--- title: "Daily Buzz: Don’t Be a Perfectionist" id: "49561" type: "post" slug: "daily-buzz-dont-be-a-perfectionist" published_at: "2020-03-05T22:05:06+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-17T03:07:07+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2020/03/05/daily-buzz-dont-be-a-perfectionist/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2020/03/05/daily-buzz-dont-be-a-perfectionist.md" excerpt: "How learning to let go of perfectionism can improve productivity. Also: what young members expect from their associations." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Meetings" - "Membership" - "Professional Development" - "Young Professionals" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Employee (Non-Manager)" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Daily Buzz: Don’t Be a Perfectionist At work, you may feel as though you need to do everything—and flawlessly. But productivity isn’t about getting more done, it’s about *what* you get done, [argues former clinical psychologist Alice Boyes (opens in a new tab)](https://hbr.org/2020/03/dont-let-perfection-be-the-enemy-of-productivity) in *Harvard Business Review*. Several aspects of perfectionism interfere with your ability to prioritize the most important tasks. For one, perfectionists are reluctant to designate decisions as unimportant, Boyes says. Since they’re accustomed to micromanaging, they classify everything as worthy of 100 percent effort. The solution? Train your mind to be decisive when it comes to smaller tasks. “A perfectionist can learn to love giving up control over some choices if they pay attention to how good it feels to be relieved of the decision-making burden,” Boyes says. “Try using heuristics to quickly decide or delegate with the expectation that you will get much faster and pretty good decisions overall but not perfect ones.” Perfectionists also feel a moral obligation to overdeliver at every opportunity. For example, if someone offers a perfectionist $1,000 for a service, they’ll feel the need to provide $1,500 of value, Boyes explains. If you feel this way, take time to assess the cost of extending yourself so much. “What else don’t you have time, energy, attention, and willpower for? Perhaps your own health, your big goals, or your family. If you assess that the costs are significant, try having a rule of thumb for when you’ll overdeliver,” she says. ### Meeting Young Members’ Expectations > How to meet the membership & education expectations of Millennials and Gen Z | TopClass by WBT Systems [https://t.co/b255DCPD77 (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/b255DCPD77) > [#assnchat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/assnchat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#membership (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/membership?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#associations (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/associations?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [pic.twitter.com/1Epl7pd3VB (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/1Epl7pd3VB) > > — TopClass LMS (@TopClassLMS) [March 4, 2020 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/TopClassLMS/status/1235297752373964800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Generation Z and young millennials are different.** As a [recent WBT Systems blog post (opens in a new tab)](https://www.wbtsystems.com/learning-hub/blogs/education-expectations-millennials-gen-z) points out, they have much greater price sensitivity and much lower brand loyalty than older generations. To account for this, associations must change how they’re offering programs to young members. “Consider a different membership model for [young professionals],” says the WBT Systems team. “Create a membership tier that includes a selection of targeted educational content and career resources. These special programs give them a taste of your professional development and enough educational content to push them along their career path.” ### Other Links of Note **How can you stay productive** when working out of the office? *Quartz at Work*’s Lila MacLellan looks at [how the best remote teams communicate (opens in a new tab)](https://qz.com/work/1810948/remote-teams-perform-best-with-bursty-communication-habits/) . **Get smart.** A recent post on the *Event Manager Blog* examines how [smart cities are affecting the event industry (opens in a new tab)](https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/smart-cities) . **Want to stand at work?** These [standing desk converters (opens in a new tab)](https://www.cnet.com/how-to/5-best-standing-desk-converters-for-2020/) make sure you don’t have to overhaul your workstation, CNET reports. (ThomasVogel/E+/Getty Images Plus) [Michael Hickey](https://associationsnow.com/author/michael-hickey/) Michael Hickey is a contributor to Associations Now. 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