Focus on progress, not Perfection

Working on this site is therapeutic in many ways. One thing that I am starting to learn is that striving for perfection, or the final solution, is not always the best thing. It can instead lead to paralysis and you get nothing done. So I am starting to adapt to a more productive way of thinking and focus on progress, not perfection.

This site has been a "work in progress" pretty much since 2002 or so and it has never been completed. It is always in a state of transformation and it probably will be for years to come. If I try to make everything perfect, then it will always be a train wreck because perfection takes a whole lot of focused time that I do not have. Instead I will focus on making progress and adding content even if it is not exactly the way I want it. That way I can get the content up and then I can improve on it gradually.

Making that shift in my mind has been really good and I no longer get frustrated over the situation. I feel that this is something I need to incorporate more into my work as well. I sometimes get frustrated by the slow progress towards for example the proper Jira design or way of working that waste time and energy. By not focus so hard on the final solution I will focus more on how to make progress towards it. Considering that many larger organizations might need years to move towards the designed solution, if ever, that should make things less stressful for everyone involved.

In many ways that is the same mindset that I have for training or when playing games. I will not get to the goal instantly, but through slow and steady progress.

You learn every day, which is also a slow and steady progress 🙂