Done is good enough

Don't delay doing something just to make it marginally better

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that if you are feeling stretched, don't invest
more time or mental energy into tasks than they deserve.

(00:26):
Often done is good enough, and generally done is better
than delaying in the hope of producing something marginally better.
So listeners to Before Breakfast tend to be a high
achieving bunch. You have ambitious standards, You aim for excellence,

(00:47):
and that is great. But if you want to do
a lot with your life, you generally have to choose
where to devote your time and skills, and often there
might be easier ways to do whatever it is that
you are doing. For instance, printed invitations to a party
are cute, but you could also just use paperless posts
or evite and be done quickly. As for that party itself,

(01:11):
does it really need to be catered or feature all
your homemade food? Costco has great shrimp and appetizer platters.
Most grocery stores sell sheet cakes. It will be fine.
Sometimes people intend for weeks to write a sympathy card
to a friend who has lost a relative, perhaps a

(01:31):
heartfelt note sharing your memories of the deceased is the
gold standard. But if you seem to keep putting that off,
whether because you can't seem to find the time or
just can't find the right words, then grab a ready
made sympathy card at the grocery store, sign your name,
and get it in the mail. Done is better than perfect,

(01:52):
because there is no perfect without being done. There is
no practical difference between someone who puts off sending a
sympathy card because they are agonizing over the right words
and someone who just forgets. In both cases, no sympathy
was expressed, so just get it done. Professionally too, we

(02:17):
can let perfect be the enemy of done. And yes,
you want to do a good job, but if you
have a big job, you probably can't do everything that
is in your purview with the same level of detail.
Time spent editing that meeting agenda over and over again
is time that people don't have that agenda so they
can prepare. It's probably better that other people spend the

(02:41):
time preparing than that you agonize have reached bullet point.
If there is an internal report that required but doesn't
actually get used, a quick pass at it may be fine. Realistically,
people often delay a task because it seems too hard
or time consuming, and then end up doing a paaradown
version anyway. So just go with a paaradown version from

(03:04):
the start. At least you'll spend a little less time
thinking about it in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

(03:25):
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

(03:47):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.