Episode 70: Is perfectionism harming your productivity?

00:51 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast. You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes. Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started!

01:30 Under my desk lives a big toolbox on wheels and it's filled with paintbrushes and paints, and a batik wax pot pencils and bottles of ink and charcoals and chalk and all sorts of other bits and bobs mostly collected like 20 plus years ago. And very rarely touched these days because back in the day I used to spend a few days a week getting covered in paint and making a mess and I used to be quite good at drawing and painting...and now I'm not! And the idea of creating something that's not very good or not as good as I know i'm capable of, No thank you very much. That is way too confronting and uncomfortable so I'll just leave the paints in the box Thank You! So isn't that ridiculous? Something that used to bring me so much joy completely abandoned because I am out of practice and can't bear the idea of creating something that I consider to be substandard

02:21 And I know it's not just me, one of my networking pals told me that she'd bought a load of crocheting supplies that are now relegated to the bottom of her cupboard because her very first attempt didn't quite work out in the way she had hoped. Perfectionism! Right? It is a pesky, pesky thing with the power to suck joy and momentum out everything and when it comes to our work perfectionism can show up and hold us back in so many ways It can stop you from outsourcing, so I don't trust anyone to do this properly or as well as me. So i'll just keep doing it myself! It can prevent you from finishing what you start. Wanting every teeny tiny detail to be 100% perfect has been the death of many a fabulous idea

03:02 And it can keep you buying courses prioritising learning over action. So don't get me wrong, learning is great and is so important for our development but if you're doing that because you feel you don't know enough or that you're not good enough that could be perfectionism trying to keep you safe and keep you rooted to the spot It can turn you into your own worst critic right? To put it bluntly striving for perfection when perfection doesn't exist is a massive waste of time and energy And honestly, I find things that are too perfect actually a little bit suspicious. Remember the mantras, done is better than perfect and good enough is perfect. And yes I know they're cliched but they're also true and if you can keep reminding yourself of them they do work

04:02 And another great tip that I have for you is to do something imperfect on purpose. Yes, you heard me right! Make a mistake on purpose obviously not a mistake that's going to put you in jail or damage your reputation or upset a client but what if you put a deliberate typo in an email just to see whether or not the sky falls in? I've done it and it is strangely liberating So just have a little think, where might perfectionism be stopping you from making the important things happen or living your life to the full? And what small thing can you do this week to keep you moving forward. As always I hope that this helps and i look forward to seeing you again soon

04:43 Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast. If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us! So thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time