Done Is Better Than Perfect: Top Reasons To Adopt This Mantra

Many of us strive for perfectionism, but in the business world, it can hinder progress. When business leaders work on a project, they often know there’s room for improvement and try to achieve perfection immediately. This is not necessarily a bad habit by itself, but at some point, it’s essential to recognize that: done is better than perfect.

So, What Is “Done Is Better Than Perfect”?

The phrase is a mantra experienced creators, entrepreneurs, or businesspeople use to stay productive and get things done.

It means instead of striving for perfection right off the bat; it’s more important to finish the task.

This way, you prioritize your project’s completion even if you don’t get every detail right. And even if you make mistakes, learn from them and improve.

This philosophy applies not just to business but to everyday life.

For example, if you’re building a new web application, it can be better to release the app after finishing the core features. Then improve the product while users begin to adopt the solution.

Similarly, if completing a 10K marathon is your objective, breaking it down into smaller milestones is ideal. Running for 20 minutes every day can make the goal more achievable, and it means you’re getting something done.

Eventually, your daily runs will add up until you can run for 50 to 70 minutes, which is the average 10K time.

The done is better than perfect mantra pushes people to take action, even if they’re unsure of the outcome or steps required.

For business leaders, it helps to place focus on efficiency and can remove fear from the process.

Efficiency Over Perfection

Spending too much time trying to make things perfect can mean indefinite project delays.

It can also cause you to lose time – you may not have enough time to get everything done, which may mean missed deadlines or poor quality of work.

The key to using the mantra, done is better than perfect, is to know when something is good enough and move on to the next task. After all, you can improve things later.

Remove The Fear of Failure

The perfectionist mindset can hold you back from taking risks and innovating. Instead, embrace failure as part of the process and an opportunity for growth.

In fact, the fear of failure is the prime reason for the perfectionist mindset. Perfectionists often equate mistakes to failure and failure to a lack of personal worth and value.

When business leaders let go of their fear of failure, they can focus on getting things done quickly instead of spending hours trying to make everything perfect.

More Benefits Of Adopting the Mantra

Here are 11 more reasons to adopt the mindset that done is better than perfect.

1. Unlocks Creativity

When you focus on perfection, it can stifle your creativity due to concentrating on avoiding mistakes or risks.

Embracing the mantra can provide the freedom to explore new ideas without worrying about having something perfect right away. That is an essential aspect of being creative.

2. Encourages Action

Doing rather than trying to be perfect encourages action. That can keep you motivated to achieve your goals even when they seem unattainable.

3. Helps You Learn

Making mistakes is integral to learning, and you can only grow with learning. So business leaders should embrace the potential for errors.

In other words, focusing too much on perfection affects how fast you learn – best to let yourself go with the flow.

4. Builds Character

Doing builds character. It takes discipline, perseverance, and resilience to keep going even after making mistakes or facing obstacles. The dedication and commitment required to see projects through to completion strengthen character.

5. Saves Time & Money

The over-pursuit of perfection can lead to too many reworks or delays for projects, which cost money and time.

However, the done is better than perfect mantra can save you resources in the long run. That’s because instead of waiting, you can get the project done and start generating revenue or receiving feedback while you improve things.

6. Boosts Confidence

Accomplishing something – even if it isn’t perfect – can boost confidence because that’s progress in the right direction. In addition, the signal of progress spurs more progress by building up motivation levels.

7. Maintains Flexibility

Perfectionism often leads to rigidity. That’s because expecting everything to turn out precisely as planned leaves no room for flexibility. Whereas focusing on getting the task done encourages maximum flexibility. You can always make changes later.

8. Increases Efficiency

When you complete tasks quickly (even imperfectly), you can move on quicker, leading to a more efficient path overall. Why?

That’s because your efforts will go towards achieving the bigger picture items instead of those small details that often take up more time than necessary without yielding great results.

Further, consider the Pareto principle or 80/20 rule, which states for many outcomes, about 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of causes.

When people focus on getting things done instead of perfection, they naturally do the 20 percent that makes the most difference.

9. Breaks The Cycle Of Procrastination

Focusing on ‘done’ discourages procrastination. It’s better just to get started so that something is accomplished rather than nothing. This helps break bad habits associated with procrastination.

10. Encourages Experimentation and Risk Taking

The done is better than perfect mantra is what you need when experimenting with new ideas or taking risks. That’s because there will always be some degree of uncertainty involved.

Allowing yourself to move forward even if you have not figured out everything provides confidence. Especially when exploring uncharted territories that could lead you to unexplored opportunities.

11. Improves Mental Health and Wellbeing

The pressure of striving for perfection can cause mental fatigue, anxiety, depression, and stress, which can hinder productivity. However, adopting the done is better than perfect mantra can reform perspectives for the better, thereby reducing or preventing mental health issues.

Get It Done – But It’s Not An Excuse To Be Mediocre

Done is better than perfect is an important mindset that all business leaders should embrace if they want their teams to be productive and efficient. But it’s not an excuse to be mediocre or produce subpar work.

Instead, embrace the mindset while still producing high-quality work.