Are you a perfectionist? In that case, you’re actually not alone within the content material advertising and marketing world.
Possibly you’ve seen somebody in your workforce letting unrealistic requirements derail deadlines and delay targets.
Content material advertising and marketing professionals really feel loads of stress to attain perfection of their work. Constructing content material that delivers outcomes requires consideration to element which may seem to be a barrier to getting issues executed.
However perfection isn’t a sensible or useful expectation on your or your workforce’s work. The issues it causes consists of procrastination, avoidance, and declines in artistic considering, according to Psychology Today.
A wholesome want for high quality can encourage nice work. However its extra excessive model, perfectionism, can sabotage content material initiatives and careers.
On a content material workforce, perfectionism would possibly manifest in certainly one of these methods:
- A author spends an absurd period of time discovering the proper phrase or crafting probably the most partaking headline, inflicting extreme revisions and delays.
- A content material supervisor obsesses about planning and actualizing probably the most impactful concepts, delaying choices about what work to sort out.
- An company lead seeks to ship flawless work that exceeds their shopper’s expectations and misses inner or shopper deadlines.
- An search engine optimization content material specialist spends a day perfecting a key phrase technique with out making any progress in creating content material.
However you’ll be able to hold your self (and your workforce) centered on the very best outcomes with out letting the pursuit of perfection paralyze your work.
A healthy desire for excellence can motivate great work. But perfectionism sinks #Content initiatives and careers, says @TylerTafelsky via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Weigh the price of outperformance in opposition to the worth
Delivering the perfect work issues. However nobody can ship their finest on each mission. Anticipating the perfect whatever the worth of the duty is a prescription for burnout.
One option to calibrate your effort is to weigh the price of overperformance in opposition to the worth and visibility of the work. In different phrases, consider if the extent of effort is justifiable given the worth of your output.
For instance, in case your efforts are tied to a high-impact mission for you or your shopper – like bettering a high traffic touchdown web page or planning strategic content material initiatives for peak seasons – then investing additional effort and time into perfecting your work is smart.
However, an inner report or a mission whose potential appears nebulous could deserve good work however not the additional hours required to ship near-perfect work.
It’s important to make that judgment name. Think about these components in your evaluation:
- Who will evaluate or devour your content material?
- Will it’s revealed to a broad viewers or only a few stakeholders?
- Will it have timeless worth and substance?
- How simple or tough will it’s to replace the work as soon as it’s delivered?
Content material advertising and marketing requires balancing the drive for excellence and the accessible time and assets.
Assessing your viewers and the worth at stake can assist you modify your effort degree whereas defending your self from diminished output, artistic blocks, or burnout.
#ContentMarketing requires a balance between the drive for excellence and available time and resources, says @TylerTafelsky via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Set sensible expectations and achievable targets
Everybody, not simply perfectionists, will battle with out clear, smart expectations and content material advertising and marketing targets.
Content material leaders ought to be sure everybody understands the short- and long-term targets for particular initiatives. And managers and particular person contributors ought to agree on expectations for efficiency.
However the underlying concept to place into apply is being sensible about what you’ll be able to obtain in a given period of time.
That can assist you overcome these perfectionism obstacles, bear in mind these expectation-setting and goal-setting methods:
- Break targets into digestible, attainable duties with milestones: Editorial calendars, course of workflows, and templates. They make it simpler to remain centered whereas making constant progress.
- Prioritize your work: Prioritize your duties that will help you make progress on what’s most necessary first. For instance, if it’s essential write article A earlier than something can occur in B and C, you’ll know the place your priorities lie.
- Set sensible deadlines and time expectations: Deadlines can assist hold you motivated and accountable. However be certain they permit sufficient time to finish duties with out making your self (or your workforce) really feel overwhelmed or burned out.
- Be taught to say no to further commitments: Perfectionists usually really feel pressured to tackle an excessive amount of work. Deal with the duties you’ve already dedicated to and say no if you’ve reached your work bandwidth. If no isn’t an choice, evaluate your priorities along with your supervisor and ask what you’ll be able to drop to make room for the brand new mission.
- Follow self-compassion: Perfectionists are typically onerous on themselves. Be compassionate if you’re imperfect.
- Search suggestions out of your friends: Asking for suggestions out of your colleagues, purchasers, and friends can assist you establish areas the place it’s essential enhance and domesticate a extra sensible perspective in your work.
Collaborate with an open thoughts
Collaboration can assist perfectionists by offering a way of group and connection – most of your colleagues possible have wrestled with related struggles.
Watch out to not let your perfectionist tendencies shade your expectations and interactions with colleagues and direct stories.
When engaged on tasks as a workforce, don’t anticipate colleagues to match your degree of meticulousness. (They need to dwell as much as workforce requirements and expectations, so be sure these exist).
As a substitute, consider collaboration as a option to hold perfectionism in verify by embracing a “we’re higher than me” strategy.
Collaborating means sharing the work, which can assist you detach out of your want for perfection. Working with others may also present a recent perspective and new concepts, which can assist to stimulate creativity and forestall stagnation.
Collaborating permits perfectionists to earn suggestions and help from workforce members, which can assist to enhance the standard of their work and establish areas for enchancment. This dynamic may also present a chance to study from others and loosen their inflexible requirements.
Adapt – or watch your profession die a sluggish, good demise
Content material advertising and marketing is continually evolving – what works nicely at present won’t be the perfect strategy tomorrow.
This may be one of many hardest ideas for perfectionists to just accept as a result of studying new issues takes them out of their consolation zone.
However the repercussions of failing to alter are steep. A content material marketer who’s not keen to study and embrace new processes and applied sciences or adapt to content material advertising and marketing traits received’t final lengthy.
If you don’t learn and adapt to new tools and trends, your #ContentMarketing career won’t last long, says @TylerTafelsky via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Get sensible
Winston Churchill as soon as stated, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” The fashionable translation: Don’t let your inside perfectionist stop you from being productive.
You’ll be able to combat again in opposition to unrealistic requirements, avoidance, and procrastination with these sensible approaches:
- Set time in your calendar to commit to time-consuming content material tasks in your queue.
- Set up strong communication between you, your leaders and workforce, purchasers, and friends.
- Agree along with your supervisor on probably the most related and impactful measures for fulfillment and efficiency.
- Resist the impulse to nitpick each element in a content material temporary or e-mail – concentrate on the weather most certainly to affect success.
- Contact base along with your workforce to carry readability and course to a mission.
- Have techniques in place to reduce resolution fatigue.
Bear in mind, perfectionism can result in fixating on element on the expense of the larger image. And that’s removed from good.
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising Institute
