Welcome to the Determined to Dance podcast with your host, Jennifer Hallmark. Today’s episode, “How Perfectionism Leads to Procrastination” winds up this series with a look at how striving to be perfect can cause us to procrastinate.

Are you ready? The world would have us march to its chaotic beat but God invites us to dance in His will and His way. Let’s take a moment to be energized, refreshed, and motivated to face the day, one spin and twirl at a time.

Show Notes: How Perfectionism Leads to Procrastination

Can I take a moment to be super honest? I’ve really struggled with procrastination since I started this mini-series on the podcast. Or maybe the realization hit me so hard because I see how much I tend to stall, put things off for a sunny day, even change the subject while talking.

I’m a procrastinator. Yes, I get things done but it tends to be last minute. I need to change. Why do I put things off? Father God is standing on the dance floor with his hand stretched toward mine.

And here I am telling him to wait. Again.

While I connect with everything, I’ve taught over the last eight weeks, I believe that perfectionism is the main cause behind it all, for me anyway. And as I was researching, I found this interesting article I’ll share below in the links by Meagan Drillinger on Healthline. She called the issue the perfectionism-procrastination-paralysis cycle.

A great way to explain it. I tend to look at a task, see all the ways I need to complete it, then look at how hard it will be to make it as perfect as I think it should be, then procrastinate while feeling totally paralyzed when it comes to moving forward. Does anyone else feel my pain?

I’ve heard it said that perfectionism is a good thing, people have justified their extreme behavior by labeling it as productive but I’m not buying it. I’m a recovering perfectionist and I know its destructiveness firsthand. The desire to be excellent in your life and work hard is good but trying to be perfect is futile. Only God is perfect.

I remember times when I’d spend eight hours cleaning one room. Yes, one room. I’d wipe and wash and dust and polish every single inch of every item. If I could go back in time, I’m sure I’d find reasons behind my obsessive behavior.

Most of my episodes of trying to be perfect arose from stress, anxiety. Once, while we were moving, I got so anxious that I quit moving items inside and went and painted a closet. Everything had become too much and painting helped me gain a little control back.
When I feel I’m not enough, I might move toward the extreme. In my mind, if I can do it all perfectly, life will line up and I’ll get my act together.
Especially if it’s something new, fear attacks that I can’t do it, I’ll mess it up, I’ll fail.
Maybe I did fail while doing something so I’ll try a hundred times harder to do the next thing perfect to make up for it.

Except it doesn’t make up for it. All my strivings in the flesh might appease me for a time but it never changes anything long term. And what I’m looking for is lasting change. A new season. A new me…

Dieting. Yes, I said it. Out loud. In my forties, I started having back trouble and gained weight. Since then, I’ve battled off and on with gaining and losing weight. Most of my diets or exercise plans have failed because of my perfectionism. If I mess up one time or one day, I want to quit. Do that a couple of times and then I do quit. It’s that all-or-nothing attitude.

But I am changing. I’ve read books on the subject, prayed, and have taken a long look at myself. I believe my personality tends toward perfectionist tendencies anyway. But as a child, my dad was really sick with a disease similar to muscular dystrophy. Somehow, somewhere I picked up the notion that it might be my fault. Children tend to feel they are omniscient or all-powerful anyway and I really ran with this feeling. So, I tried to be perfect. From grades to sports to church,