Progress not perfection
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.” ― Chuck Close
I look at the huge pile of washing up in the sink. In my head I’m thinking, this would take forever to do and it wouldn't be more fun to watch that new Netflix series right now? But instead of giving up on the washing up, I make a bargain with myself. I’ll devote the next ten minutes to this task and get as much done as I can and then go back to the things I really want to do. So I do. I focus and spend the next 10 minutes doing the pile of washing in front of me. Surprisingly, I get it all done.
Anxiety about doing something is often caused by our need to complete something. If instead you focus on the process and try not for completion but for progress, you gain control over the situation. Instead of perfect completion, you are making progress.
For example, if every day you did the washing up in the sink and got 90% of it done, in 10 mins a day you would have clean cups and dishes and a mostly empty sink. Or, you can avoid it completely because you’re daunted by completing the task, resulting in a larger pile of dirty dishes and not having anything to eat on.
“You may say, “I must do something this afternoon,” but actually there is no “this afternoon.” We do things one after the other. That is all.”
- Shunryū Suzuki
Dirty dishes are one thing, but most things in life are never 100% complete. There is always more to do and letting go of the anxiety of completion and embracing the idea of progress will open the door to completing more of the projects you care about but feel are too large to take on. Using what I call a design mindset can help.
My way to solve my washing up predicament shows two key attributes of a design mindset.
First, there’s iteration:
Focus on the process. Each iteration of the design/activity gets you closer. Everything is a work in progress.
Next, there are constraints:
Constraints allow you to impose some order on an activity. In creating limitations, you help creativity get started in ways that productively solve the problem of the constraint. And, as we all know getting started is often the hardest part of completing anything. Time can be a constraint, as can limiting the number of tools you use to make a project or the number of words you can use to describe your project’s value. Each constraint creates a natural challenge—don't go overboard and set too many constraints, but one or two can boost your creativity.
The next time you have to complete a task instead of worrying about how long it will take, turn the question around: I am going to give this task the next 10, 20, 30 mins of my life, and let see how much I can get done. Using this method gives you control of the time and the task. Instead of setting goals for yourself, set yourself challenges, and surprise yourself with how much progress you can make in just 10 minutes. Repeat this every day and you will be amazed at how much progress you can make.
