“Perfection and Productivity Are Mutually Exclusive”

Before I get back to posting details of my research, I want to draw your attention to the most concise explanation I’ve ever read of how perfectionism contributes to procrastination.

The following commentary comes from the current newsletter of David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done (GTD), a wildly popular book on organization and time management (see here for more background):

Perfection and productivity are mutually exclusive.

One of the most powerful forces promoting procrastination is not necessarily the desire for perfection, but its evil twin: the fear of imperfection. If you don’t engage with something, you can maintain the illusion that you’re capable of its flawless execution. But if something must be right before you express it, you hold back in repression. If it must be faultless before you get involved, you will become a master of avoidance. If you’re waiting to know something before you do something, you’ll remain in ignorant inactivity. A willingness to be as vulnerable as you are, risking the void of putting yourself out there and getting yourself going without the security of total perfection, is the essence of productive living. You may achieve perfection, which is most easily found in the realization, not the creation, of it. But not if you worry about its absence.  (Copyright 2006, David Allen & Company. All rights reserved. www.davidco.com)

If that struck a nerve, sign up to receive the free newsletter here.  It includes a related article as well as productivity tips for procrastinators and non-procrastinators alike.

As for procrastination itself, I think the best place to start is by reading Neil Fiore’s book called The Now Habit.  Anyone have other recommendations?