What's your work style? The Perfectionist While it's admirable to be dedicated to your work, as an ober-organised perfectionist, you can carry things too far. The quest for perfection can manifest itself in an obsession with every last detail. Such a focus on minutiae (e.g. taking two hours to order the right postage labels) can lead to missed deadlines, client dissatisfaction at being billed 15 hours for a project that should have taken seven, and the unhappiness of friends and family who find it next to impossible to command your attention. This, of course, leads to a less than perfect outcome for the hard-working-but-not-always-on-the-right-tasks perfectionist. The Perfectionist fix You need to set more realistic goals without compromising your high standards. The way to accomplish this is via some welcome distractions that can help you put work in perspective. Write a list of top tasks each day to remind youself what your true priorities are and refer to it every time you finish one of the tasks. This can help you stay on track instead of going off at the deep end over small tasks. Learn to delegate. It can be hard to trust underlings but if they don't learn from experience, how can they improve? The more confidence you have in their ability, the more likely they are to succeed. Keeping a photo of your loved ones on your desk can help remind you to leave work on time. Start a whiteboard with each of your projects listed on it, along with the deadlines and budget for how much time and money to allocate. Get a comfortable chair that will encourage you to put your feet up occasionally. During these breaks call a loved one, scan a magazine - relax! Consider taking some of your meetings outside of the office or meeting rooms. It'll help you relax and focus on the real nitty-gritty of the meeting. An agenda for the meeting will also help you to focus rather than getting bogged down by minor points.