Done Is Better Than Perfect ✅
Hello friends!
Thanks so much for the welcoming reception to last week's very first newsletter!
Many of you replied with your own struggles to find time to make the things you really want to build. It's not easy. A major part of that is being disciplined enough to stop striving for perfection and to focus on getting things you care about out into the world. I write more about this in my recent article, The Pragmatic Perfectionist.
This issue is about perfectionism. ✅
TLDR
How I avoid perfectionism and get things done.
Recognize perfectionism
Set concrete incremental goals
Prioritize and focus on one project at a time
Publicly announce launch dates
Build things in public
Just ship the thing
The Myth of Perfectionism
I look at a beautiful, simple logo like the Nike Swoosh and think there is simply no way to improve upon that. And yet when presented with the design, Phil Knight, who commissioned it, said, "I don't love it, but I think it will grow on me." Even Carolyn Davidson, the graphic designer who created the mark, asked for more time to refine it. But Nike had production deadlines to meet and used it in its unfinished state.
Leonardo DaVinci famously said, "Art is never finished, only abandoned."
Nothing is ever perfect to the perfectionist.
How I Learned to Finish Things
In art school, I set an ambitious goal for myself to build a three-dimensional interactive board game for a sculpture project. I wasn't able to include all the interactive elements in time for our deadline, but it worked visually. It certainly wasn't perfect. If I didn’t have a deadline, I wouldn’t have shown it. When I presented my work, I described all the things I wanted to add to it. My professor didn't say much, other than, "Finish your work." I should have focused on building a smaller deliverable that would have felt finished.
Early in my professional career, I bounced from idea to idea. I learned a lot, building games that I never finished, apps that never launched, and personal website redesigns that never saw the light of day. I filled my hard drives with endless side-project folders, all unfinished. It seemed like I would get about 75% through an idea, and then get bored and move on. Again and again. I should have been more focused on one project at a time.
In 2009, Facebook games were thriving and I wanted to build one. I moonlighted on The Schoolyard for months and months. Fearing I would never actually finish my game, I announced on Facebook that I would be launching it next week. One week later I launched my imperfect game, and in a few hours, over 100 gamers were playing it. They didn't know it wasn't perfect. And I had finally shipped a side project. Publicly announcing my launch date held me accountable.
Three years ago, I conceptualized dropdrop, a location-based messaging app. I told everyone about it. If you knew me then, you were probably tired of hearing about it. 😉 Leading up to development, I shared my prototype with anyone who would listen. During development I spammed every social media platform with progress reports. I asked all my friends to test it. I set a launch date 3 months in advance. Everything hinged on this date. I launched the app in 3 months, and it topped the charts on Product Hunt. All the attention from building the app in public kept me motivated to finish it.
I built Link My Photos in a weekend. That's not entirely true, but the proof of concept was completed in a weekend. 😅 I used what I knew best, Ruby on Rails, so I didn't need to think about technical decisions. The core of the app relied on an existing open-source library to communicate with Instagram. I added Stripe subscriptions the following week, using an out of the box open-source Ruby gem. Instagram approved the app, and everything went live a week later. Far from perfect, I had 3 paying customers the first week. Since then, almost everything has been replaced and improved upon. The app now has over 500 paying subscribers. Sometimes, you just need to ship it and see what comes.
Still Not Perfect
It's easier now to finish things. I don't abandon unfinished projects as often, but I still find myself bouncing around between ideas. I have less fear of putting something imperfect into the world, but the little voice inside is always there to tell me it's not ready yet.
I understand that nothing is ever truly perfect, and that doesn't mean it's not good enough to launch.
I'd love to hear what tricks you use to overcome perfectionism and get things done. Hit reply to tell me all about your own experience, and what you thought of this issue. Thanks for reading! 🙌
GTD Hacks
Articles, tools, and tricks for getting things done.
Until next week,
Craig