Focus Tips
Endless Perfectionist Revising
Stop polishing work past the point of diminishing returns.
The Problem
Your draft is good, maybe even great, but you keep tweaking it. One more edit, one more pass, one more format change. Each revision changes little, yet you cannot ship because "it could be better." Deadlines pass while you perfect the already-fine.
Strategies to Overcome It
- 1Set a hard revision limit — say two passes — then publish.
- 2Get one trusted reviewer’s opinion instead of trusting your own endless doubt.
- 3Ask: "Is this good enough to achieve the goal?" Perfect is not required.
- 4Define the success criteria before revising so you know when to stop.
- 5Use a "ship by" deadline that is earlier than the real one to force closure.
Your 2-Minute Action
Read your work once, note the single most important fix, make it, then save and stop. You are done — resist the urge for another pass.