Renovating my home is a hobby of mine, but I can’t stand tiny imperfections like walls that aren’t perfectly smooth, surfaces that aren’t exactly level, and mail-order furniture which isn’t quite the same color as it was in the pictures. Usually I can get things just right eventually, but sometimes I have to recognize that doing that would be crazy (i.e. it would require spending tens of thousands of dollars to demolish and rebuild something which everyone else tells me already looks great) and then I get really upset, give up in the middle of the renovation project, and never finish it.
The funny thing is that this level of perfectionism is actually just right for the sort of programming I do at my day job, so work ends up being less stressful than my hobby.
I used to have similar perfectionist perspective in my 20s but then i look at my own skill and reflect on it, it just that i can’t reach the perfect that i wanted with my skill, or the situation on hand just doesn’t allow that, so right now in my 30s i just do my best and finish a renovation project without second-guessing myself too much. No one gonna scrutinise my own work in my own home other than myself, that sort of perspective change is what work for me.
It’s also help when the maker that inspired me also make mistake on camera and teach others how to fix/hide it.
The problem is when you pay somebody to do the work. Nobody spends as much time as you. Building these days is a slap-it-together endeavor. They will get the job done in half the time you would, but it’s not quite as good as you would have done.
Renovating my home is a hobby of mine, but I can’t stand tiny imperfections like walls that aren’t perfectly smooth, surfaces that aren’t exactly level, and mail-order furniture which isn’t quite the same color as it was in the pictures. Usually I can get things just right eventually, but sometimes I have to recognize that doing that would be crazy (i.e. it would require spending tens of thousands of dollars to demolish and rebuild something which everyone else tells me already looks great) and then I get really upset, give up in the middle of the renovation project, and never finish it.
The funny thing is that this level of perfectionism is actually just right for the sort of programming I do at my day job, so work ends up being less stressful than my hobby.
I used to have similar perfectionist perspective in my 20s but then i look at my own skill and reflect on it, it just that i can’t reach the perfect that i wanted with my skill, or the situation on hand just doesn’t allow that, so right now in my 30s i just do my best and finish a renovation project without second-guessing myself too much. No one gonna scrutinise my own work in my own home other than myself, that sort of perspective change is what work for me.
It’s also help when the maker that inspired me also make mistake on camera and teach others how to fix/hide it.
The problem is when you pay somebody to do the work. Nobody spends as much time as you. Building these days is a slap-it-together endeavor. They will get the job done in half the time you would, but it’s not quite as good as you would have done.