Have you ever faced stress at work because you had a client meeting the next day and felt as though your presentation wasn’t good enough? No matter how long you spent putting everything together, fact-checking, and proofreading, you still felt that there was something wrong with it.
Even though it’s in perfect shape, you continue to read it repeatedly, make design changes, add more information, and worry about whether you’ve missed essential details. You may have even stayed up all night to work on it and are late to your meeting because you’re still trying to make it perfect the following morning.
If you go through this frequently at work, you might become physically and mentally ill because of the smallest tasks, making you a perfectionist at work. Perfectionists are typically high performers who are very detail-oriented. However, they can’t seem to let go of projects, delegate, or understand when they’ve done their best work on a project.
This article will discuss what perfectionism at work looks like, the pros and cons of perfectionism, and how you can become less of a perfectionist to improve your wellbeing.
What Is Perfectionism at Work?
Perfectionism at work tends to hold yourself to higher standards than you hold anyone else, and your standards are so high that you cannot meet them. Perfectionists at work believe that anything other than perfection is the worst thing that can happen, even though clients, managers, and other bosses overlook the imperfections. Perfectionists don’t accept that mistakes are inevitable, even though everyone is bound to make mistakes.
Unfortunately, these types of people believe making even the smallest mistake makes them a failure at their jobs, which can lead to stress and anxiety – trying to be perfect means that people are unhappier at their jobs and may be unable to get through a workday without feeling the need to be perfect.
Anyone can be a perfectionist at work, whether you’re working on a web development project or organizing the cloud; perfectionism isn’t limited to client or boss-facing projects; it can also affect administrative tasks that affect nobody else.
Pros and Cons of Perfectionism at Work
Perfectionism can be beneficial, or it can be detrimental. Here are the pros and cons of perfectionism at work.
Pros of perfectionism at work
#1 High standards
Having high standards is never a bad thing. Perfectionists with high standards can easily meet the standards of managers and clients. For example, a person with low standards typically has a difficult time meeting the standards of others and may be seen as a low performer. On the other hand, perfectionism gives a person the desire to do things right the first time, making it easy to meet expectations.
#2 Efficiency
Perfectionists typically use proper time management techniques to ensure their work is delivered on time. They may also be organized to help improve efficiency and get the job done right the first time. For example, a perfectionist might plan and manage projects well in advance to ensure they can meet deadlines and give themselves enough time to do the job right the first time, working with a more streamlined work process. Everything from sending an invoice to putting together a 100-page presentation will be planned accordingly.
Sometimes, the work done by a perfectionist is more efficient and accurate, which means fewer mistakes to go back and fix.
#3 Accurate work
Perfectionists will do everything to ensure their work is accurate and polished. When they present something to a client, it will always be well-organized and formatted correctly. The work of a perfectionist will also be precise, and they’ll have taken the time to deliver accurate data and information.
#4 Attention to detail
Perfectionists are detail-oriented, which means they pay attention to every little detail of a project. They often go the extra mile to ensure their work is as detailed as possible and even pay attention to design aspects when necessary to deliver polished work.
Perfectionists think of details that others won’t notice, appealing to employers and clients.
Cons of perfectionism at work
#1 Poor time management
While some perfectionists are great planners, others have poor time management skills and can become burnt out from their stress trying to finish a project. While some perfectionists thrive at work and can meet deadlines, others are constantly turning in beautiful work that’s late. According to Utica University, many perfectionists waste too much time trying to do the little things and beat themselves up if they can’t do them on the first try.
Instead of getting complimented for their hard work, their work doesn’t make the cut because it didn’t make the deadline. Ultimately, perfectionists work slower because they’re too busy dealing with minor details of a project.
#2 Losing sight of the point
Perfectionists might be too detail-oriented in their pursuits, losing the bigger picture of a project. Instead of worrying about the output, they focus on tiny details nobody else will notice and essentially waste time.
Getting lost in the details is easy for perfectionists, so they may not be as productive as their non-perfectionist coworkers.
#3 Longer work cycles
As we’ve mentioned, perfectionists take up more time to finish a project, which means every step will require more time. Therefore, if a perfectionist is working on a task, you’ll need longer lead times to ensure they can finish it on time. Ultimately, being a perfectionist might mean getting less work done than another employee, making them appear less efficient and less productive.
#4 Incompatibility with other employees
Perfectionists are challenging to work with and often don’t thrive in teams. Hiring managers look for employees who can be team players, and perfectionists frequently can’t. Because they’re so detail-oriented, other people on their team can feel frustrated that the project isn’t moving along. Perfectionists can also be controlling, making them demanding to collaborate with. They can also drag the team down by making them not want to put all their effort into a project that never seems to end.
How to Become Less of a Perfectionist
Ultimately, the stress related to being a perfectionist isn’t worth it. Not only are you paying attention to little details nobody else will notice, but you’re putting unnecessary stress on yourself. Additionally, perfectionism isn’t linked to high performance, so there’s no reason to spend too much time focusing on the minutiae of a project.
According to Harvard Business Review, performance and perfectionism are not related to each other. If you’re a perfectionist, you are neither better nor worse of a performer than your other coworkers. If you’ve decided that being a perfectionist is hurting your career and mental or physical health, check out these tips for becoming less of a perfectionist.
Tip #1: Be self-aware
It can be challenging to rid yourself of bad habits, but by becoming self-aware, you can allow yourself to notice when you’re acting like a perfectionist and take a step back to adjust. As you pay attention to how you act at work, you can begin making different choices. For example, instead of worrying about a small detail in a presentation, you can look at the presentation as a whole.
Tip #2: Don’t compare
Comparing yourself to others is a natural part of life, but there’s no reason to look at anyone else’s work. Instead, focus on your own work and find ways you can improve it without getting too much in your head.
Tip #3: Set realistic goals
As a perfectionist, you may have missed deadlines to make your work look better. However, you are hurting yourself by being late for a client, which means your work went unappreciated. Instead, always set realistic goals by understanding when a project is due. Next, chunk that project up into smaller pieces so you can actually meet your deadlines instead of worrying about tiny details.
Tip #4: Ask yourself if it’s worth it
As we’ve stated, perfectionists are not higher performers than anyone else in the office, so there’s no reason to stress about small details because it’s not improving your work or your life in any way. Before you start obsessing over the small stuff, consider whether it’s really worth it.
Tip #5: Allow mistakes
Mistakes are bound to happen whether you worry about them or not. Ask a coworker to proofread your work instead of rereading the same report looking for typos. Once they’ve finished, you can give it a second read and look for grammatical errors. After that, what’s done is done. While you may not like giving your boss or client a report with a typo, they’ll forgive you and not think twice about it. You are only human.
Dealing with Perfectionism at Work
While perfectionism means your work stands out from the rest, it doesn’t mean that you’re a better performer than anyone else. It often means you’ve stressed over the smallest of details that went unnoticed. Instead of spending countless hours worrying about your presentation, you could have been working on other tasks to be more productive, or you could have been getting better sleep at night to help you work better the next day.
Of course, not all perfectionists are the same; some have excellent time management skills and are never late on deadlines, while others are consistently late because they are obsessed with perfection.
While being a perfectionist does have advantages, you must ask yourself if the advantages outweigh the stress of trying to be perfect.
This post is contributed to actiTIME by Matt Casadona, who has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys San Diego life, traveling, and music.
