• I am often down-to-the-wire on deadlines at work, because I put off writing case notes until I have the "time" to write them as detailed as I want them to be.
• I often leave chores around the house undone because (let's face it) there's never enough time for perfection in a lived-in home…and if I can't get something as organized as I want it, I might as well not even try.
• I will often go days (nay, weeks!) without blogging because I feel like I won't have the time to craft a "perfect" post.
• I hinder my own walk with Christ because I long to study something in-depth, from cover to cover. Again, time constraints come in, and I put off starting because I feel I won't finish the study/memorization/etc. in the way that I want.

1) Repent from pride. We must turn away from self-seeking ways. Our thought life is in error, for we think more grandiosely of ourselves than we ought. We are not the kings of our own world, God is! We have set up ourselves as our own, personal idols. Perfectionism says, "I can do it without God (or anyone else!)." 

2) Start now. Don't put off obedience until it feels convenient or "start-worthy." Purposely start tasks now rather than waiting until better "beginning" days. For example, don't wait 'til Monday, the first of a month, or the new year…start now. 

3) Identify your priorities. Some things matter, some things don't. Most things fall somewhere in the middle. To quote an old friend, "You make time for what you want to make time for." List your tasks from greatest to least importance, and schedule them into your day accordingly. 

4) Make it work. [Thanks, Tim Gunn, for

mainstreaming this wonderful phrase!] Follow your schedule, check off your to-do list, and get things done. It doesn't matter if you have an interruption or if you don't have time to fully complete a chore to perfection right now. If you get halfway finished, schedule a time the next day for completion. If you only make it a third of the way, schedule two more windows of time - and so on.   

5) Let others help. Have you ever heard it said, "If you want something done right, do it yourself"? I have…and for years, I have bought into that statement hook, line, and sinker. In order to beat perfectionism, though, we must let others help us out with tasks we don't have time to complete. According to Kevin DeYoung's book Crazy Busy, we have to be willing to delegate and to accept help from others. Beware, for DeYoung warns that this will require "having the courage to accept that someone might be able to do a worse job."

6) Rely on God's strength. When the apostle Paul was plagued by a "thorn in the flesh" from which he was not delivered, God spoke these words to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Selfish strivings like perfectionism don't go away overnight. When we choose to walk away from sin or from a certain personal "bent," we are not immediately made strong. Inversely, we are often weak and reeling from the change God is enacting in us…as it should be. We must rely on His strength to make it through our challenges.