The Secret to my Productivity 

'Perfect' is the enemy of 'done'.

My mom always says "Done is better than perfect" that phrase is getting me through college

This strategy was what helped me actually finish creative projects. 80 percent takes 80% of the time and the last 20% takes the other 80% of the time.

Everything Hank says makes a lot of sense, but at the same time my brain is like: nah mate, you gotta get that 100%

Student here. Wanna know the magical secret to my productivity? I'm fucking terrified that I'll reach the age of 40 and be stuck in a job which I hate and where absolutely no advancement is possible.

“Other people’s things will always look better than your things”

I've known people who have been so obsessed with making their one "thing" (screenplay, novel, painting, etc.) so perfect, that they obsess over everything they see wrong and spend too much time trying to fix those things. They then sometimes get depressed and unmotivated to continue. 90% of their awesome work goes unfinished because it was never what they imagined in their heads. An old mentor of mine once said it's better to have 100 finished good things made, than only 1 unfinished great thing. I try to always shoot for the perfect image in my head, but if I don't quite make it, there's no shame. It's always better to say "I MADE a thing!" instead of "I ALMOST made a thing..." :)

I spent over a year making a film for RU-vid channel called 'Entering 1,000 Competitions'. It was pretty much done, but I still spent weeks fussing over the final edit, trying to correct slight nuances. Then, to my horror, I accidentally finalised the project, and was forced to upload it as it was. In my mind it was only about 90% complete. I had released an unfinished video. That film then went viral. It turns out that nobody except for me cared about that final 10%. Now when I watch it back, I can't even remember what that final 10% was supposed to be.

"You'll never really know where you're gonna hit until you /actually/ throw the dart" ... DUDE.

"Perfect doesn't exist." - Thank you. I needed that.

This is an interesting concept that works. I am a new manager struggling with delegation and my manager gave me an awesome piece of advice, "if your staff can accomplish that task 80% as well as you can, then you need to delegate that task." I literally think about it daily now and it has improved my stress levels immensely.

So basically, to misquote Ron Swanson: “Don’t half ass two things, 80% ass a million things.”

Meanwhile I watch this to procrastinate, not to actually attempt to increase my productivity

That's why I only watched 80% of the video ! I started applying your method :D

I think children need to be praised for getting things done and also if they feel they tried their best rather than on how perfect their outcome is. Then they won't feel scared to start a project or anxious it won't turn out right because they know as long as they completed the task and tried to an extent they are happy with that should be enough. I also think guiding kids to learn what the right amount of effort is to them that is sustainable and actualizing of their goals is also very important. I used to feel like the right amount of effort was if I was tried or stressed from it. If it took a lot out of me then it was the right amount and I worked hard enough. This is wrong.

I actually do really appreciate this advice. I am someone who struggles with perfectionism, which leads to both the unfortunate outcomes of (a) never starting something because I know the end result will never match up to how I imagine it should or (b) over-working myself into a frenzy to get something 100%. While this has benefitted me in some ways, it has massive downfalls in other areas. I realised this was a problem when friend and I were both studying for the same exam, in which I worked at 24/7, didn't sleep, exercise or socialise, whereas she studied hard but continued to go out to parties, exercise and sleep well. She got 80-90% on most papers and received the top grade of an A*, I got 100% on every single paper, received a letter congratulating me on receiving one of the top grades in the country... but ultimately received the same grade of an A*. Looking back I wish I had spent some of that valuable time on self-care and maintaining friendships. It's not that I don't think success is important, but that success in your personal life is just as important as academic or career success.

The secret to my productivity? Desperately trying to avoid the all-consuming regret of failure and the spirals of what-if-I-tried-harder that keep me up at night

