‘Done is better than perfect’ I heard this first from my now mentor, Dr. Ada S. Peter when I was only a 200-level student trying to not die from the weight of assignments and coursework. After every class, she would give us painful assignments, with emphasis on the word painful, the kind of assignments that will lead the class to drop out of their chairs to the floor of the studio and just start shedding collective tears. Once she had heard all our complaints, she would smile and say ‘You can do it’…or ‘I am grooming you’ or ‘you’ll be grateful for this training’ and whilst it was true, we definitely could not see it at that time…and out of all the many things she would say, the one that stuck with me the most was the ‘Done is better than perfect’.
This simple statement has helped me through my journey as a student, an employee, and even as an unofficial career mentor. In life, we often get overwhelmed when faced with tasks that we think are beyond our capacity or confused about, and then work paralysis sets in. We find ourselves unable to even start the task because we are so worried that we can’t do it or worried that we don’t know how to do it. We get stuck on making it perfect that we never actually get it to even make it happen and that’s why I hold those words dear to me.
Once again. Done is better than perfect. I promise you that once you internalize this statement, your work or study life will become a whole lot easier. Now, don’t get too excited, this is not a magic phrase but rather it is a soothing statement that helps to take away the unnecessary pressure we feed ourselves as we fight for perfection. The key point of this message is to do it. Doing the work will always be better than waiting for perfection. You can only improve upon or make perfect something that already exists #word
When I started my journey in the labor market, a clueless graduate who had more theoretical knowledge than skills, I would often get confused and overwhelmed when assigned tasks that I had bragged about in the interview but have no current knowledge of. Even worse, I would sit in meetings and be so lost, and then when they assign a task at the end of the meetings, I was still there trying to figure out what half of what they were saying meant.
This is where that statement started to make sense to me. When I would stare at my laptop, head throbbing, fingers itching and a blank brain, worrying endlessly about whether or not I could do it. I might even close the laptop in fury and stare at the cobwebs-filled ceiling, wondering if I should just quit just so that feeling of helplessness would go away. Then the word would come and somehow it gave me enough energy to actually start something. I would start, stop, and start again but push through and do what I can do best. Eventually, it would start to suddenly make sense, and although it was nothing close to perfect, the feeling of actually getting the work done either way was enough for me. Sometimes, well most times, what I thought was a pile of rubbish compiled together ended up being exactly what my boss was looking for.
So if you ever find yourself in similar shoes, don’t bother worrying about the outcome. Just start, it doesn’t even have to make sense at the beginning. Do it first and then worry about perfection later. It may turn out perfect or it may not but at the very least, it is done.
Until next time!