Tackle the 2 P’s (procrastination & perfectionism)
It's hard to build skills, advance in our career, and troubleshoot problems...without struggling with insecurities too.
In public speaking, two of the WORST obstacles we have to deal with are the “2 P’s”: Ms. Perfectionism and Mr. Procrastination. This annoying duo will drive you wild with unending demands, unrealistic expectations, and endless detours that lead nowhere.
When the 2 P’s are at the wheel, we struggle to do anything creative or scary…(and binge-watching reality TV with a tub of double-chocolate fudge ice cream seems like a great option).
The Two “P’s”: Partners In Crime
Not sure if you have met Ms. Perfectionism and Mr. Procrastination?
Raise your hand if these voices sound familiar:
“Ugh…your new song sounds terrible…and who will listen to you anyway? Maybe it’s time to quit music...”
“Oh my gawd you’re such a loser…no one will ever want to work with you. Start again, dummy.”
“Forget your deadline…eat this bag of gummy bears and play more video games.”
You get the picture.
Perfectionism and procrastination are the perfect partners in crime, and they work together to make sure that our insecurities keep us locked up.
They do everything they can to keep us from stretching out of our comfort zone.
Unfortunately, we need to push our comfort zones to do better work in the world. It’s time to use strategic tactics to nudge perfectionism and procrastination out of the way.
But there’s a small problem. Creative resistance doesn’t respond to willpower, #hustle, and motivational speeches. We like to think we can force our way through internal blocks, but it doesn’t work that way.
Creative resistance is wiley and capricious. And we need to be just as crafty to evade its grasp.
2 Tricks for the 2 P’s
To handle perfectionism and procrastination, I like to use a double-barreled approach:
Trick #1 - Lower the stakes: A lot of people panic when they hear this, assuming that I’m encouraging people to do crappy work and be satisfied with sub-par performance. No way. Lowering the stakes is a mental game, used intentionally to wriggle past your creative resistance. Our inner dragons love to freak out when we’re concerned about our work, insisting that this is “do or die”. But when we lower the stakes, we tell our brains that this upcoming deadline or project isn’t the “life or death” situation we thought it was. In response, we relax a little.By lowering the stakes a little, we unexpectedly stumble back into the joy of creating.
Trick #2 - Do the work: Putting in the time and effort is crucial to get past resistance. This is NOT about being perfect, but being willing to be marvellously imperfect as we focus on the work that matters. We show up. We make mistakes. And we see every challenge as a learning opportunity (instead of a big pit of sweaty fear and potential failure). We have the courage to fail every day, and improve a little each time. And instead of hesitating out of fear, we learn how to be more willing to take risks.
Getting Past the Two “P’s”
Being willing to be imperfect (“lower the stakes”) and productive (“do the work”) helps us build strong muscles. We move faster, and we’re more willing to stretch without worrying so much about what other people may think of us.
Our job is to work hard and share as much as we can, even if we are wildly imperfect when we do so.
Sure, our ego may throw a tantrum, but being productive is much better than being paralyzed from fear.
Want an affirmation to guide you? Try this one, courtesy of Sheryl Sandberg:
“Done, not perfect”.