"Done is better than perfect" - Question for you all

[uncle_scott]

I have a problem (understatement of the year)... When it comes to projects I tend to get myself into a feedback loop of wanting to make sure everything is "right" or "perfect" before I move on. This often causes me to never start a project, lose interest part way, or just never finish anything. Good example is living with a half-finished bathroom renovation for 3 years. I finished it the week my wife and I moved out of the house, so that the renters we had taking over the place would have a complete bathroom.

Currently I am working on the interior of the Porsche. What it truly needs is a decent clean, a few small issues resolved, and the remaining RS carpet stuck down. That is it. Done.

Where my mind goes though is...

In order to do it "perfectly" I need to remove the chipping sound deadening, clean and scrape all the glue remnants off the floor, weld up a couple of holes in the floor, figure out an undercoat patch on the bottom of the car where I welded, paint the welds (which will make everything else look crappy, so paint the whole inside, put in new sound deadening, re-lay the half-assed carpet, replace all the rubber seals, address the tears in the seat....the list goes on and on.

So what I end up doing is nothing. It is as if I cannot get myself to do the thing it really needs, which is finish the carpet install. I get stuck in this never ending feedback loop of not being able to tackle it 100% right now, so I do nothing, and I drive it around with a half installed carpet kit and some old rubber floor mats over the bare metal in the front half of the car.

I don't have the time or the financial means to do anything perfect ever. I need to figure out how to live with "good enough" and just enjoy the damn thing instead of always planning for something and never actually doing it. How do you guys overcome this? Is "done" actually better than "perfect?" Will I get more enjoyment out of the car knowing that there are glue boogers left under the freshly installed carpet, but because there is carpet there I will be happier?

The following pictures show where I got the carpet install in 2013 when I sold the car. I bought the car back this summer, and apparently the guy who owned it felt the same way, or didn't want to take the time to finish the project...You can see the no-carpet-front with designer floor mats, haha.

What do you guys do to get over the need to make things perfect before just moving on?

[Jim Richards]

Run out of time, energy, or money.

[911dean]

Welcome to the club. I've had the same problem for as long as I can remember. The older I get done is better(in certain instances).

[vash]

the enemy of "good" is "great".

i can derail a project in my own mind better than anyone.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Don't let perfect become the enemy of good enough.

That was a saying that a former boss of mine was fond of, it has always stuck with me. The funny thing about perfect is that it does not exist. Something can ALWAYS be done better. Eternally seeking perfection is striving for something that is impossible.

[Bill Douglas]

Fix what needs fixing. But I sure would not remove sound deadening that didn't need removing. I sure don't go looking for trouble.

And I always complete a project in a resonable period of time.

[911dean]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Don't let perfect become the enemy of good enough.

I like it. A lot of truth in that statement.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

If the holes in the floor are letting water from the leaks in the window seals drain out the bottom. Leave the holes in the floor.

If the windows are leaking, you are pretty much screwed, so enjoy life and ignore the holes in the floor, but acknowledge this and don't ruin the carpets by reinstalling them.

If the holes in the floor are NOT related to leaking windows, wait until the windows leak, the sills rot out, and THEN fix everything at once. This will also provide adequate time to let the rockers rot out, so everything will get done at once!

Whatever you do- do not jeapordize the carpets.

Hope this helps.
Ron

[KFC911]

It's a flawed human being who thinks like that....

My name is KC and I am flawed

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by KC911

It's a flawed human being who thinks like that....

My name is KC and I am flawed

Hi KC, I'm Jeff, can I join this club?

[Otter74]

I am as prone to this as anyone here (with bicycles as well as with cars), but I have a copy of this printed out at home to refer to as needed:

[Dansvan]

Perfect is different for everyone. It will never be perfect. Make yourself happy, make 'em wonder what you're up to...

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Don't let perfect become the enemy of good enough.

This. See my Corvair restoration thread....my OCD at it's best.

[pavulon]

Perfection is a cruel mistress and the highest form of self-abuse.

