Perfectionism is a horrible trait to have, yet necessary to do good work.  It keeps me from finishing projects and taking action. I get so caught up in the details that I stall and it keeps me from getting the bigger things done.

Recently, I replaced a compressor in a condenser and I found myself nitpicking over the details. At one point, I was about to rip out the wiring and redo it all. I already had it all installed and was ready to move on to the next phase of getting the compressor running. How I had it wired was fine, but I knew it could be better. At the same time, I needed to focus on other things such as the micron gauge to see how deep the vacuum was on the system. Checking the vacuum was essential for the next step in getting the compressor to run. It would determine whether the system was tight and ready to be charged with refrigerant.

However, I was so caught up in how I could make the wiring connections perfect that it was keeping me from finishing the project.  I needed to stop trying to get things perfect and simply complete them.

Sure, there’s a difference between doing it correctly and doing it perfectly. The compressor was wired correctly and would operate just fine with no issues. I simply wanted to make it perfect, but that would cost me time and concentration.

Do you think you struggle with perfectionism? How do you deal with it? If you don’t struggle with it, what other problems do you encounter with yourself and work?