Perfecting Procrastination

Perfectionism spurs performance AND paralysis.

When “procrastination” appears in psychology or time-management blogs, the word “perfectionism” is rarely far behind. And for good reason--perfectionism appears to be one root of procrastination. Even when it is not causing procrastination, perfectionism can still be costly; perfection takes time, as economics blogger Brian Hollar recently pointed out.

But is perfectionism always problematic? Conventional wisdom would suggest that high standards can pay off. Consider Apple; whether you love or hate their products, I think it’s hard to separate the perfectionism of founder Steve Jobs from the design and innovation standards of Apple (or from Apple’s financial success).

Can we reconcile a desire to achieve great things with the notion that perfectionism exacts too great a toll? Maybe we don’t have to.

Three Flavors of Perfectionism

Timothy Pychyl wrote last year about different flavors of perfectionism. He described three types of perfectionism identified by Paul Hewitt and Gordon Flett:

Self-oriented perfectionists: Adhere to strict standards while maintaining strong motivation to attain perfection and avoid failure; engage in stringent self-evaluation.

Other-oriented perfectionists: set unrealistic standards for significant others (e.g., partners, children, co-workers) coupled with a stringent evaluation of others' performances.

Socially-prescribed perfectionists: believe that others hold unrealistic expectations for their behavior (and that they can't live up to this); experience external pressure to be perfect, believe others evaluate them critically.

Pychyl offers these descriptions in the service of describing research by Jeffrey Kilbert, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, and Motoko Saito. They found:

Self-oriented Perfectionists
". . . self-oriented perfectionists are those who derive a sense of pleasure from their labors and efforts, which in turn enhances their self-esteem and motivation to succeed and eventually helps them to develop a sense of control over their environment. Self-oriented perfectionists may then use their pleasure in their accomplishments as encouragement to continue and even improve their work" (p. 154).

Socially-prescribed perfectionists
"In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionists may be compared to neurotic perfectionists [a term originally coined by Hamachek] in that they do not derive pleasure from their labors and efforts and tend to view their work as inadequate or inferior. Furthermore, they report experiencing external pressure and or coercion to accomplish tasks. Therefore, the maladaptive symptoms of the socially prescribed perfectionist emerge not from an internally felt desire to be their best, but more from a fear of failure and/or a desire to avoid embarrassment, shame and guilt" (p. 154).

It should be mentioned that these two types are not mutually exclusive; in examining the relationship of procrastination to perfectionism, the authors contrast subjects who are low in both forms, high in self-oriented only, high in socially-prescribed only, and those who are high in both forms (or “generally perfectionist”).

Pychyl reports Kilbert et al.’s findings: socially-prescribed perfectionists tended to procrastinate more than self-oriented perfectionists or general perfectionists. Interestingly, they also found that non-perfectionists procrastinated more than self-oriented perfectionists. So perfectionism--when it is self-oriented--appears to fight procrastination.

Ramifications for Procrastination Interventions

If perfectionism always leads to procrastination, then strategies to lower perfectionism (like “Lower your standards” or “Focus on the work, rather than the quality of the end product”) may be useful as-is. However, the results above show that procrastination is lower among people with self-oriented perfectionism. Purported procrastination-busters which address perfectionism as a monolithic (and uniformly “bad”) issue might successfully lower the perfectionism of a self-oriented perfectionist, but also kill their drive and interest in what they are doing. Be wary about anti-procrastination techniques that don’t account for the different styles of perfectionism. And, obviously, do not attempt to treat your own perceived perfectionism if it isn’t leading to procrastination, stress, or other negative outcomes.

I also imagine there are intrapersonal domain differences; one person may be a self-oriented perfectionist in one area of life, but a socially-prescribed perfectionist in another (and perhaps not a perfectionist at all in a third). As a student in college, I held myself to higher standards in psychology classes than in history classes. When I worked for a FranklinCovey retail store, I spent hours (on and off the clock) learning the ins and outs of their day planners and educational materials (and those of competitors). But I maintained a barely-adequate knowledge of the store’s extensive pen collections, and was well below par on the tote-bags, computer cases, and purses. I was a hard-working go-getter studying psychology and time-management, but was lazier and prone to procrastinate learning about history or fashionable leather goods.

One strategy for fighting procrastination, then, may be to focus on areas where one has high standards for their own sake. When possible, avoid areas where you feel critical and judged; favor areas in which you feel good about reaching for high personal standards. Eschew perfection when it makes you depressed and anxious; pursue perfection when it engages and challenges you.

Friday, November 27, 2009