I’ve never really thought of my procrastination as coming from perfectionism as applied to the work I’m producing, but on reflection, I realized it often comes from self-disappointment (which is perhaps a form of perfectionism). Eg, I procrastinated on writing my research papers in grad school, but it was because I was disappointed in my ideas (or lack thereof), not because I feared not being able to make the current work sufficiently perfect.
Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
151–160 of 232 posts
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#152I developed a bad case of perfectionism-procrastination after working for a toxic boss. It didn't matter how polished our product was, he'd find a way to tear it apart. When he'd have a bad day, he'd start picking apart a random team's product. "Unbelievable!" he'd say in Slack, dropping a screen recording of the app that showed something we were supposed to be embarrassed about. It could be that the app took 3 secon…
You put into words something I've had a hard time understanding for a long time. Some people really do have a clear preference for people who don't ship. Out of curiosity, what kind of background did your toxic boss have? Is it technical or business side? I have a couple hunches for why this happens: 1. These people are dreamers and dislike people who bring them back down to reality, even if they need those people to…
These are possibilities but I think you missed a much more likely one -- they're just bullies who like to pick on people.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#153I developed a bad case of perfectionism-procrastination after working for a toxic boss. It didn't matter how polished our product was, he'd find a way to tear it apart. When he'd have a bad day, he'd start picking apart a random team's product. "Unbelievable!" he'd say in Slack, dropping a screen recording of the app that showed something we were supposed to be embarrassed about. It could be that the app took 3 secon…
You have described a major problem with tech "leadership". They are incompetent and don't want to hear it.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
You put into words something I've had a hard time understanding for a long time. Some people really do have a clear preference for people who don't ship. Out of curiosity, what kind of background did your toxic boss have? Is it technical or business side? I have a couple hunches for why this happens: 1. These people are dreamers and dislike people who bring them back down to reality, even if they need those people to…
These are possibilities but I think you missed a much more likely one -- they're just bullies who like to pick on people.
If they were just bullies, then there shouldn't be a preference for hypothetical UI and architecture folks.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#155I developed a bad case of perfectionism-procrastination after working for a toxic boss. It didn't matter how polished our product was, he'd find a way to tear it apart. When he'd have a bad day, he'd start picking apart a random team's product. "Unbelievable!" he'd say in Slack, dropping a screen recording of the app that showed something we were supposed to be embarrassed about. It could be that the app took 3 secon…
You have described a major problem with tech "leadership". They are incompetent and don't want to hear it.
Almost everyone, given the power to avoid it, would rather not hear they're incompetent.
Hence why telling truth to power, in a productive way that gets things done, is an important skill.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#156There is truth that at times procrastination is tied to perfectionism, but I'd wager that the cause of procrastination 9/10 times is that we choose to do something that is more enjoyable to us over something that is less.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#157I’ve long held the belief that procrastination is the rational response in a low return on investment (ROI) situation. This seems to fit nicely into that framework: if significant investment is required, you only value perfect output and are doubtful it can be achieved, then the expected ROI is pretty low.
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Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
These are possibilities but I think you missed a much more likely one -- they're just bullies who like to pick on people.
If they were just bullies, then there shouldn't be a preference for hypothetical UI and architecture folks.
Is this true? Are bullies indiscriminate and swing in all directions or do they focus on where the power dynamic benefits them? I feel like I've seen both.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#159I think I struggle with this as well. I was recently watching an episode of Adam Savage on YouTube and he said something that reasonated with me related to this. He said, it's not about getting it right it's about trying new things.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#160I think I struggle with this as well. I was recently watching an episode of Adam Savage and he said something that reasonated with me related to this. He said, it's not about getting it right it's about trying new things.