[DanielDudley]

Scott, My personal opinion is that if you would just get cracking on it, and stop thinking about it, you could have already gotten the floor stripped in the areas where it was coming up, and could have pretty much prepped for the rust repairs as well. Do what you need to do, or do what you want to do. Quicker you figure it out, the sooner you will get started, and the sooner you will be done.

Less thinking, more doing. I hate holes myself. If I am not going to do a proper job, I will do something that won't be hard to undo later.




When I was a kid, we would plate a rust hole, pop rivets and caulk. Put a dolly on the rivets, pound the back side flat, seam seal and spray bomb. Don't laugh, they can turn out nicely.

OTOH, I broke out the welder yesterday and fixed the front pipe on my wife's muffler with new steel and a couple of reinforcing struts. Not stock but stout. Cut back the tail pipe while I was at it, because it looked like it was dragging on the entrance to the driveway, and straining the joint where it failed. Wasn't planning on doing that, but now it is done.

Wasn't planning on doing my Mom's kitchen roof over Thanksgiving, but she mentioned it was leaking, (... when I drove 7 hours to drop off a car that I got for her on short notice, when hers died suddenly a few weeks ago). Picked up materials for the roof and started Thanksgiving morning. Dinner wasn't until 6 anyway, and it was absolutely going to rain on Saturday. It's done now. Scoped out a couple of other projects her house will need some time in the near future. No, I wasn't planning on it, but...

Do you see where I am going with this ? Do or not do.

When are we starting ????

[VaSteve]

After 11 years in my house. I finally painted the laundry room. It had been on this list forever. It took me 3 hours. 3 hours. This included moving the machines and sink and cleaning up a bit. Last step is to install the tile by the sink. It's been on a shelf in the garage for probably 5 years. It'll be done befor the year is out.

[DanielDudley]

Assembler's Malaise.


This disease, which resembles procrastination, occurs when the
assembler's standards exceed the assembler's perceived skill level,
ie. "I can't do the job as well as it should be done." So nothing
gets done.

There are a couple remedies for Assembler's Malaise:
1. Farm out the job to professionals. Pride and budget constraints often
prohibit this.
2. Lower your standards. This is tough to do but a bit easier with an MG
than an Aston Martin. One of the lessons of restoring my MG-TC was
realizing how poorly the bodies were originally assembled. Usually the
two sides didn't match but I wanted them to!
3. Group therapy: ask some friends to help get the job going again.

The worst possible manifestation of this disease is a long period of
inactivity followed by selling the project - usually at a big loss.

Fortunately, subscribers to this list seem to be Can-Do types who are
not likely to be afflicted with Asembler's Malaise. We're the ones who
track down and buy the rare old Something-or-other which has been
apart in some barn for years - and we get it back together again!

George - about to begin restoration #4 - Haynes

http://www.jag-lovers.org/saloons/disease.html

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

3. Group therapy: ask some friends to help get the job going again.

A good suggestion- however- if you employ #3, beware of the "too many chiefs..." trap.

You invite your friends to come and help. They do- and offer 20 different suggestions on the "proper" way to do it, none of which you want.

You get frustrated because their ideas suck.
They get frustrated because you were the one asking for help and you s$%^ all over their suggestions.

This is why I have no friends!

[LeftCoastErik]

I like "Do or Do Not, there is no "try" and "Do something, even if its wrong"

I am the king of "Good Enough". My good enough is generally pretty damned good, but it isn't always perfect. I like stuff I can drive, enjoy. That means my Kustoms don't get finished, smoothed firewalls and engine bays. I appreciate the work, but I personally think its a waste of time if you hardly every open the hood to show anybody.
For the OP, I agree, fix the ugly. Patch the holes. Forget about removing the deadener. Buy a spray hopper and Als Liner from Amazon. Spray the floor. It works. It looks awesome too. It hides ugly. You can do it with bedliner also. Put the carpets back in and get on with it.
I also find that a whiteboard in the garage with a big ugly list helps. As I cross stuff off, I feel good. Sometimes I will just take a day and knock out all the little crap just to make the list smaller...

[dan88911]

And then there is Wabi-Sabi

Nothing is Finished.
Nothing is Perfect.
Nothing Last.