Nice post I discovered on the Orange site today, “I don’t like making the best things.” Short summary, trying to make the “best” things gets in the way of doing things we enjoy.
Specifically the author talks about blogging less often after they discovered they “only want to publish the best things, so I didn’t publish at all.”
Not exactly a new concept, but one that we probably all need to hear or read on a regular basis. It’s certainly something that’s blocked me quite a bit. Feeling like you always need to put something out that’s perfect is a really good way to never get things done. It’s the enemy of fun and the enemy of productivity.
Especially on a personal blog, there’s no reason things need to be perfect. While it’d be nice if everything I wrote was perfect, it doesn’t need to be. Mainly I want to get some thoughts out of my head (too many in there anyway) and maybe start some conversations.
Maybe I’ll give somebody else an idea, maybe I’ll get a comment that teaches me something or helps me think about something a different way. Mostly? I just enjoy writing when I get out of my own way and do it. I hope others enjoy it as well. If not, well, it’s not like they made a major investment to get it.
I know for a fact I enjoy having completed something, even something imperfect, more than I like looking at something unfinished or having nothing to show for perfectionism.
I definitely have that problem with blogging. I now try to catch myself over-editing. I thought the problem grew out of twitter taking some of the “just get an idea out” writing away from blogging, leaving just longer, more worked-out pieces remaining.