Before we dive in, I wanted to let you know that applications to work with me for July, August, or September are now open!
If you’ve been thinking about getting support—whether it’s with time management, stress, or feeling more in control of your day—this is your chance.
I only take a few accountants each quarter, and if you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels, I’d love to hear from you. And don’t worry if you have vacation plans; we’ll work around them because I believe that coaching should support your life, not interrupt it.
If you’re interested, just head over to www.thesmarteraccountant.com/application to apply. It’s short, simple, and could be the start of a whole new chapter for you.
Alright, let’s get into the episode…
Okay, let’s talk about time management as accountants because time management is hard enough, but if you’re a perfectionist, it can feel downright impossible. You want everything to be just right, but that takes time—way more time than you actually have.
You check, double-check, and then maybe check one more time, just to be safe. You tweak little details, rewrite emails, and overthink simple decisions. And before you know it, the day is over, and your to-do list is still staring at you.
It’s frustrating, right? You work so hard, but somehow, it still feels like you’re always behind.
Perfectionism makes you believe that if you just try a little harder, everything will turn out exactly the way you want. But the truth is, the harder you try to control everything, the more out of control you actually feel.
For example, have you ever noticed how some people seem to get things done so much faster than you? Meanwhile, you’re stuck, spending way too much time making sure everything is “just right.”
That’s because perfectionism steals your time. It tricks you into thinking that spending extra time on something makes it better when, most of the time, it just keeps you stuck in a loop of never feeling done.
And here’s the thing—it’s not your fault. Your brain is wired to avoid mistakes, so it pushes you to keep fixing, redoing, and making things “perfect.”
But let’s be honest—perfect doesn’t actually exist because it’s subjective. And chasing it just leads to unwanted stress, exhaustion, and feeling like there’s never enough time.
Imagine what it would feel like to finish something without second-guessing yourself. To wrap up your work, close your laptop, and feel done—without overworking yourself or staying late.
That’s not just a nice idea—it’s completely possible. And it doesn’t mean lowering your standards. It just means managing your time in a way that actually works for you, instead of against you.
So how do you stop perfectionism from running the show? And how can you still do great work without wasting hours on tiny details?
That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today. Let’s get into it.
How Perfectionism Wastes Time
Perfectionism feels like it should help you work better, but in reality, it just slows you down. You spend extra time tweaking things, making sure every little detail is just right—but at some point, all that extra effort stops making a difference.
It’s called diminishing returns—where more time doesn’t actually mean better results. The 80/20 Rule explains this perfectly: 80% of your results come from just 20% of your effort. But perfectionism makes you focus on the other 80%, the tiny details that don’t actually move the needle.
And let’s also talk about mistakes. Perfectionism convinces you that making a mistake is the worst thing that could happen. So instead of finishing a task and moving on, you overthink, double-check, and even redo things that didn’t really need fixing.
There’s actual research on this. A study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that perfectionists experience much more anxiety and procrastination. Basically, the more pressure you put on yourself to be perfect, the harder it is to get things done.
That’s why perfectionism and procrastination go hand in hand. When you feel like something has to be perfect, it’s easy to put it off until you “have enough time” to do it right. But that time never really comes, does it? Instead, tasks pile up, and stress levels go through the roof.
And that stress is not just annoying—it’s exhausting. The more time you waste perfecting the little things, the less time you have for high-impact work. The important things keep getting pushed to the side while you’re stuck fine-tuning things that don’t really matter.
As we all know as accountants, over time, this leads to burnout. You work longer hours, feel more frustrated, and struggle to find a balance between work and life. And even after all that effort, you still don’t feel like you’ve done enough.
So why does this happen? Why does your brain push you to spend so much time on things that don’t actually help? Let’s take a look at what’s going on next.
The Brain Science Behind Perfectionism and Time Management
If you’ve ever felt like you have to make something perfect, even when you know it’s taking too long, there’s a reason for that. Your brain is actually wired to push you toward perfectionism—even when it’s not helping you.
It all starts with your threat response. The part of your brain that I call the Toddler is designed to keep you safe. But it doesn’t just react to physical danger—it reacts to anything that feels like a threat, including the fear of making a mistake. That’s why perfectionism can feel so intense—it’s not just about doing good work, it’s about avoiding what feels like a failure.
And then there’s dopamine, the feel-good chemical. Every time you fix something, tweak a detail, or make something “better,” your brain gives you a little dopamine hit.
