How does perfectionism affect work? Mostly in small, invisible ways, like one email that eats a whole morning.
What it looks like
Milo needs to send one email to an investor named Dana: “Here’s my deck.” It’s 10:30.
He types “Hi Dana,” and deletes it. “Hello Dana” sounds stiff. “Dear Dana” sounds old. “Hey” sounds too casual for an investor.
Now it’s 12:30. His drafts folder has 23 versions. The email still says “Hi.”
How perfectionism affects work
Perfectionism judges every word before it exists. Each sentence gets checked against an imaginary reader who notices every flaw, so nothing survives long enough to be sent.
Rewriting feels like making the email better. Mostly, it’s making it safer. Each new draft is one more chance to put off the moment someone actually reads it.
At work, this adds up fast: emails that take an hour, reports that are “almost done” for a week, messages that never get sent at all. Fear of failure keeps showing up in these stories. ADDitude collected many of them from adults with ADHD: my fear of failure becomes paralyzing perfectionism.
Twenty-three drafts don’t make an email twenty-three times better.
The stupid-small fix
Write it ugly, edit once, then it’s done.
Milo writes the whole email straight through, without stopping to fix anything. Then he reads it once and changes only what’s actually wrong: a missing link, a wrong name. When the one pass is done, the email is done, and he presses Send.
One pass is the rule. Not because the email is perfect, but because the second pass is where perfectionism lives.
Common questions
What if the email really is important?
Then sending it matters more than polishing it. A clear, slightly plain email that arrives beats a perfect one that sits in drafts.
How do I stop rewriting messages?
Decide what the message must do before you write it, in a few words: “send the deck, ask for a call.” When the draft does that, it’s finished.
Is perfectionism part of ADHD?
It is not a symptom on the official list, but many adults with ADHD describe it. Years of hearing “careless” can turn polishing into armor. ADDitude has a good overview: when perfectionism stems from ADHD. Only a professional can tell you whether ADHD is part of your picture.
Read more
- Scene 2 of Why perfectionism holds you back: a day with ADHD.
- Before this: is perfectionism just procrastination in disguise?
- Next: why fear creates perfectionism.
- From Milo’s hyperfocus day: why you do the wrong task perfectly.
- Write the whole email in one go, without fixing anything.
- Read it once and fix only what is actually wrong.
- Send it. The one pass is done, so the email is done.
Start stupid small: write it ugly, edit once, send.
This is educational content, not medical advice. For diagnosis or treatment, talk to a healthcare professional.
