Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that the world's best productivity hack is to
Speaker 1: let go of perfectionism. If you want to get more done,
Speaker 1: the surest way to do that is to stop aiming
Speaker 1: for perfection on every front. So I realize that not
Speaker 1: everyone finds it easy to do less than their best
Speaker 1: on any given task, but doing your best at every
Speaker 1: single thing can be stressful and time consuming. Frankly, it
Speaker 1: is also impossible as time and energy are limited, you're
Speaker 1: going to do less than your best at something. I
Speaker 1: don't want you to make your life smaller so that
Speaker 1: perfectionism seems more attainable. Instead, you are best off recognizing
Speaker 1: when good enough is good enough you can use to
Speaker 1: save time to build a bigger life and have fun too.
Speaker 1: Now I know this is easier said than done, but
Speaker 1: since we aim to be practical here Before Breakfast, I
Speaker 1: think there are three questions you can ask yourself to
Speaker 1: help in this pursuit. Whenever you are considering spending more
Speaker 1: time on something, ask yourself these three things. First, how
Speaker 1: much better is this project going to get? Second? What
Speaker 1: else would I like to get done? And? Third, what
Speaker 1: am I giving up to get this closer to perfect?
Speaker 1: The first question, how much better is this going to get?
Speaker 1: Helps you realize when the marginal improvements start to get
Speaker 1: pretty small. If you are rehearsing a twenty minute presentation,
Speaker 1: the first two to three hours probably improve your presentation
Speaker 1: a lot. The tenth hour perhaps not so much. If
Speaker 1: you are crafting a cover letter for a job you
Speaker 1: are excited about, the second draft is likely better than
Speaker 1: the first, but the sixth draft may be virtually identical
Speaker 1: to the fifth. If you are creating an invitation to
Speaker 1: your partner's fiftieth birthday party, at a certain point, your
Speaker 1: tweaks aren't making it better, they are just making it different.
Speaker 1: Before you work on something longer or revise one more time,
Speaker 1: ask yourself how much better it will realistically be after
Speaker 1: the additional effort. If the answer is not much, then
Speaker 1: it is good enough already. The second question to ask
Speaker 1: yourself is what else would I like to get done?
Speaker 1: If whatever you are attempting to make perfect isn't the
Speaker 1: only thing on your to do list, the sooner you
Speaker 1: call it done, the sooner you can move on to
Speaker 1: the next thing. Finally, ask yourself what am I giving
Speaker 1: up to get this closer to perfect? In other words,
Speaker 1: if you decided you were adequately prepared for your presentation,
Speaker 1: or that you are ready to send the invitation to
Speaker 1: the birthday party, what would you do next? Is there
Speaker 1: a speculative project you've been wanting to explore? Would you
Speaker 1: curl up with a book you've been eager to read?
Speaker 1: Consider in specific terms, what your perfectionism is costing you.
Speaker 1: You may decide that the benefits of getting the task
Speaker 1: closer to perfect pale in comparison to what you could
Speaker 1: do if you realized it was good enough already. So
Speaker 1: if you are plagued by perfectionism, try asking these three questions.
Speaker 1: How much better is this project going to get? What
Speaker 1: else would I like to get done? And what am
Speaker 1: I giving up to get this closer to perfect? I
Speaker 1: really do think that deciding goodenough is good enough is
Speaker 1: the ultimate productivity hack. Some things are worth our best efforts,
Speaker 1: but not everything. Choosing wisely allows us to live bigger
Speaker 1: lives where we get a lot more done. In the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.