Think in terms of progress instead of striving for perfection

When completing tasks, remember that

• tasks are rarely completed in one step, but in stages.
• goals are not always achieved immediately, but in stages.

Say quietly to yourself in your thoughts:

• The problem can be solved.
• Step by step.
• What do I have to do next?

And then:

• Pay attention to progress.
• Recognize progress as your own achievement.
• Praise yourself: Well done!

The staircase had 30 steps and he was determined to finish it today. In his mind, the result of the spotlessly clean staircase kept popping up. But when he looked at the stairs, there was a lot of dirt and moss. How was he going to manage that today? He felt a pressure, was blocked and stared at the stairs.

When completing tasks, remember that

• tasks are rarely completed in one step, but in stages.
• goals are not always achieved immediately, but in stages.

Say silently to yourself:

• The problem can be solved.
• Step by step.
• What do I have to do next?

He said to himself inwardly: The problem can be solved. Step by step and started with the first step. He pushed aside the thought of the result of the completely swept staircase. The first step was finished: what do I have to do next? Then he started on the second, much dirtier step and so on.

• Pay attention to concrete progress.

Twelve steps had already been completed.

• Recognize progress as your own achievement.
• Praise yourself: Well done!

The individual steps were dirtier than initially assumed. It started to rain. After all, he had completed 12 of the 30 steps and made progress. He praised himself for it: Well done. We’ll continue tomorrow.

It should be a good to very good grade. She looked at her previous notes and the few loose sheets. She felt an inner pressure and the fear of failing. Should she start with the introduction straight away or should she compile the list of references first? She also had to organize the table of contents! Wasn’t there another article that needed to be read? She also had to go shopping and the bathroom needed cleaning.

When completing tasks, remember that

• tasks are rarely completed in one step, but in stages.
• goals are not always achieved immediately, but in sub-goals.

She remembered that the project work could only be completed in individual steps anyway and that the goal, the good grade, could only be the result of these individual steps. She would only see whether it would be a perfect result at the end.

She said silently to herself:

• The problem can be solved.
• Step by step.
• What do I have to do next?

In her thoughts she said to herself: The problem can be solved. Step by step. What do I have to do next? She decided to start with the literature list first. Compiling the literature she had read so far would be quite easy and she would be able to see her initial progress straight away. She took 50 minutes to do this and noticed how an increasingly long list of literature appeared before her eyes.

• Pay attention to concrete progress.

One DIN A4 page of literature was done. Great!

• Recognize progress as your own achievement.
• Praise yourself: Well done!

That was important progress: well done, she thought. She felt good. Next she would go shopping and start the first chapter in the afternoon. She could then add the chapter title to the table of contents.

Delb, W., D’Amelio, R., Archonti, C. & Schonecke (2002). Tinnitus. Ein Manual zur Tinnitus-Retrainingtherapie. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Leahy, R.L. (2007). Techniken kognitiver Therapie. Junfermann Verlag: Paderborn.

Meichenbaum, D. (2003). Interventionen bei Stress. Hans Huber: Göttingen.

Wirtz, A.M. (Hrsg.) (2020). Dorsch – Lexikon der Psychologie. Bern: Hogrefe.