You’re Not A Perfectionist, You’re Just procrastinating
Good Morning,
I must start by admitting that the title of this digital entry is on the violent side. There is no reason for this, i just felt a little sassy and decided to lean into it. Beyond that slightly verbose title, there is a really important message i learnt that i now want to pass on.
The lesson is simple. Some of us what we call perfectionism is just procrastination and its about time we told ourselves the truth
“I think perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat, pretending to be elegant when actually it's just terrified. Because underneath that shiny veneer, perfectionism is nothing more that a deep existential angst that says, again and again, 'I am not good enough and I will never be good enough.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
I like details people, on every project i run, i spot detail people a mile away, I’m quick to promote them or put them in positions of leadership so they can act as a standard and an inspiration for other members of the team. My friends who look look after business are the same. If i polled 100 people building amazing things, they would probably also say that attention to detail is what separates them from other more mediocre of average outfits. This is clear. The case for perfectionism and high standards are well made. However there is also an ugly side. There are many times were that perfectionism is just procrastination in disguise
Procrastination is the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so. The word has origin from the Latin procrastinatus, which itself evolved from the prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, meaning "of tomorrow."
There was a time where i was the person I’m talking about. I would procrastinate as a result of my perfectionism.
Perfectionism and Procrastination loop
Perfectionism can lead to procrastination in a number of ways, such as by making someone so afraid of making a mistake that they end up not taking any action at all, or by making someone so worried of publishing something with any flaws that they end up reworking their project indefinitely instead of releasing it when it’s ready. This was in part why some of the issues of this digital entry were late. I would be so hard on them, i would end up delaying them.
Consider another example, someone might delay working on their book, because they want every line that they write down to be perfect from the start, which causes them to not write anything at all. Similarly, someone who has finished writing their book might repeatedly delay sending it out for feedback, because they want to make sure that it’s absolutely flawless first, so they keep going over it, again and again.
While it’s reasonable to want to create and publish high-quality work, the problem starts when perfectionists aim for unattainable flawlessness, which causes them to procrastinate by giving them a seemingly valid excuse for unnecessary delays.
It goes beyond just writing, some of us don’t post pictures on Instagram because we have an unrealistic standard for pictures that must go out; we end not posting anything at all.
In this regard, it’s important to note that perfectionism doesn’t always lead to procrastination, and there are even situations where a person’s perfectionism can make them less likely to procrastinate, by pushing them to do a good job and complete their tasks in a timely manner. As such, perfectionism isn’t always a negative thing, and only leads to issues when it causes people to unnecessarily delay things because they’re overly worried about their work not being flawless. It’s a problem when we are hiding behind it and really just nursing laziness and mediocrity.
Let’s get a little more technical
The main psychological mechanism behind our procrastination is as follows:
When we need to get something done, we rely primarily on our self-control in order to bring ourself to do it.
Our self-control often receives support from our motivation, which helps us get things done in a timely manner.
In some cases, we experience certain demotivating factors, such as anxiety or fear of failure, which have an opposite effect than our motivation.
In addition, we sometimes experience certain hindering factors, such as exhaustion or rewards that are far in the future, which interfere with our self-control and motivation.
When demotivating and hindering factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating, either indefinitely, or until we reach a point in time when the balance between them shifts in our
When it comes to specific reasons why people procrastinate, in terms of demotivating and hindering factors, the following are among the most common:
Abstract goals.
Rewards that are far in the future.
A disconnect from our future self.
Feeling overwhelmed.
Anxiety.
Task aversion.
Perfectionism.
Fear of evaluation or negative feedback.
Fear of failure.
A perceived lack of control.
ADHD.
Depression.
Lack of motivation.
Lack of energy.
Sensation seeking.
How is this unhelpful perfectionism-procrastination loop maintained?
Perfectionists are often hypervigilant for signs that their performance is not up to scratch. They may be sensitive to signs of negative feedback, or even tune in to their own stress and discomfort when attempting to start a task (and rationalising that this discomfort reflects a lack of ability).
Perfectionists can fall into the trap of unhelpful thinking styles. These thinking styles are often inaccurate but are accepted as reflecting reality. They unhelpful thinking styles serve to increase stress and overwhelm, which can be demotivating. Procrastination is a natural consequence when facing such negative emotions. These kinds of thinking styles include:
All or Nothing Thinking: This particularly relates to the attainment of unrealistically high standards, “If I don’t receive 100% on my test then I am a bad student”. Certainly, attaining these unrealistically high standards is unlikely, thus this way of thinking sets the perfectionist up to experience stress and overwhelm.
Catastrophic Thinking: This involves assuming that one will not be able to cope with negative outcomes, and that even a small mistake will be a disaster. “My reputation would never recover if I said the wrong thing at a work meeting”. When the consequences are blown out of proportion, is it any wonder that procrastinating on taking action seems to be the safer option?
Mind Reading: This involves predicting what other people are thinking, often making assumptions that they are judging you negatively, “My supervisor is so critical and exacting that they will rip my assignment to shreds and think I am utterly incompetent.” This type of thinking can then lead to procrastination when submitting work to be evaluated.
Misguided attributions and rationalisations following the outcome subsequently serve to reinforce the perfectionism-procrastination loop, for example believing that:
Attributing deadline-driven productivity to capability, “I do my best work under pressure!”. In reality, the work is done only because of the imminent deadline. The rest of the time
Rationalising outcomes as an underestimate of true abilities, thus preserving self-esteem, “Wow, look at that mark. Pretty remarkable given I didn’t have much time to do it. Imagine if I actually focused I could’ve done so much better!”
Grow publicly
I’m not a psychologist so i cannot speak to all of this, but i find its helpful to know where these impulses are coming from so you can start to address them. It’s a strong start to know where the impulse to procrastinate may be coming from. Let’s stop hiding our procrastination behind perfectionism. Half the joy in building things is getting better. You need to get comfortable with growing publically. I always tell some of the artists I mentor something. Truth artistry is giving people permission to watch you grow publically. Even if we are not artists, i think we can adopt some of this into our lives. We have to be comfortable showing our growth and conceding that we may not always achieve the high standards we sometimes set ourselves. Rather then ‘its perfect’ why not set a new standard for sharing things. How about ‘it’s ready to be seen’. The second standard isn’t lower, its just different and more realistic. Get out there and get producing.
Have an amazing week,
M.T. Omoniyi