Perfectionism and Procrastination

These problems are far from harmless.

Procrastination can lead to failing grades in college or graduate school. Extensive delays in turning in work can get you academic suspension from school or fired at work.

Perfectionism can cause a person to edit, revise, and redo the same work repeatedly without improving the outcome or moving closer to the goal. It can become obsessional and keep a person at work far longer than is appropriate or healthy, alienating family and friends.

Perfectionism and procrastination co-occur. The number one reason people delay getting something done (like a homework assignment or a report at work) is the unconscious fear of being judged as imperfect and thus defective.

The logic goes, “If I can’t be the best, at least I won’t be the worst.”

When someone fails because he submits his work late or leaves himself no time to do good work, he saves face and avoids any implication that his best work is inadequate.

The cognitive distortion inherent in perfectionism is that excellent work or performance is possible. But perfection is merely a concept, something one could aim for but never achieve. In the most outstanding season by the greatest hitter of all time, Ted Williams batted just .406, which means he got a base hit only four times out of every ten trips to the plate. Steph Curry’s lifetime three-point shot percentage is 43.1.

So why is it so hard for perfectionists and procrastinators to stop doing what they do? Because it is rooted in childhood trauma, in the experience of being repeatedly judged, faulted, criticized, scolded, and rejected by parents who make them feel that nothing they do is ever good enough.

This pattern of parenting runs through generations of families until it is recognized, addressed in psychotherapy, and replaced by positive parenting.

Overcome past negativity.

In therapy, I can help adult clients reparent their wounded inner child, trust themselves, know that good is good enough, and free themselves from the hamster wheel of perfectionism and procrastination.

Through therapy, you will learn to trust yourself and your abilities instead of relying on false negatives from the past.

We will discuss how perfectionism and procrastination can hurt your life and your ability to accomplish tasks promptly without fear of judgment and failure. These discussions will allow you to reframe how you feel about yourself.

I can help you reduce the impacts of procrastination and perfectionism and gain a stronger belief in your abilities. Please get in touch with me today, so we can develop a plan that enables you to overcome problems that have you stuck.