Excellence Over Perfection

I have come to realize that for anyone (of any age, in any business) who is heading toward success, time is the single largest obstacle on the road ahead. I believe I could do so much more if only I had more time. I have also come to understand that while one can’t make more time, one can spend too much time working. The data is so clear, and staring me in the face at every turn of the social media road, that I realize my work efforts must be performed in around thirty hours per week.

My answer to this dilemma?

Not all things deserve extra time to perfect. A note to a friend doesn’t need to be proofread unless I’m certain they’ll be forwarding it to 100 of their friends (who are time challenged anyway, and don’t necessarily need it to be letter-perfect).

The team I work with has a new mantra: “Excellence, not perfection.” We are learning what that means, but I can assure you, it’s not without some discomfort and a little friction.

It’s something to consider as you begin making plans for your 2022 strategy.

What are you doing that isn’t truly building anything? Do you really need to write five posts per day? (The answer to that is definitely no.)

What is taking up too much of your time? How can you do less of this work without sacrificing excellence?

Time-segmenting your work will help. It’s a tool we are just starting to use, and it provides the assurance that we will get the important things done each day.

Read emails once. Yes, deal with each one upon opening it. It’s the only way to avoid drowning in email inertia, because reading it and deciding to deal with it later will simply not serve you well.

I could list additional ways I'm budgeting my time, but in the interest of excellence over perfection, I will end here. You get the point.

—Christine Merser