July 19, 2010

get in gear newsletter

a note from Cairene

It's all systems around here this week (well, more than usual). And it all involved kitchens. Go figure. Project Front Burner is sizzling away. I'm talking with Havi's Kitchen Table about Systems and Play. And I'm talking with Tara's Crafty Biz Kitchen about Systems for your Crafty Biz. And all those yummy simmering smells are wafting their way into the soon-to-be revealed Systems Lab, where I've been hard at work getting things ready for more systems goodness. (It isn't exactly a kitchen, but there are beakers and bunson burners.) I couldn't be having more fun.

classes

systems for your crafty biz with Tara Swiger of Crafting a Business
I am delighted to be Tara's guest this week (you may know her as the Blonde Chicken). We'll be talking about bringing more smoothness into the process of creating and selling handmade goods. If you are ready for your crafty business to grow in a comfortable way, without scrambling and disorganization, please join us.

• Thursday, July 22 [ details & registration ]

bite the candy
Bite through procrastination and discover the treats at the bottom of your to-do list.

• Thursday, July 29 [ details & registration ]

private sessions
Struggling with a specific challenge or transition? Want to build on basic skills? If some one-to-one organizing would help, please inquire.

show and tell

If anything from one of my courses or coaching to a simple newsletter like this one has helped improve your relationship with time or the administration of your business, I'd like to share your success story on my blog. If you would like to participate, please send me an email and I'll reply with the details.

refinement vs. perfectionism

I've been thinking a lot about perfectionism lately and how I know I've been engaging in that instead of what I call refinement.

Refinement serves the work.

Refinement is that process of adding only what's needed and removing everything that's not. It's about a certain precision. It's about making smart choices about what one's creation needs to do its job in the world.

And, when I'm really in flow, I don't feel like I'm the one making those decisions. I feel like I'm just obeying my muse's - very clear and insistent - directions about what this thing needs to be.

While the process of refinement may be challenging and leave me tired, it's a good sort of exhaustion - like after a good workout.

When I am engaged in refinement, I can sense when I've gotten it to good enough and the work is ready to be shared.

This is usually accompanied by a sense of pride and excitement (with maybe just a few nerves on the side).

Perfectionism serves fear.

Maybe it needs something else? There's probably a better word. Maybe people will like it more if I made this part blue. What if I move this to the left half an inch?

Fuss, fuss, fuss. Endlessly. Over details that don't matter.

I'm not in flow. And I'm making decisions based not on what would make the work better, but what I imagine would make the specter of my most critical audience happy. Which seems like it's about serving them, but it's really about me and what I need - not what my audience needs and certainly not what the work needs.

Perfectionism is draining - and it's the bad sort of exhaustion that doesn't help me sleep more soundly.

When I am engaged in perfectionism, the work never feels finished. And the idea of sharing it makes me feel nauseous.

False standards keep us stuck.

I'm guessing we all agree that perfectionism is not a good thing.

But I think one of the things that makes us reluctant to let it go is our fear that we will somehow throw the baby out with the bath water. That if we set more realistic conditions of satisfaction we will somehow end up producing complete crap.

It doesn't work that way. In fact, that all-or-nothing attitude is just the perfectionism at work again.

It's not so much a matter of lowering one's standards, rather shifting one's focus. Remember, our standards define how we choose to be in the world and interact with others. You can't set a standard for how people interact with you. You can set some boundaries, but you can't make people like you.

All you have control over is the quality of the work. Focusing on those standards will serve you.

Eliminating false standards that, in the end, just support how you hope people will interact with you eliminates the huge waste of energy that is perfectionism - and that will serve you too.

Start noticing.

What are your efforts serving? Your work or your fears?
Begin paying attention to how you know the difference.

And when you tip into fear, help yourself find your way back to that space where you are creating from love for your work and its purpose in the world.

recently on the blog

Weekend Safety Net | on feeling safe enough to take a break (and what happens when I don't)
It all starts with a soda. | on practicing wanting what I want
Getting to the Next Level | what I learned from eaters, rotators, bombs & hue-altering mushrooms
A New Definition of Discipline | what's your equation?
Hanging out with my muse on a precipice. | a round-up of the week's lessons learned

let's chat

Like what you've read? Have a suggestion? Got a question? Let's start a conversation. I'd love to hear from you - send me a line, comment on the blog, or follow me on Twitter.

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Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Cairene MacDonald.
© 2010 Cairene MacDonald, Third Hand Works. All rights reserved.

Cairene MacDonald
Third Hand Works
PO Box 31113
Portland, OR 97231
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from overwhelmed to ready for anything
organization and time management for people in their "right" minds

Third Hand Works | administrative guidance for independent creative professionals