Adjust Perfectionism

Understanding:

Your perfectionism around emails is driven by the rule 'it must be flawless' and fear that imperfection will lead to judgment or professional consequences. This creates a cycle of excessive rewriting that consumes time and energy.

Cognitive Strategies:

• •Challenge the all-or-nothing rule: 'A good email that gets sent is better than a perfect email that never gets sent'
• •Question the catastrophic thinking: 'What's the realistic worst outcome if I send a slightly imperfect email?'
• •Separate high standards from impossible standards: 'Professional doesn't mean perfect'

Behavioral Strategies:

• •Set a time limit for email writing (e.g., 10 minutes) and stick to it
• •Conduct a behavioral experiment: send one 'good enough' email and observe the actual response
• •Focus on the email's purpose rather than perfection: 'Does this communicate what I need to say?'

Motivational Insight:

Perfectionism often masks as caring about quality, but it can actually prevent you from doing your best work. 'Good enough' often IS good enough, and done is better than perfect.