When Done is Better Than Perfect: Overcoming a Slump, Prioritizing Value and Doing Our Best

In this short and slightly different-than-usual episode, Mary Grace highlights a common challenge and phenomenon that sometimes even the most hardworking, motivated versions of ourselves inevitably face due to the lack of time and energy: doing our best and showing up, even when things aren't 100% perfect for us, and how we can best recover from our slump moments. Please feel free to share your current experiences, moods, methods in overcoming a slump, etc. in the comments!

(00:00) Intro and Some Explaining To Do

(01:10) Sharing is Caring

(02:02) Lessons Lived By This Week

(06:22) Let Me Know What YOU Do!

(07:13) Last Remarks & What's Coming

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
When they say that done is better than perfect, they mean it.

(00:05):
Hello and welcome back to the Once Upon a Trip podcast.
If you're new here, my name is Mary Grace Crawford
and I am the host of this show.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
This is going to be the shortest episode to date
and probably the shortest one in a while.
And I can explain.
I actually recorded an entire episode for this week.

(00:28):
I edited the whole thing and I listened to it back
and I did not think it was valuable enough to post.
So we're going with plan B because now I am limited on time
and this happens to all of us.
Many of us are very, very fixated
on doing something perfectly
as opposed to just throwing something together
and getting it done.

(00:49):
Especially if you are like me,
if you are more of a perfectionist
and you really like things to be very, very nitpicky
to the point detailed, this can be difficult.
But I would rather have something short
just to make this announcement
and to posting something that I don't think
will serve you for this week.

(01:10):
I am pre-recording this and as I speak,
Marco, who has been gone for two weeks in Germany,
just landed and is literally en route back to here.
If you are watching this,
you will be able to see that I have put together
a little bit of a spread for Marco when he comes back home.

(01:31):
I simply made these Trishket bites
with garlic and herb cream cheese, smoked salmon
and dill spice.
And I put a bunch of green grapes in the middle.
Marco, I'm sure is going to have a little bit
of a jet lag shock, but I just wanna make sure
that he has something to eat if he is hungry.

(01:52):
Not that that would have been any more useful
to your day, but I felt like sharing it
because this is all about sharing.
It's all about exchanges, right?
Feel free to tell me what you had for your meals too.
Anyway, like I said, I put a whole episode together
talking about a slump that I was in the past week.
It was 10 minutes long.
I listened to it back and I just didn't find

(02:14):
that it would provide enough value
for what I would deem acceptable.
So I'm not posting that this week.
I will instead just be posting
this very quick little tidbit.
There are definitely some podcasts shifts slash changes
that I would like to dive deeper into next week
with Marco here with us, but to keep things simple

(02:34):
for this week and to provide some sort of value.
I just wanted to share these things
that I have been thinking about
and maybe you can apply them to your day and week as well.
Again, sometimes done is better than perfect.
Being consistent is important
and consistency comes in all sorts of forms.

(02:55):
There are just some days when we wake up
and we don't wanna do anything
and we just don't have that same drive and purpose
and we forget our whys.
That is what happened to me over the past several days.
I think I was simply just burnt out.
I'm still working on that.
I hope you are off to a great start this year
and you are not burnt out already.

(03:17):
Every episode that I put together for you
is one that I want to be filled with value
or entertainment or tips or random facts.
I was in a slump the past several days.
I was not motivated.
I didn't wanna do anything and I didn't do anything
and it's okay to not do anything sometimes.

(03:38):
I think that we, especially as humans,
are so hard on ourselves
because we have such high expectations
for being a certain level or for producing
at a certain frequency, at a certain quality
and it can be really easy to forget that rest is essential.
Rest is what really revives us in times of burnout

(04:01):
and times of just feeling lost and uninspired.
My only advice that I am following for myself
that I hope you can follow as well
or at least you can implement when you are feeling down
is when you are in a slump,
really make an effort to use your social network
and this means your friends, your family, your colleagues,

(04:23):
people who give you these positive feelings and happiness
and really uplift you.
Surround yourself with these people,
dedicate a chunk of your time of your workday,
of your weekend and share how you're feeling.
Share your frustrations, share your stress at work,
share your stress in your relationship
which I hope you don't have that

(04:44):
but I'm just gonna say it, whatever it is, talk about it
and have an outlet and a positive influence
and somebody you can really trust and confide in.
That is what I did this past weekend when I was in a slump,
I visited my grandma and we had a really nice talk
and she made me feel so much better just in general

(05:06):
and then I saw my dear friend, Subi,
who I had not seen in six months
and just simply seeing these people
really brought me so much refreshment
that I hadn't realized that I really needed
but it was so beneficial.
So when you're in a slump, get outside, go see your people,
go do something fun, get your mind out of the clouds

(05:29):
and I can assure you that at least the next day
you will feel more revived than you did
that day before when you were really in a slump.
There is just something about being surrounded by people,
the social aspect of being around other human beings
who can really uplift you and make you feel better.
There is something about this that no other remedy,

(05:50):
no other thing can do for you.
There is no other remedy like people.
Seriously, it sounds so cliche
but I just thought that I would repeat this
because again, we all get into a slump,
we all get unmotivated and I think at least for most people,
the best cure to our slumpiness

(06:11):
or at least to our not very good mood
is spending time with people who we love,
pursuing other hobbies, simply just taking a break,
which I did and if there is anything that you personally do
to get out of a slump, to reignite your motivation,
to really get yourself back on your two feet

(06:32):
when you are feeling so down, please share with me
because I think that it's so important to be able to know,
okay, I have this ticker file,
I can access this whenever I'm feeling down
and I know that I'm going to feel better when I access this.
I know that this has nothing to do with travel,
has nothing to do with any episodes with Marco.

(06:54):
I'm completely aware of that.
I just thought that I would share
what I at least am currently going through
because I'm sure that you have moments in your life
when you experience this as well.
So please feel free to share again how you're feeling
if you are in a slump often, I hope not
and what you do to combat this.
That is all that I'm going to leave you with

(07:15):
for this very short episode.
My plan is to be back next week with Marco.
We have some plans that are in the making
that I will announce later, but spoiler alert,
I plan on focusing future episodes
much more with Marco, Europe and America comparisons
as opposed to just my young, crazy travel stories

(07:38):
and me being naive and single and blah, blah, blah
for future reference.
For now though, I wish you a wonderful week ahead.
Good luck to you.
Happy vibes, good vibes.
Stay warm if you're in a freaking cold place,
which most of us are in
and I will see you next week
for another fun adventurous trip of an episode.

(08:00):
I am sending lots of love to you this week.