AttorneyMentoring.com Junior Attorneys

Overcome Tendency to be Immobilized

If you consider yourself a perfectionist and find yourself immobilized by your need to achieve perfect or near-perfect
results, be cognizant of the fact that you are probably overly focused on the present task and not the overall goal
or deadline. Try and imagine what would be most important to your senior attorney and the client and focus on those
issues first. Make a list and check your progress against it as the project unfolds. Break down your time at the start so
that you have adequate time for each part of the assignment and do not find yourself bogged down in less important
matters. Assume that it will take more time than you believe at first to complete the assignment but commit to meeting
the deadline. Regularly keep track of the amount of work you have completed in relation to the estimated amount of
work to be done. Catch yourself if you find yourself spending too much time on one portion of the project or on form over
substance.

Remember also that perfectionism is relative. For example, if your perfectionism causes you to miss a deadline, it no
longer achieves a perfect result. You have to consciously balance your need for a perfect result with your productivity.
As you gain experience, it will be easier for you to judge the forest for the trees.

Finally, it is important to know that perfectionism often creates unnecessary stress for the perfectionist because it is
often unlikely that a perfect result can be achieved. Instead of striving for perfection, try and strive for a standard of
excellence. Always remember to tolerate imperfection in yourself and others, a trait which will be very important as you
work yourself up in your career to managing others. And, finally, try and avoid judging yourself too harshly. You are
probably doing better than you think.

All this being said, it is important that you review your work, check for typographical errors, review the logic of the
argument, the language of the agreement or the conclusion of the memo. Just try not to spend so much time on these
activities that you miss a deadline or create a 10 page tome when only two pages would have sufficed. Your time, even
as a junior attorney, is generally being billed and you need to stay within reasonable limits so the Partner is not required
to write-off your time.