This is a well known philosophy in software engineering/development(software life cycles). People always wonder why programs/software are never perfect, and that's because the issue Hank describes here is exacerbated in an industry where there is semi-exponential growth. It's better to just release a simple version of your software(one that works but with almost no functionality), and patch/upgrade desired features as you go. As opposed to spending the same amount of your time on only the first 20% of your "perfect" app. Then all you have is a really good segment of unusable code, meanwhile someone else comes up with the same idea and releases a "bad" version of your app (or by the time you finished computational power increases and field changes have rendered your idea useless), but his is at least usable while all you have is a block of theoretically good code. Your welcome to invest in yourself and try to compete by finishing your own, but your building a snowball by hand, while he made a small snowball and threw it down a hill; even if yours was bigger/better initially, his will pass you up at a point. Same idea as the video, I just think in programming it may be more of a 60/40% rule, or maybe even less(which is why technologically speaking everything will always have bugs and other problems). Hank broke it down in percentages (and I loved the bullseye analogies and visual representation, genius), but I've always thought of a Time vs. Percent complete graph, and the line is an exponential function. It will approach 100% forever, and will get infinitely close, but the time it takes to get from 80% to 90% was probably more time then it took to get to 80% by itself. So how much are you/your-time worth, and what point on the line do your draw your cut-off? Again as Hank says, it probably translates down as you progress in your career, as your knowledge, speed, skills, self-value, and value to others increases. I think this is a very useful thought exercise, not only professionally, but for a variety of aspects in life.

Wow this is really well timed for me. I have trouble being productive because I'm either at 100% or 0%, and I end up not doing things because I feel like they won't be perfect. Sooo this is some good food for thought for me. Thanks Hank :)

This is my philosophy too. I love what you said at the end about your new 80% being better than your old 100%. Anytime I find myself obsessing over tiny details I just remind myself - "Done is better than perfect"

'Financial and mental stability' ... so this is out the door for college students then 😂

This was perhaps the best productivity explanation I've ever heard. And I've heard a lot of them. Good job.

Hank!!!!! Your jacket!!! You look super stylish, my friend.

My doctor actually recommended this to me as a way to help me function with my anxiety and depression (which can get triggered by my perfectionism). She called it "satisfysing" which is basically doing things so that they're done, not so that they're perfect. It's about changing the way you define completion and success, just like Hank talks about here!

People seem to be confused about what the 80% is out of. It's not 80% on your test, 80% of what's expected of you, or 80% of the work you have been assigned. It's 80% of your current ability in whatever you are doing. That 80% might get you a 100% on your test. It might get you a 90%. But preparing yourself 80% of the way to your perfect level of preparation will keep you from burning out, neglecting all your other responsibilities, and losing sleep. Those things all create stress. Sometimes, by trying to get myself to 100% ready, I neglect other important things and probably end up doing worse that I would have if I had stopped preparing at 80%.

Wow. This made me feel way better about my creative endevours because i have put so much pressure on myself about not being perfect recently.

It’s crazy how much I needed this video today - so many assignments flying at me at the moment. The scary world of homework in the creative arts is always subjective but as long as you can get enough of it done to feel moderately okay about it, you can break free and move on. Thanks, Hank ☺️

SO ACCURATE

Coming back to this video years later, I realize how much I needed to hear this. I am very guilty of wanting to get to 100% because most of my life I was taught that giving less than 100% was only a form of laziness or a show of disrespect. But 100% is unrealistic (as you said, perfection is impossible). And as a recent example in my own life, I took the initiative to do a project even though I had 100% confidence that the final product would be Not Great, maybe even pretty bad. But for the first time in my life, I recognized that doing something less than 100% was better than doing Nothing at all.

apart from that, id say very good time management. creating lists of daily to-dos is a good start. or finding ways to boost productivity also, if you absolutely need to relax & waste a bit of life, make sure you do something worthwhile and memorable. something that'll fill you with happiness and leave pleasant memories behind

i'm working on launching a new channel and have been working on the first video for a few weeks, so i probably just need to throw the dart ...

a video about productivity that isn’t condescending and doesn’t shame people for not working hard enough but is still genuinely helpful? amazing

I have a project for an engineering class due tonight. I waited too long to start and now I feel like there is no way I will get to 100% of what I could or should do. Watching this video was comforting because it reassured me that even if I don't get to 100%, I can put in the effort to get to 80% and hopefully that will be enough. I also liked the part reminding that there are multiple targets and hitting one means getting farther from another. Working on this engineering design project reinforces the fact that there are tradeoffs in anything creative, from engineering design to video making. Thanks for a great video!

Thank you so much for this! As a perfectionist as well as a procrastinator, I feel this need to give my 100%. This is a soft reminder that 80% can help me not overwork myself and put things off.

This is why I always say: "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."

