The world's best productivity hack

How to let go of perfectionism, so you can get more done

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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 the world's best productivity hack is to
let go of perfectionism. If you want to get more done,

(00:27):
the surest way to do that is to stop aiming
for perfection on every front. So I realize that not
everyone finds it easy to do less than their best
on any given task, but doing your best at every
single thing can be stressful and time consuming. Frankly, it

(00:47):
is also impossible as time and energy are limited, you're
going to do less than your best at something. I
don't want you to make your life smaller so that
perfectionism seems more attainable. Instead, you are best off recognizing
when good enough is good enough you can use to

(01:09):
save time to build a bigger life and have fun too.
Now I know this is easier said than done, but
since we aim to be practical here Before Breakfast, I
think there are three questions you can ask yourself to
help in this pursuit. Whenever you are considering spending more
time on something, ask yourself these three things. First, how

(01:34):
much better is this project going to get? Second? What
else would I like to get done? And? Third, what
am I giving up to get this closer to perfect?
The first question, how much better is this going to get?
Helps you realize when the marginal improvements start to get

(01:55):
pretty small. If you are rehearsing a twenty minute presentation,
the first two to three hours probably improve your presentation
a lot. The tenth hour perhaps not so much. If
you are crafting a cover letter for a job you
are excited about, the second draft is likely better than
the first, but the sixth draft may be virtually identical

(02:19):
to the fifth. If you are creating an invitation to
your partner's fiftieth birthday party, at a certain point, your
tweaks aren't making it better, they are just making it different.
Before you work on something longer or revise one more time,
ask yourself how much better it will realistically be after

(02:40):
the additional effort. If the answer is not much, then
it is good enough already. The second question to ask
yourself is what else would I like to get done?
If whatever you are attempting to make perfect isn't the
only thing on your to do list, the sooner you
call it done, the sooner you can move on to

(03:02):
the next thing. Finally, ask yourself what am I giving
up to get this closer to perfect? In other words,
if you decided you were adequately prepared for your presentation,
or that you are ready to send the invitation to
the birthday party, what would you do next? Is there
a speculative project you've been wanting to explore? Would you

(03:25):
curl up with a book you've been eager to read?
Consider in specific terms, what your perfectionism is costing you.
You may decide that the benefits of getting the task
closer to perfect pale in comparison to what you could
do if you realized it was good enough already. So

(03:46):
if you are plagued by perfectionism, try asking these three questions.
How much better is this project going to get? What
else would I like to get done? And what am
I giving up to get this closer to perfect? I
really do think that deciding goodenough is good enough is
the ultimate productivity hack. Some things are worth our best efforts,

(04:09):
but not everything. Choosing wisely allows us to live bigger
lives where we get a lot more done. In the meantime.
This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

(04:36):
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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

(04:58):
listen to your favorite shows.