Okay, so the holiday season is pretty much over, and we are headed back into work mode, routine mode, busy, busy mode. Right now, I feel pretty good about going back to work, because I learned (inadvertently) a trick or two about working while I was on my two-week break.
During the break, I worked on a group project with another woman, named Kathleen. I thought the project, though it had multiple steps and phases, would go smoothly. The goals were clear and we were in this together. Little did I know how smoothly it would go. Over the course of two work sessions, I learned so much from Kathleen. From her I learned that:
- fussing over finer points is not necessary
- I could work past mess ups
- I could use my (read: her) gut reactions to fix unforeseen problems
- fastest is best-est
- perfectionism is useless and a time suck
Awesome lessons. And she's a teacher too. Lucky kids, those students of hers.
While I enjoyed how quickly everything was getting done with this whiz of a person by my side, I was also forced to take a look at my own rigidity. Every time we took a shortcut, I could feel myself flinch. I guess I'm just not used to taking shortcuts. I'm pretty sure it's because I never allow myself to feel it's okay to take a shortcut. So with each shortcut we took (and there were a few), I used my calculator of a head to figure out what was wrong with the scenario. What was most interesting to me was there was nothing wrong. The fact of the matter was we were following the spirit of the project completely and we were getting ‘er done.
I'm fairly sure this was just a run-of-the-mill experience for Kathleen, but it feels like a game-changer to me. Who can tell if I can adopt some of Kathleen's easy-peasy-breezy approach in my own life? I can dream, can't I?
In what ways might perfectionism be sneakily slowing you down? Is there someone you can pair up with to learn some high-velocity ninja moves? If you have any stories about a speedy mentor in your life, please do tell!