Among people I've listened to, you're the first to say "Perfect doesn't exist." This phrase alone has made me more productive.

YES! MAN LIKE HANK KNOWS THE TRUTH! I AM SO IN THIS CAMP OF PUTTING THINGS OUT THERE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY, NOTHING IS EVER PERFECT!!!

I'm going to have my 12 year old perfectionist Nerdlet watch this on repeat. Maybe she will listen to Hank when she won't listen to me!!! (Plus it's better articulated. )

"You'll never really know where you're gonna hit until, until you actually throw the dart. And if you spend a ton of time thinking about how you're gonna throw the dart and you never throw it, you might be ding a whole lot of work that isn't actually helping. So, when I get to 80% I throw the dart. Because I know that perfect doesn't exist...I'm just scared. And maybe I am making it better, but also maybe I'm not...Your things are always going to look worse than other people's things. So in my mind, getting it done is success.Getting it perfect is not. Especially because perfect doesn't exist...Suddenly my new 80% is way better than my old 100% effort could have been" AS SOMEONE WHO REALLY STRUGGLES WITH PROCRASTINATION DUE TO FEAR OF DOING SOMETHING BADLY THIS IS MY NEW LIFE MOTTO "But...don't let perfection hold you back from making things or doing things. Revel in your imperfection, because perfect doesn't exist."

This video is 5 years old.. i can't possibly remember it.. let's rewatch.. --> this video has had so much influence on my life over the last 5 years.. i remember the ideas very well. Thanks Hank ❤️

Hank, you are a beautiful smart man. That's all, just thought I'd let you know.

I was watching this video when I got the twitter notification, and I felt so proud of myself.

Commenting now though I watched this when it posted. I've found myself thinking back to it. I think I remember you being hesitant to share this "secret" because you're choosing 80% over 100%. But as someone who avoids starting something that might not get to 100%? The acceptability of 80% is comforting and encouraging.

It's been 6 years since I first saw this video, and i can honestly say that it has changed my life. I have written 5 books using this advice, 2 of which are published. I am able to clean rooms because of this advice, figuring that 80% clean is still 80% cleaner than before. Thank you, Hank. You hacked my perfectionism!

I've been stressing out about NaNoWriMo being right around the corner and this was incredibly eye opening. Thank you, Hank!

Thank you, Hank! Your advice is so helpful and it also somewhat relieves my anxiety 😌

My God! This is exactly what I needed to hear today! My channel just surpassed the 10k subscribers mark and I feel the pressure and stress building up with every new video I upload, and it was getting really hard to keep trying to get to that 100% idea of perfection. Thank you very much, Hank! And greetings from Colombia 😊

Yes! So often, I get stuck in the 80-100% zone of creative desert where worrying and analysing takes over. Sometimes I get stuck before I even start!... in my head! and end up doing nothing, afraid of failure or doubting my ability. What if we already are perfect? We can bring 80% of everything we are to everything we create. That is still pretty amazing! Thank you!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS I got my report card today and with this new grading system my school implemented it's only possible to get an A+ if you literally get ONE HUNDRED PERCENT on your exams which is both idiotic and to someone who is a perfectionist, like me, is very frustrating and degrading to my self worth. due to this, this video was very inspirational and calming. thank you.

This is incredibly pertinent to my life right now, thank you.

"Your things are always going to look worse than other people's things" - that's a good thing to remember and to stop obsessing over the smaller stuff

“Your thing will always look worse than other people’s thing” I love this mindset.

"Perfect doesn't exist" I needed this, thank you.

Quality content as per usual

One of the best advice I've stumbled upon in a very long time. Perfectionism always seems to get in the way of any project I'm doing by stunting the productivity spent on endless minor alterations and it's time I start kicking the habit and just learn to give it 80%. Thanks Hank.

when i was writing my master's thesis and freaking out about including everything that i felt needed to be included and also finishing it on time my advisor said to me, "it can be complete, or it can be done, but it can't be both. done is infinitely better." he was absolutely right, and also i won the award for best master's thesis at my university so yay!

Wow Hank! The inside of your Tour Bus is so Spacious!

