{"id":137,"date":"2024-12-24T14:06:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T14:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/?page_id=137"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:13:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:13:57","slug":"perfectionism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/skills\/de-procrastination\/perfectionism\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfectionism"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Breaking perfectionism<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-presentation \" id=\"presentation-\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"ohft-slides-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">The double-edged sword of perfectionism<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">Perfectionism can be both a strength and a hurdle.<\/li>\n<li data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">When there\u2019s ample time or you\u2019re in a hyper-focused state, it can drive excellence.<\/li>\n<li data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">However, in daily tasks, perfectionism often creates unnecessary barriers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">How perfectionism becomes a hurdle<\/h2>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">Setting excessively high standards for routine tasks can:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li>Create resistance.<\/li>\n<li>Cause delays.<\/li>\n<li>Lead to tasks piling up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This makes it harder to focus on tasks that truly matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">A metaphor to understand perfectionism<\/h2>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 3 &#091;&#093;\">Imagine perfectionism as a line or slider:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>One end<\/strong>: You aim for absolute perfection, like polishing every stone on a pavement until it shines. This takes a lot of time and energy, and you might never progress far.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The other end<\/strong>: You leave every stone untouched, moving quickly but without attention to detail.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The middle<\/strong>: You find balance. For unimportant tasks, leave the stones as they are or give them a quick polish. For important tasks, aim for \u2018good enough\u2019\u2014not perfect, because no human can achieve absolute perfection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Finding balance<\/h2>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 3 &#091;&#093;\">From a distance, the path you\u2019ve worked on will appear perfectly coloured, even if there are minor imperfections. By letting go of the need for perfection:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li>You avoid getting stuck.<\/li>\n<li>You save energy.<\/li>\n<li>You focus on what truly matters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><button class=\"ohft-prev-slide\" type=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">Previous slide<\/button><button class=\"ohft-next-slide\" type=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">Next slide<\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"nhsuk-action-link\"><a class=\"nhsuk-action-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/skills\/de-procrastination\/strategies\/\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"nhsuk-action-link__text\">Go to next section on strategies<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breaking perfectionism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":362,"parent":32,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-137","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions\/160"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}