If you’re a successful freelancer, chances are that you’re a perfectionist, an overachiever, or both. These traits have a lot of pluses: no one wants to work with someone who’s sloppy, late and doesn’t sweat the details. But they can also have some negative consequences, such as causing you misery and chipping away at your relationships with other people.
In this installment of In the Balance, I suggest five ways to mitigate the negative effects of being a perfectionist and/or overachiever. Enjoy!
I find that if I’m getting obsessive about something, it helps to think: ‘Is this something that’s going to be important a year from now? Will I (or anyone else) even remember it?
Thank you! That is a great way to get some perspective!
I love this. “Not gross”. That’s what I tried to do, even though I´m a cleaning freak I have recently tried not to worry if I didn’t vacuum. The bathroom is harder, especially if I have visit coming.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Your “In the Balance” series reminds me of the mindfulness movement. Wonder if this subject makes sense for ATA/San Francisco? There seem to be a great many organizations devoted to this movement, including the publishers of “Mindful – taking time for what matters,” http://www.mindful.org. It’s a movement which happily has hit a chord with many companies and organizations around the world.
But I am sure I am preaching to the choir, dear Corinne!
Excellent! Now I have to go back and watch the earlier episodes. By the way, we have a little plaque in our kitchen: “My house is clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy.”
Thanks for helping us managing the dictator inside our brains! 🙂
And your tip #2 is so true: to find a field to be not-perfect is such a relieve!
Enjoyed that. And I liked that comment about “My house is clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy.” I think finding a balance is always important, regardless of the context.
This was wonderful! I really needed to hear this from somebody else as I will obsessively review a translation over and over again! This also applies to other aspects of my life, such as household cleanliness, which can get out of control easily! Thanks, Corinne!
Great, glad you enjoyed it!