2:26 - "for me, those final tweaks, I'm not learning anything. I'm just scared." - so so true

So, so true!! My success comes from my vision’s 80% is my client’s 110%. Works every time!⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Hank, I needed this. I struggle with perfection all the time. I get frustrated that I can't get a project to where I think it needs to be before I release it to my peers, I get frustrated that I spend more time than I should on certain aspects (aspects that will only be known by me), I get frustrated that I get frustrated. So this 80% concept sounds liberating.

I suppose if you think about it, no matter what you put out, to everyone else, it is 100%

This is my favourite RU-vid channel ❤️

This is so awesome. When asked what I’ve attributed my success (in sales) I’ve always said the same thing. “This job is about finding a healthy average of three circles. What I want from my job. What my boss needs from me in my job. What the company wants from me in my job” trying to focus on any of one of these leads to disproportionate successes and a feeling (emotionally or financially) emptiness. Thanks Hank for making me feel like I was in to something with this description.

My mom has told me the 80% thing many times, and I have tried to force myself to believe her. Maybe hearing it from an outside source will finally solidify that idea for me. I've been trying to convince myself to believe it and reach for it and it try to not kill myself to make things "perfect" for years. Thank you for the validation/inspiration/confirmation. I needed to hear it today 💕

That's a passing score Yes, I am talking about 80%

Stellar video Hank, couldn't agree more!

This is a really thoughtful video. When I was a teen, my Mom gave me a motivational poster that read, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it," and had a picture of a dart on it. She thought I had no goals - no desire to do anything, ever. This is largely because I am a terrible procrastinator. The main reason I am a procrastinator is that I am a perfectionist - if I start something early, or even "on time" I will spend every last minute tweaking it and trying to make it perfect. By starting late, I force myself to just do the minimum and stop when it is due. But that only works when there is a deadline. Unfortunately, so many things I want to do have no deadline other than the one I set for myself - and that can always be moved. I know the deadline isn't a real deadline, so I just keep putting off starting. And this is why, to my Mom, it seemed like I had no goals. She didn't understand that it wasn't no goals, it was an unreachable goal - perfection in everything. But I really like what you say about there not really being such a thing as "perfect." I am going to try to keep this in mind from now on.

I really appreciate this lesson. I never realized until just now with Hank quantifying it that this took me years to figure out. I grew up with the expectation that only 100% is acceptable. Anything less is unacceptable. It was mentally paralyzing and both me and my sister have a long history of completely unattempted projects, schoolwork, aspirations simply because the notion of not achieving 100% was panic-inducing. I nearly failed out of elementary school many times, even though i would ace every single test and was generally known as a teacher's pet and nerd. I simply could not and would not do any homework or classwork because I was honest to god terrified of achieving anything less than 100%. It wasn't until I finally just threw all these expectations in the garbage that I started really excelling in my favorite subjects. I got into a top college and now I'm applying to law school. If you can reach 100%, then that's great and I applaud you. I can't and that's great too. Because I don't have to.

Love you, Hank.

I literally just finished listening to the pod episode where you talk about this. Maybe the universe is telling me something...

"Getting it done is success, getting it perfect is not" As a perfectionist with lots of anxiety, I really needed these words. Writing them everywhere as a reminder now, thank you Hank!!

This is the only video on productivity that I've ever watched that is actually helpful. I hate the advice that goes something like, "Wanna be productive? Than you gotta just do the stuff you want to do" because it doesn't address any of the problems of why one might be inhibited to "do the stuff". I tend to be the only thing in the way of my productivity. Mostly because I'm a perfectionist and I don't want to do anything unless I can do it perfectly thus I find my self in a constant struggle against myself because I also know perfection is unattainable. So thank you. I feel slightly liberated by this advice.

Am I the only one wanting the nerdfighter census to happen rn?

I'M WEARING A COSTUME TO THE HALLOWEEN SHOW I'M SO EXCITED

This is actually a beautifully freeing way of seeing things for someone who does not even start for fear of it not reaching the 100% mark.

You are wonderfully correct, my dear Hank Green. Especially that everyone is better at seeing their own imperfections than others, and different perspectives of "Best". 'Cause Hank, to me your projects are always 100%

My secret to productivity if caffeine. I'm pretty nonfunctional without it these days...

I know what I'm showing my students tomorrow :")

As someone who has trouble starting things I want/need to do and as a result usually ends up not doing it because I can't see my "100%", this video brought great advice and comfort, thanks Hank!

