Are you using perfection as a crutch

In today's society, perfectionism has become an almost normalized trait. We see striving for, and more importantly, achieving perfection as the ultimate good trait. Yet just like anything, perfectionism can become unhealthy at best, and may even be holding you back. Here's how you can tell if you're using perfectionism as a crutch, rather than a motivator.

Planning can be a form of procrastination

Many times we miss opportunities at work or at home because we planned to take action instead of just doing it. You may never be ready to take the next step, open your own business, switch careers, or what ever it is you think you need in life.

Planning it, meticulously, in every detail is a very perfectionist thing to do—and it's still procrastination. Don't let it hold you back.

Performance is not tied to perfectionism

Although one would think wanting to make things perfect would lead to better performance, scientific studies have found they aren't connected. Scientists don't yet know why these two factors are not connected, but it may be because perfectionists take so much care on a single project, they neglect others, causing them to fall behind.

You can avoid this by being aware of your perfectionist traits and managing them—if you are aware that you are falling behind because the project must be perfect, you can take action to avoid these problems in the first place.

Perfectionists often sacrifice other areas of their life

In order to dedicate yourself to one particular area of your life, such as work, it often means diverting attention and energy from other areas you think are less important. This could mean skipping out on down time, or even family time, in order to be more productive at work.

This doesn't actually lead to better performance as we have seen. In fact, studies show that after 40 hours of work, productivity drops to the point where people who work 60 hours a week and people who work 40 produce the same amount.

If you're using perfectionism to avoid self care, consider making time for yourself and your family as an important part of maintaining your work flow. Without it, it can lead to burn out and even disease caused by stress.

Perfectionism isn't all bad

It isn't that perfectionism itself is a bad trait. Perfectionists tend to hold themselves to the highest possible standards, which leads to better overall performance. It's simply when perfectionism gets out of hand that it can be bad. 

If you're a perfectionist, pay attention to yourself and what happens when you become too focused on perfectionism. You can help combat the negative aspects of perfectionism by focusing on self care, and encouraging yourself or perfectionists in your charge not to swing towards becoming a workaholic. By becoming more balanced, you can greatly improve your success and those of others too. Perfectionism itself is not a good or a bad trait in itself, like many other traits it can be used as a way to excel, or a way to destroy yourself.