3 Best Tips to Manage Perfectionism & Avoid Burnout From Work

by nukhba khan

Perfectionism is a nasty double-edged sword.

It's a good tool when you use it to motivate yourself to do your best and be your best. (Keywords to note: FOR YOURSELF).

Perfectionism becomes a curse when it stems from a thirst to appear perfect in front of others. (Keywords to note: FOR OTHERS).

So I want to ask you, do you practice perfectionism to push your potential for growth, or do you use it as a means to prove your worth to others?

I can tell you that my need for perfectionism was driven by the fear of getting judged by others for being imperfect. And it left me feeling overwhelmed and depleted.

Today I want to talk to you about how striving for the wrong type of perfectionism can be highly stressful and lead to burnout. And what you can do to start overcoming these negative perfectionist tendencies.

HOW PERFECTIONISM IS THE ENEMY OF PROGRESS

We talked about the two types of perfectionism:

Perfectionist Striving involves setting high personal standards to motivate yourself to do your best.
Perfectionist Concerns involve setting lofty standards for yourself because you fear others will judge you as not good enough.

If you are still reading this, you know that you likely fall under the 'perfectionist concerns' category. And this is most likely what is holding you back and hindering your success at work.

You see, this is what happens:

First, you drive yourself up the wall at work trying to be perfect at your job because you have the nagging fear of failing, making mistakes, and letting others and yourself down.

Second, even when striving for perfection, you are overly critical of yourself, and you constantly undermine your work and second-guess your decisions.

Third, you are constantly comparing yourself with others and putting yourself down that you can never do things as good as others. Negative self-chatter that you're just not good enough is always running in the background.

So, even though you start with the right intention of doing a good job at work, insecurities drive your need for perfectionism and cause you to stress more and achieve less. You see not reaching perfection as a failure. You beat yourself up and wallow in negative feelings when you can't meet your (unrealistic) high expectations. Which ultimately leads to your physical and mental exhaustion - aka burnout!

This type of stress and burnout resulting from your negative perfectionist tendencies slows down your success at work and keeps you stuck unnecessarily. In simple words, it makes your work and life feel miserable.

3 PRACTICES THAT WILL HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR PERFECTIONISM

Perfectionism Is Not A Behaviour But A Way Of Thinking.

The very first thing you have to realize is the difference between working hard, being committed, diligent and being a perfectionist who fears failures/mistakes.

Ask yourself: Is my perfectionism a behaviour that helps me build momentum for achieving success at work? Or, is my perfectionism a way of thinking because of my insecurities that I will not do a good enough job and people will see me as a failure at work.

Because if it is the latter, you have to realize that your perfectionism is not a behaviour that produces positive results, but it has become the critical inner voice, a way of thinking that keeps you stuck and limits your potential in life.

Perfectionism is a loud inner critic telling you that your work is never good enough no matter what you do or how hard you work. And when this critical inner voice is constantly screeching over your thoughts and emotions, it is hard to feel confident and competent at work.

So what should you do?

The first step in overcoming this negative perfectionism is becoming aware of your inner critic. How do you do that? Start by catching yourself every time you:

Tie your worth to your performance and results at work.
Feel unsatisfied with your accomplishments and think they're not good enough yet.
Ruminate over what you could do better.

Once you raise awareness of your perfectionist inner critic, the next step is to distance yourself from such thoughts. How do you do that? By telling yourself that "I am having this thought that I haven't done a good enough job and I need to perfect it" is only a thought and might not necessarily be true. By persistently doing this, again and again, you start breaking the inner critic's chain of thought, making room for a more positive way of thinking that is compassionate towards yourself.

Here are some ideas for a compassionate way of thinking to help replace the nagging and critical perfectionist thinking:

"All I can do is try my best!"
"Making a mistake does not mean a failure. It only means that I am human.
Everyone makes mistakes! Mistakes actually help me learn and develop my skill set.
"Nobody is perfect!"
"It's okay if some people don't like me. No one is liked by everyone!

2. Value Imperfection At Work

It's a common problem for perfectionists to think that everything they do and how they do it is necessary and required. They can never relax their standards and realize that their desire to go above and beyond might be an overkill.

But if you want to manage your perfectionism, it is essential, almost a prerequisite, to revisit the way you do things and the standards you set for yourself. Especially those unattainable ones that keep you feeling defeated all the time.

Ask yourself: Am I setting myself up for success with realistic goals that help boost my self-confidence when I achieve them? Or do I place super high standards on myself that I can never meet and end up crushing my self-esteem?

Accepting that you are over pushing yourself is the stepping stone to overcoming the negative perfectionist tendencies.

So how do you figure out if your standards are realistic and healthy:

Check-in with yourself, do the expectations you are setting for yourself feel good? Trust the intuitive answer that pops into your mind, and adjust accordingly.
Observe your coworkers, how long they take on a project, how often do they stay late at the office? Do they still accomplish good work? If you feel you are working twice as hard and achieving similar results, it might be time for you to go easier on yourself too.

3. Focus On The Process

One fundamental thing perfectionists forget to do is enjoy the journey.

The difference between high achievers and perfectionists is: High achievers enjoy the process of going after their goals much more than actually achieving the result. Perfectionists are only concerned about achieving results and avoiding failure. And in doing so, they miss the opportunity to enjoy the process of growing and striving.

If you shift your focus on the process, it will help you better manage your perfectionism and make it much easier and enjoyable to reach your goals.

By focusing on the process, you shift the overwhelming pressure to achieve perfect results towards the small steps you are taking to propel you forward and fuel your motivation by the small successes you are accomplishing along the way.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON OVERCOMING PERFECTIONISM

Perfectionism is deceptive.

No one tries to be a perfectionist to hurt their careers. When we strive for perfection, it starts with a healthy purpose to excel and achieve good results. But almost always, if the desire for perfection is not kept in check, it changes course and gets taken over by fear of failure, harsh criticism, unrealistic expectations, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy. And, when that happens, perfectionists actually end up achieving less than what they are really capable of.

So to keep your perfectionism in check, you have to continually monitor your inner perfectionist chatter and recognize when it becomes destructive. When it does become a harsh critic, you need to purposefully distance yourself from the perfectionist inner critic. And instead, approach yourself with compassion that motivates you to strive for progress and not perfection. That is the only sustainable way to achieve real excellence at work.

P.S. If you feel burned out from work, check out my free guide: 5 Best Ways to Avoid Burnout at Work.

This guide will provide:

Tips on how to recover from exhaustion and overwhelm, so you get back the motivation for work and finally remove the dread.
Exercises to build a personalized plan to take better care of yourself, avoid burnout, and feel more relaxed.
Techniques on how to unplug & unwind so you can consistently have improved energy levels and more positive moods in your day-to-day.

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