Change Your Perfectionist Mindset With These 8 Tips (3 of 5)

4. Set a Time Limit

In order to finish a task, you need to clearly define how much time you’ll give yourself. So, for example, if you decide you’ll give yourself 2 hours, then give yourself 2 hours. On the other hand, if you tell yourself that you’ve got all the time in the world to complete it, you will most certainly take your sweet time at the expense of other tasks that need tending to. There are always ways in which you can improve your work, but you can’t assign an indefinite period of time to a project simply because you feel it’s necessary to achieve perfection. 

5. Don’t waste time on the worst case scenarios

Although it is good to anticipate problems and prepare for various outcomes, the best strategy is to just let things play out and “cross that bridge” if you get there. By constantly assuming the worst, we end up creating an imaginary future when we should be focusing on the present. 

This has nothing to do with not caring about the task at hand; rather, it means we should deal with a situation when it is actually happening rather than wasting our energy on worries that haven’t — and might not — happen.