One of the problems in perfectionism is that people become selectively attuned to noticing any negative aspects of their performance, no matter how small the perceived flaw may be. They constantly monitor their performance, like a judge, persistently looking out for evidence that something is not quite right, not quite up to scratch. This scrutiny can involve focusing on even very small details or perceived shortcomings.
Thoughts themselves are not facts: we need to examine the evidence for whether particular thoughts that we are having are true and to consider whether there are any other ways to view a situation. At first this can seem a little difficult, as we have often believed what we have been thinking and taken our thoughts as facts. However, very often our thinking is biased, and when you have perfectionism it can be biased towards being too negative and harsh on yourself – and then you have negative feelings as a result.
Often people procrastinate because they feel some benefit from it, for example a reduction in anxiety; but if you examine these perceived benefits more closely you may find that they are not benefits after all, or that they are very short-lived benefits that result in greater costs in the long run.
Many people procrastinate even though they aren’t perfectionists.
Leonard Cohen
"It’s the notion that there is no perfection – that there is a broken world and we live with broken hearts and broken lives but still there is no alibi for anything. On the contrary, you have to stand up and say hallelujah under those circumstances."
