing and rewarding yourself for
completing tasks and projects–not just doing things perfectly or
up to high standards–but getting things finished.

The first step in developing that ethic is simply to recognize that
being done matters. Yes–you can be sloppy and get poor results.
However, it’s far worse to delay serious work until a deadline
forces you to finish.

The next step is to start organizing your life in ways that reward
completion.

Weekly/Daily Goals is an excellent system for this, since it
encourages you to close open loops and check-off any to-do list
items. Instead of engaging in continuous work, you’re forced to
see learning as a series of tasks from start to finish.

The final step is to gain confidence in your ability and in your
approach.

Since perfectionism procrastination often stems from doubt about
your abilities, being more confident can be the remedy. The problem
is that true confidence isn’t easily obtained. You can’t just tell
yourself, “I’m confident,” and expect that to be a replacement for
the real thing.

Surprisingly, the best way I’ve found to overcome this problem is
by failing. Deliberately failing can help you overcome your
inhibitions about completing your work.

Before anyone gets in a mess about getting expelled from school or
that they need perfect grades to get into the university they want,
I’m not talking about failing your classes.

Instead, I’m talking about failing in low-cost ways.

For example–let’s say you’re writing an essay (a dreadful task
for the perfectionist).

One way you can build confidence here is by writing a terrible
essay. Punctuation and grammar will be bad. The thesis will be
muddled. Your statements will lack proper citations.

That’s now you’re first draft. Only after you’ve finished this step
should you set a second goal to write a better essay.

Another example–you’re working on an assignment. Deliberately doing
poorly on the assignment (but getting it completed) and following
it with a second step at refinement can help you overcome your
urge to procrastinate.