Managing perfectionism to improve productivity

As cliche as it sounds, if I was asked in a job interview “what is your greatest weakness?”, the first thing that would come to my mind is “I’m a perfectionist”. I know it can be a valuable asset in some situations, but the truth is, when I started a new phase in my legal career, 3 years ago, as assistant to a judge, my perfectionism posed an extra obstacle to thriving in that position.

In summary, as assistant to a judge it was my duty to analyze all the cases assigned to him, discuss any complicated cases I didn’t already know how to solve, and then write a decision for the judge to sign. All that should be done in a given period of time (around 60 days from the date each case was received in his office) and, believe me, the number of cases he received weekly made it impossible for a single person to properly analyze each one and write a decision that 1- addressed every topic raised and 2- took into consideration all the hundreds of documents provided by the lawyers. In addition to the time pressure, there was also the insecurity of an assistant who was just starting in the career and had no experience judging legal cases, therefore needing to spend extra time doing research to figure out how to handle them. Anyone in their right mind would let go of any high expectations for the quality of their work, in that situation, since the priority, for the court, was productivity. But as a perfectionist, I was obsessed with writing the best decision, both fair and technically correct, not leaving any blind spots, all in perfectly formal language - not only in order to feed my ego as a former A+ Law School student, but also because I was dealing with people’s lives. Companies and their ex-employees could lose a lot of money if “the judge” (actually, I) made a mistake.

As months went by, I eventually came up with strategies to speed up the process of writing imperfect but acceptably good decisions. However, there’s always room for improvement in overcoming the trap of perfectionism and its close friend “procrastination”. So if you’re dealing with those same issues, here are some practical tips I’ve learned recently and am trying to incorporate into my way of working.

First of all, before you even start working, convince yourself to lower the bar. That expectation that your work has to be 10/10 is unrealistic and only brings you anxiety and frustration. Learn to prioritize which part of your work deserves your full effort and which ones can be done in a more relaxed, imperfect way. In my case, I decided to focus on not missing any main allegations made by the lawyers - and for that, I worked on my skimming and scanning skills. Also, I decided to only invest the time to fully read documents that were specifically mentioned in petitions. Even so, I made peace with the possibility that I could miss something, and it was okay: the lawyer would have the opportunity to point it out by filing a motion for clarifications and I would be able to fix it. So lesson number one, find out where a mistake or a lack of quality will not have serious consequences and make a conscious effort to accept that B-level work in those areas is just fine.

Tip number two: divide a major task into several smaller tasks that won’t seem as intimidating, and then start with the smallest one to get the momentum going. Oftentimes our need for doing a perfect job can lead us to procrastinate tackling huge tasks because we fear we won’t be able to handle them. So in my case, dividing a complex legal case into smaller topics and starting to write the decision by analyzing the easiest ones tricked my brain into believing that “I got it” - and that boost of confidence helped me work faster as I wrote my way towards the more daunting topics. Of course, this strategy is no magic wand and you still have to face the hardest part of your work later on, but that sense of “this is all that is left, everything else was taken care of” is surprisingly liberating and actually helps you harness your mental energy for that final sprint.

Tip number three: for those with a tendency to procrastinate, avoiding distractions is a must to be productive at work, and I realized that that, too, was preventing me from achieving the desired performance level. Eliminating distractions can be as simple and effective as turning off your phone’s notifications, putting on noise-canceling headphones and listening to binaural beats - or a more complex one like setting up a dedicated, isolated area as your home office. I did all that, and yet whenever I needed to use my phone to talk to my boss or colleague about a case, personal messages on my phone would distract me from my goal. Ultimately, I decided to buy a new phone and get a new number for my personal interactions and leave the old ones to deal exclusively with work. A few months into it and I already think I’m never going back on the decision to separate my professional and personal lives, not only for the sake of productivity but also for my mental health. That was a real game changer for me and I believe anyone could benefit from that.

Finally, the fourth tip I want to share is one I’m still struggling to apply in my work life:  “Find a speed at which the quality of your work is still high and develop the sense of urgency necessary for you to maintain that speed” (Tracy, How top performers never let a second go to waste 2022). To achieve that, we need to keep in the back of our mind the negative consequences of not finishing a given task in a timely manner, so it serves as fuel to work more quickly and helps us snap out of common mental traps, such as wondering “what if…” after we already decided on a course of action, or indulging in “let me just polish that a little bit more” after the work is done (guilty!!). Being aware of that urgency without letting it turn into unhealthy anxiety, though, is a skill I am yet to learn, and the tension in my shoulders is a daily reminder of just how much the pressure for high performance can take a toll on me. So now, when asked in an interview “What is your greatest weakness?”, I will be able to confidently say “My greatest weakness is my perfectionism, and here is how I’ve learned to deal with it in order to become more productive and achieve my professional goals”.

Milena Vaz

Tracy, B. (2022, June 6). How top performers never let a second go to waste. Lifehack. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www.lifehack.org/640137/14-small-time-management-tips-that-can-make-a-big-difference 

Drillinger, M. (2019, October 18). 7 steps to breaking the 'perfectionism, procrastination, paralysis' cycle. Healthline. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/7-steps-to-breaking-the-perfectionism-procrastination-paralysis-cycle