It feels rewarding in the moment, which makes you want to keep doing it. But that’s how you get stuck in the perfectionist loop—where you keep working on something long past the point where it actually matters.
This also ties into something I’ve discussed on the podcast before called the Mere Urgency Effect. Your brain loves to feel productive, so it pushes you to focus on tasks that seem urgent—even if they’re not important. That’s why you might spend an hour formatting a spreadsheet instead of tackling the high-impact work that actually moves things forward.
And then there’s the Zeigarnik Effect, which makes your brain fixate on unfinished tasks. When something isn’t quite “done,” your brain keeps pulling you back to it, making it hard to move on. This is why perfectionists struggle to let things go—even when they know it’s time to stop.
For example, let’s say you’re writing a client email. You draft it, read it over, and it’s perfectly fine—but instead of hitting send, you reread it again… and again. Maybe you change a word, adjust the tone, reformat a sentence. Even though it was ready 20 minutes ago, your brain won’t let it go because it still feels unfinished.
That’s the Zeigarnik Effect in action—your brain keeps the task “open” until it’s resolved, and perfectionism makes that resolution nearly impossible to reach. The result is that you stay stuck in the loop, wasting time and mental energy, even when the work is already good enough.
The good news is that just because your brain is wired this way doesn’t mean you have to stay stuck in perfectionism. There’s a smarter way to manage your time without feeling like you’re cutting corners. Let’s talk about what that looks like.
A Smarter Way to Manage Time as a Perfectionist (What You Need to Know)
If you’re a perfectionist, the idea of letting something be just good enough probably makes you a little uncomfortable. But the truth is, perfection isn’t what makes you great at what you do—progress is. The smartest accountants learn to manage their time in a way that works with their brain, not against it.
Here are six smarter shifts that can help:
Shift #1: Adopt the “Done is Better Than Perfect” Mindset
Perfectionists tend to think in extremes—something is either flawless, or it’s a failure. But most things don’t need to be perfect to be effective. Real progress happens when you focus on getting things done instead of getting them perfect.
For example, let’s say you’re preparing slides for a client meeting. You spend an hour tweaking fonts and adjusting spacing, even though the content is already solid. Instead, if you decided early on that your goal was clear communication—not visual perfection—you’d be done in half the time and still make a great impression.
Shift #2: Use the 80% Rule
Before you spend extra time on something, ask yourself, “Is this good enough to be effective?” If the answer is yes, it’s time to move on.
Let me give you my own example. Before writing my book and launching this podcast, I started The CPA MOMS Podcast about 6 years ago. Each week I would do the research, write out the show notes, and hand them to my husband for feedback. I jokingly referred to him as the editor.
I told him, “Just give me a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 and be honest.” The first time he gave me an 8 out of 10, I said, “Great! Nothing more needs to be done.” He was confused—“You don’t want it to be a 10?” I explained that I wanted the podcast to be sustainable, and trying to make every episode a 10 would be a waste of my time and energy.
Now, I use AI tools to analyze the show notes, and as soon as I see an 8 or above, I know it’s time to move on.
Shift #3: Time Block With Constraints
Perfectionism loves open-ended time. But when you set limits upfront, your brain is more likely to stay focused. For example, if you give yourself 30 minutes to review a report, you’ll avoid the rabbit hole of over-fixing details that don’t actually matter.
For example, one of my coaching clients would spend hours preparing month-end financials because she wanted every number perfectly formatted. Once she started blocking 45 minutes for prep, she found she was still delivering excellent reports—but without the mental and emotional drain of trying to make them look “perfect.”
Shift #4: Pre-Decide What’s “Good Enough”
Another powerful technique is deciding what “done” looks like before you even start.
If you’re writing an email, tell yourself: “One draft and a quick read-through, then I hit send.” This simple pre-decision keeps you from falling into the trap of rewriting the same thing five times and still feeling unsure.
For example, imagine you need to respond to a client’s question. Instead of crafting the “perfect” reply and second-guessing every sentence, decide upfront: “Two paragraphs that clearly answer the question, then send.” That decision alone can save you 20–30 minutes and help you feel more confident moving on.
Shift #5: Focus on High-Impact Work
Perfectionists often spend too much time on things that feel urgent but don’t actually move the needle.
That’s where The Decision Matrix comes in. It helps you prioritize based on impact—so your time and energy go toward what matters most, not what’s nagging for your attention. I go deeper into this in The Smarter Accountant Time Management Program, but even a basic shift in focus can make a big difference—especially for perfectionists.
