Do you find details draining?

Do you relish or hate thoroughness and meticulousness?

[hairycoo]

I realise that there will be people out there who relish in being meticulous and taking care of everything down to the last detail.

I'm like that, I like doing things well, being thorough and meticulous. I do that in everything in my life. I'll go as far as saying I'm a perfectionist (e.g. don't know when enough is good enough).

At the same time, though, these traits are also very draining. There are so many details in SEO/webmastering work (especially for a one-woman band like me) that even if I break tasks down into very small ones that are manageable I still end up finding a level of detail in them that needs addressing that makes even very small tasks seem very daunting! This causes frustration and leads to procrastination!


Just wondering how other webmasters cope with this? And how many suffer from perfectionism?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I am a bit like that. For example if I make a note in MS Outlook then realise that there is a typo there I take the time to go back in and correct it. I get annoyed at myself for doing so because these notes are for my eyes only but I can't help myself.

A wee bit sad really?

[Mark_A]

I have learnt that there is a concept called "good enough" or even "fit for purpose" .. once that is achieved, it is job done!

[wyweb]

I'm going with Mark here. I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist but I'm an organizational nut. It has to be neat, functional and easily accessed, not only by me but by whoever follows behind me. I'm big on readme files. A clear, concise set of instructions telling someone else how to do what I've already done.

Enough is enough though. You'll reach a point to where you can't improve the job any further, and in fact actually run the risk of complicating it by further attention to detail. I'm particularly sensitive to this when dealing with clients who don't know squat, or worse yet, think they know squat and are trying to impress you. Less is usually better in these situations. I might see 5 different options for a given solution. Do I overload my noob client or do I pick the 2 best practice options and present them alone? Back in the day I would have presented all 5 and waited weeks for a final decision.

Today I give them 2 options and stress that I need it tomorrow.

[rocknbil]

Guilty as charged, to the point of obsession. :-(

I'm getting better though, in relating concepts to clients, explaining what I do, even in posts here answering questions, before doing anything I ask, "what don't they care about?" No one cares about details, they just want the fix it pill, but you need to give enough to provide foundation for your work.

But working, yeah, I can't suffer extra spaces to live, like this . It's that bad. But there is a really good reason, one you might identify with.

After doing this for so many years, you leave a trail. Along comes bright eyed bushy tailed programmer who nits and picks over every nuance of your code to make you out to be an idiot. Sometimes it's the little things like this that make their case: "if this little thing is sloppy, well, <guffaw> imagine what else could be wrong." It's enough to sway a client, cast a shadow over all that's good, all people remember are your errors, not your triumphs.

So there's a very good reason to stay meticulous and obsessed. It's called covering your a**. :-)

[Hester]

I'll go as far as saying I'm a perfectionist (e.g. don't know when enough is good enough)...

...I still end up finding a level of detail in them that needs addressing that makes even very small tasks seem very daunting!

I thought that was just me! :-)

Recently I've been working on a Search form for my website. Of course it proved ten times more complicated than I anticipated. But I can't just leave it as a simple form. I have to add tiny details that make it even more useful, but which take hours and hours, and evening after evening to implement.

Then I realised I could have just linked to Google and set the domain to mine! However, I'm glad I did my own search as it can be shaped how I like. Plus Google have missed some of my posts in their indexing. Whereas I know my search will always catch everything.

It's the same with the design of my website. I've redone it several times over the years, each time requiring insane attention to detail before it was ready. (Though I blame CSS for this, and HTML, which was never meant to be a layout program. Use InDesign and you'll see what I mean. So much easier and more powerful!)

I want to redesign the site again but must try to resist as I know I'll spend hours sweating over simple things that 'just won't work as they should' (often due to poor CSS implementation in Internet Explorer). The current layout is getting cluttered though and I long for a simpler one.

[buckworks]

In some areas of my life I'm a raving perfectionist, but in others I'm anything but.

How many people this thread obsess about coding details or linguistic perfection but it's been weeks since you dusted the shelves in your office?

[SevenCubed]

Ditto, but I wouldn't worry about it because I think it's just part of the package of having an analytical mind, and what IT worker doesn't? Always trying to keep chaos in it's place so it doesn't get the upper hand :)

Have a look at something I just posted in another thread to understand what's going on inside my gray/white matter! [webmasterworld.com...]

[LifeinAsia]

How many people this thread obsess about coding details or linguistic perfection but it's been weeks since you dusted the shelves in your office?

I'd measure that in months or years...

[wyweb]

but it's been weeks since you dusted the shelves in your office?

Dang, I knew I forgot something... ;) ;)