One thing we can do is to challenge our tendency towards perfectionism. Perfectionism will cause us to make tasks bigger than they need to be, leading to our procrastination and mental distress.
Things will pile up for the best of us. No one has things organized just right all the time. Because even for the best of us, there is much beyond our control. So, as things pile up, the sense of crushing overwhelm seems insurmountable, can lead to more even procrastination and more debilitation until we give in to the fatigue of it all. While Mark Twain said, “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well,” it may be useful for us to focus on getting the right things accomplished before they become urgent.
I once asked a successful children’s book illustrator whose work was phenomenal how he knew his work was completed. He said that was a great question. “Because I have learned to focus on my project almost entirely, I know enough to say this is more than good enough. If not, I can spend my life tweaking until nothing is accomplished.”
Make an effort to know when “good” is “good enough” by asking yourself, “What is the minimal benefit of spending more time on this project?” If the answer is minimal, stop where you are. Be done with it.
A vital component of this is realizing we cannot do everything perfectly as perfection is unassailable. Each of us has to finally accept that sometimes somebody will overlook an email or taking out the garbage.
