Everything is Almost Perfect Here

I had an epiphany this week that has motivated me through several tasks, which I want to share:  Done is better than perfect!

Pareto's principle tells us that 80% of our results are produced by 20% of our efforts.  So within that 20% of effort, what is the difference between almost-perfect, and almost-almost perfect?   For me, quite a bit of time and procrastination - not necessarily improvement.  I don't think of myself as a perfectionist, since I don't really ever think there is a state of 'perfect.'  I do constantly doubt the done-ness of my work - and am always trying to raise the bar, thought - maybe there's a bit of perfectionism in there somewhere, driving me crazy.

This week I've been working on learning to back off and be satisfied with the second or third draft, as opposed to tweaking and re-tweaking and waiting until the morning to re-read and re-tweak.  Done is much better than perfect! It's a bit nerve-wracking for me, but the relief of being able to check the task off of my list is so much better than the weight of having it continue to hang over my head.

So for now, I'm adopting the mantra, and we'll see if it continues to drive forward momentum.

Let It Go

This is a big week for the Gustin family. My management consulting days are dwindling into single digits, we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary as well as the fall equinox, and a new moon graced the sky. What a great time to reset intentions and set goals for the next few months!

One thing I've been struggling with this summer is the ability to cross something off my list and be done with it. I have gotten really good at procrastinating - I can fabricate a valid reason to justify putting off doing anything I am not 100% inspired by. Lately it's been hitting the send button, figuratively and literally. I'm not sure if it's my internal pursuit of "perfection" that is holding me back, but there are a lot of things I have been transferring from one list onto another each week. I work on it, but it's not quite ready, or I just don't feel like it's the exact message I want to send, or I get nervous about how others are going to perceive something - so I just put it on the back burner and expect that I will have an epiphany and find the right words. I know this is slowing me down, so I am making a concerted effort to dial back my expectations and be content with "good enough."

There are only so many times I can read a press release and find ways to improve it before the editing becomes a marginal use of my time. First impressions are critically important, but if it's just an email I should find a way to keep it simple and send a clear but concise introductory message. Letting an idea marinate for another 24 hours will not provide enough additional creative content to justify putting off the phone call another day.

Any time I waver about getting something accomplished enough that I could cross it off my list, I am going to give myself another 15 minutes to agonize over it and then let it go and move on to other things. We'll see how this goes...

For Me, Formidable

Today it has officially been three months since I was awarded my MBA. Three months of searching for myself, for a job, my true dreams, and what elements are important to create the life I imagine for myself. Three months of feeling inadequate in addition to the guilt of not being a contributing member of my family.

This past week I had several phone interviews, a meeting about a fundraiser, and the installation of a brand new screen door(4 years later, we might finally have some circulation!). On Monday morning, I began to make a list of the people I needed to contact for various reasons, tasks I have been procrastinating all summer, appointments I needed to remember and details for upcoming weddings I need to tend to. Lightbulb - cue the big black planner! Amazingly, all of the things I wrote down have been completed this week. However, I discovered that my planner has eleven completely blank weeks in it!

During school, I lived and breathed by my not-so-little bound calendar. Yes, I do understand the smartphone phenomenon, and can appreciate the “synch” mechanism that unites notes and appointments from your computer and email into a handheld calendar that rides in your pocket and alerts you five minutes before you need to be someplace. However, it was never effective for me. I was only organized and responsible about scheduling group meetings and making appointments when I could look at my whole week, and physically write down a place and time. The handy pockets also kept me on top of my game, reliably holding stamps, miscellaneous paperwork that seemed to be necessary everywhere at Thunderbird, and receipts. This kinetic behavior was accompanied by daily lists of to-do’s that were prioritized by project deadlines, upcoming events, and marketing timelines, as well as endless sticky notes pasted randomly with reminders and ideas. Type A, much? Ha! Yet somehow I have survived the past eleven weeks without using my planner or writing out a single list.

Admittedly, I am more prone to productivity when I have multiple responsibilities to balance – I have always operated that way. But my reunion with my planner has put several things in perspective. Yes, I do just fine without being neurotic with logistics and details. But, I will excel in an environment that appreciates my keen sense of organization. It also begs the question: which is more motivating, a blank calendar, or a full to-do list?