Is chasing perfection holding back your design career?

There’s a quote that’s been heard a lot recently: ‘Done is better than perfect.’ Sheryl Sandberg (former COO of Meta) cited it in her book as a way of expressing the idea of doing something, even if it’s not ideal. I wonder how many of us struggle with this concept.

The pressure of ‘perfect’

Our clients pay us to work from their brief and expect a distinctive result. That alone puts pressure on us – but at what point do we step away, stop tinkering and tweaking what we’ve produced, and trust ourselves? When should we let it go and believe that the project is complete and meets the client brief far enough to satisfy?

Most of the pressure comes from ourselves rather than the clients we serve. So, how can we overcome that?

I can only speak of my own thought process when I face this kind of pressure, and it’s this: “What if it’s not quite right?”

This thought process results in either endless tinkering until I’m a little happier with it or the idea that I’ll ‘leave it ’til later’ (later never comes).

At this point, I should realise it’s done…

Get on with it

The thing is, I know for an absolute fact that once I get myself moving on something, I can get it done. My belief that it’s never quite right or the client won’t like it is my own fabrication – I’ve been designing for other people for years and can probably count on one hand the number of times a client has sent back a project – and in all of those cases I’ve simply made a few adjustments. It’s been fine, so my feelings of doubt are totally unfounded. I know that, yet I still feel them.

Push aside those feelings and get on with it. I know that’s easier said than done, so keep reminding yourself:

• Done is better than perfect, yes, but perfect is subjective. Just because you could spend the next three months tinkering with the project doesn’t mean it will turn out any better—that’s for the client to decide.
• If those projects that are ‘nearly finished’ could be given a deadline, they could be off the to-do list—and that would feel great.
• Stop making yourself nervous about work being seen ‘in case it’s not quite right’. It’s part of the job that people will see your work. It’s unavoidable.

The underlying message for all this is to stop striving for perfection, which is born from a lack of confidence. Believe in what you do and get it out there.