Perfectionism: An Imperfect Way to Work

Being productive is what many of us strive for. Most of us want to be competent at what we do, we want our supervisors to think the best of us and our work, and we want our work to be consistently completed to a high standard for self-gratitude. However, being a perfectionist in the workplace can have a negative impact on your productivity. So, what can we do to ensure that our productivity is not being compromised by our need of perfectionism? 

Definitions 

Productivity: the effectiveness of productive effort. Being productive is a measure of economic performances that reflects output to inputs. For companies, productivity can be best described as the amount of work that can be executed over a specified period. 

Perfectionism: the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. Excessively high personal standards and overly critical self-evaluations.  

Comparing the two definitions alone provides conflicting results. It is possible to conclude that by not accepting any standard short of perfection can lead to an individual spending more time than necessary on a project. Ultimately resulting in perfectionism having negative connotations on an individual’s productivity which will result in a slower output of services by a company.  

There are three main areas that are considered to be the most detrimental to productivity as claims by an article published by Harvard Business Review: 

Inability to categorise work efficiently.  

The reluctance to label decisions as “unimportant” can be a challenge for perfectionists who prefer control due to their intolerance for imperfections. They habitually micromanage and struggle to delegate or quickly decide on less significant matters. Perfectionists often overlook the notion that some decisions are trivial and worthy of minimal effort. To alleviate decisions and fatigue, they can adopt heuristics to expedite decision-making or delegate tasks, acknowledging the relief it brings. 

Overdelivering. 

Perfectionists often feel compelled to exceed expectations in every situation, believing that what’s generally acceptable isn’t sufficient for them. This mindset can stem from various factors such as wanting to avoid disappointment, anxiety, or a fear of consequences if they don’t overdeliver. They may set unrealistically high standards for themselves, driven by a desire to always provide extra value or to prevent any possibility of dissatisfaction.  

To address this tendency, it’s important for perfectionists to recognise the costs associated with constantly aiming for overperformance, such as neglecting other important aspects of life. They can develop strategies to selectively choose when to exceed expectations, rather than doing so in every instance, this might involve setting specific criteria for when to deliver and establish situation-specific habits to manage expectations effectively.  

Frustrated when you aren’t 100% consistent. 

Perfectionists often struggle with adopting new habits, either by taking on too much at once, procrastinating until they can ensure 100% consistency, or sticking only to habits they can maintain without fail. However, psychological health requires flexibility, allowing for breaks when necessary and letting go of habits that no longer serve their purpose. It’s important to recognise when disciplined behaviour turns into compulsion, hindering rather than helping progress. Perfectionists can benefit from regularly reassessing their habits to ensure they align with current needs and goals, rather than blindly adhering to them out of a sense of self-discipline. While striving for excellence is a common trait of perfectionism, it can lead to self-sabotage if it results in suboptimal behaviours or excessive overthinking.