That's actually a reassuring thought process. Sometimes I stress out thinking about how difficult getting to 100% would be that I don't even attempt... so 80% is heaps better than 0%.

I'm only going to write 80% of thi

feel like his hair is messed up in the back and its distracting me. i think he only put in 80% on the styling.

When I clicked on the video I didn’t even really read the title I just watched it. But your message hit me right away. The way you phrase all of this makes what your saying usable on every aspect of myself and life. This may have changed my life for the better, I’m scared but let’s go for 80% hopefully

I literally JUST used this video to (hopefully) help a student of mine. "But...don't let perfection hold you back from making things or doing things." Thanks very much!

This!

This is so necessary to my life. I'm way too much of a perfectionist, and then I get anxious about my work and procrastinate and never end up doing it. If, instead of wanting to get to 100%, I go for 80%, I may actually be able to finish things. Thanks, Hank.

As a recovering perfectionist, this video is super helpful! I watched it when the video was released and I had to rewatch it today as I’m trying to finish and turn in a school project as ‘permission’ to let it be 80% rather than spend hours trying to perfect it. Thank you Hank.

I love how he started the video explaining because everyone feels they know the answer to solve other people lives...thank you, Hank you sir are a great content creator!!!!

Hank, I believe you just provided me the freedom I need this semester. Your timing is (at least 80%) impeccable. Thank you!

I can't tell you how encouraging and calming this video is for me. Thank you so much for your openess. Your words changed my perspective on so many things... I'm almost speechless...

Hank, you made this video over 5 years ago. But serendipitously, it landed in my video suggestions this week. And this week, it is exactly what I needed. Thank you.

This video made me smile!!! My husband and I are complementary opposites... he is a high production 80%er and I am a 95% perfectionist (an improvement over my 100% teenage years). We brainstorm together, he starts the project, we work on the project together with me constantly tweaking and editing along the way and then he makes the decision to end the project (80%ish) and then a try to cram in a quick final edit. Presto we end up with a great result...better than either of us could have done on our own. I loved hearing your prospective as the 80% guy because sometimes it can be so irritating from a perfectionist's perspective. Most importantly, I agree with your theory that the 80% improves and that combined with high productivity it is a formula for success. Now I owe my husband a big hug and kiss for all he does for our family. Thanks for sharing!

As someone trying to figure out how to make original music for the first time, this is encouraging. You guys always have wise words and great advice.

I really needed this today, thanks Hank. I'm currently working in my first "adult" job and things were getting difficult as a numbers-person in a reporting role; it's hard to distance yourself from the core data enough to appreciate a report in the same way its audience would, and this video made me smile. I don't comment (ever) on RU-vid, but I just wanted you to know. Keep up the great work!

I share the exact same felling. In my profession (I'm a psychologist) I tell all the time to my patients: Don't give 100% of you in ANY case. You 'll regret it. Thrust me. Make in a way that is possible with what you have in the time that is give to you. Sounds cliche but it is not. Thanks for the video! Already share with my friends!

I'm watching this during the coronavirus pandemic and let me tell you, this changed my life. I've had my final year paper and a couple of other assignments given to me since February but since schools are closed in my country, I allowed procrastination and all that other stuff distract me from doing my assignments. I took your 80 percent advice 2 weeks ago and I'm not kidding, I've completed all my assignments and I've finally picked up my project after five months of being too scared to do any uni work. Thank you so much

Oh man I love this. I feel like all of us want to evaluate and quantify our efforts and have those evaluations and quantifications be 100%. It is so much more practical and productive and yet still feels like a quantifiable goal, to release whatever you're working on when it's 80% rather than 100%. Learning experiences and improvement come from imperfect efforts. Don't rob yourself of a learning experience by holding something back because it's not 100%.

This actually the reason why I do everything in a “mediocre” way just because I want to try so many things and I feel like it takes so much energy to make it a hundred percent. I also realized what you said recently. People have complimented the works I did while I was cramming even though those were mediocre proving that the things we do may not be perfect in our eyes but it is great in the eyes of others.

Lots of people learn this eventually. It's so nice to see someone say it. Perfect is the enemy of good.

This is my justification for being a jill-of-all-trades, ace of none. I can't seem to get anything perfect for everyone else, I just get it DONE. This helped. Thank you.