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Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#71

Post by YossarianFrPrez »

This essay on the connection between perfectionism and procrastination helped me: https://web.archive.org/web/20111120152858/http://www.struct...

To whet your appetite, here is the opening line: "Many procrastinators do not realize that they are perfectionists, for the simple reason that they have never done anything perfectly, or even nearly so."

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#72

Post by chucksta »

exdsq wrote: post #16
chucksta wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are going to poke, does that mean you consider there to be a perfect war?

The Emu War would be pretty high on that list [1]. TLDR; the Australians lost a war to Emus. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

That continent always wins lol;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo_Fence

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#73

Post by exabrial »

Something is not "done" if it is not in production. So when something is in a constant state of development, nothing has been delivered, therefore nothing is done. I use this with my developers and it's moved the needle on development from large explosions of code and big changes to much average sized well tested chunks.

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#74

Post by mftb »

Perfection isn't an interesting goal. Even if it were possible it's uninteresting, since it's not possible, it's wholly uninteresting. Transcendence, exceeding whichever limits of your choosing, is far more fulfilling, realizable and entertaining.

I empathize with perfectionism. I felt it strongly when I was young, and growing up with a family member consumed by it, I feel fortunate to have mostly left it behind a long time ago.

To answer OP's question, I sought out different goals.

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#75

Post by kulikalov »

People struggle with INABILITY to deliver perfect results.

Apparently the relief to this struggle is either moderate expectation of oneself or the perfect results.

I guess it’s impossible to deliver perfect results in highly uncertain endeavors like entrepreneurship. But it’s very possible to deliver perfect results as a craftsman.

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#76

Post by jart »

simonw wrote: post #18

I keep coming back to the old Reid Hoffman quote: "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." I also constantly remind myself that "perfect is the enemy of shipped". A useful thing to remember is that you are the ONLY person that knows how beautiful the thing you were planning to build was going to be. What you've actually built is always going to be disappointing compa…

Fear is the enemy of the shipped. Perfectionism is a drive that keeps us shipping something better and better. Folks are happier that way too since they get to see all the snapshots on the road to perfection, which helps them understand how they too can create perfect things themselves. Plus it gives others the opportunity to be a part of that perfection. Like for instance upgrading a web framework so its password system uses pbkdf2 instead of salted hash. Then someone else comes along and strengthens it with bcrypt. Then another comes along and adds argon2. It's a great story.

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#77

Post by arrosenberg »

Lots of good suggestions in here for managing perfectionism. If you want to actually overcome it, you need to figure out what is making you a perfectionist and consciously address the thoughts and patterns that are driving those behaviors. You may have one or more parents that have held you to an impossibly high standard for achievement, that seems like a common theme.

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#78

Post by edgyquant »

exdsq wrote: post #16
chucksta wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are going to poke, does that mean you consider there to be a perfect war?

The Emu War would be pretty high on that list [1]. TLDR; the Australians lost a war to Emus. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

In what way is this perfect, other than as a joke?

Re: Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?

#79

Post by eyelidlessness »

I give myself a place and a time to explore and indulge it: namely weekend side projects. Sometimes this perfectionism yields interesting results, even stuff I can apply back to my more pragmatic day job. Other times I make no progress at all, and it’s a healthy reminder going into the next week.
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