For example, say you’re debating whether to spend another hour proofreading an internal memo or use that hour to prep for a client meeting that could result in new business. Perfectionism might tempt you to polish the memo, but smarter time management will direct you to the task that creates the biggest result.
Shift #6: Reframe Mistakes
The goal isn’t to avoid mistakes—it’s to stop fearing them. Successful people don’t obsess over perfection. They make decisions, take action, and learn along the way.
If you see every mistake as proof you weren’t good enough, you’ll stay stuck. But if you see it as part of the process, you’ll keep growing. Perfectionism might try to protect you from mistakes, but it often just keeps you from moving forward.
For example, one accountant I worked with used to dread sending out draft reports to clients. She didn’t want to be “wrong,” so she’d delay until every possible issue was resolved. Once she began reframing those drafts as a collaboration tool, not a final verdict, she felt less pressure—and clients appreciated the faster turnaround and opportunity to provide feedback.
These shifts make a huge difference, but change doesn’t happen overnight. So what does it actually look like when an accountant moves from perfectionism to a smarter way of working? Let’s take a look at a real-life example.
Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Better Time Management For a Perfectionist
I’ve worked with many coaching clients on better time management for perfectionists, but let me share one story of an accountant who was stuck in the perfectionist trap. Every email, every financial report—triple-checked. Then checked again.
They stayed late almost every night, trying to make sure everything was flawless, but no matter how much time they put in, it never felt like enough.
They were constantly behind, even though they worked harder than most people around them. There was always one more thing to fix, one more tweak to make. And because of that, their to-do list never seemed to shrink.
Even when they weren’t at work, they couldn’t shut their brain off. They felt guilty spending time with family because they should be getting more done. But at the same time, they were exhausted from working so much.
During coaching, we focused on small but powerful shifts—applying the 80% Rule, setting time limits, and learning to trust their own judgment. At first, it felt super uncomfortable. They worried that if they didn’t double-check everything, they’d make mistakes or disappoint someone.
But as they practiced, they started to see that letting things be good enough didn’t mean settling—it meant freeing up their time for the work that actually mattered.
And that’s exactly what happened. Instead of spending hours tweaking reports, they learned to stop when something was effective, not perfect. They started finishing important tasks earlier in the day, instead of scrambling at the last minute because they had wasted time on minor details.
They stopped rewriting emails five times before sending them. And guess what? Nothing bad happened. The quality of their work didn’t drop. If anything, they were getting better results because they had more time to focus on what actually needed their attention.
But the biggest win was that they got their life back. No more late nights obsessing over tiny details. No more bringing work stress home.
They actually enjoyed dinner with their family without their mind running through all the things they should be doing. And for the first time in a long time, they felt done at the end of the workday.
This kind of change doesn’t happen overnight, but it is possible. It starts with a simple shift in how you think about time, work, and perfectionism.
And that brings me to the key takeaway from this episode and one key question I want you to ask yourself.
Key Takeaway and Action Item
The key takeaway from today’s episode is that perfectionism isn’t helping you work better—it’s just stealing your time. The more you try to make everything flawless, the less time you have for the things that actually matter. The smartest accountants don’t waste hours on unnecessary details. They know when to stop, trust their work, and move on.
For this week, ask yourself: “What would happen if I let ‘good enough’ be enough?”
Perfectionism makes you believe that stopping before something is perfect means you’re cutting corners. But what if that wasn’t true? What if you could still produce high-quality work without all the overthinking, redoing, and second-guessing?
And here’s something most perfectionists don’t realize—it’s not just the time you waste while working, it’s the time you waste after working. If you end your day thinking, “I didn’t get enough done,” you’re going to feel frustrated or discouraged. And those emotions won’t fuel the kind of productive, efficient work you need the next day.
This is why I teach my time management coaching clients something called The After Model—because what you think and feel about your work at the end of the day directly impacts how productive you are tomorrow. If you keep telling yourself you should’ve done more, your brain will always believe you’re behind.
But if instead, you choose a thought like, “I made progress, and I’ll finish this tomorrow,” you’ll feel more focused and in control.
Perfectionists aren’t just hard on themselves while they’re working—they’re hard on themselves after the work is done. But shifting how you think about what did or didn’t get done will make a huge difference in how you show up the next day.
The reality is, most of the extra time you spend fixing things doesn’t change the outcome—it just drains your energy. What if you used that time to tackle more important tasks? Or better yet, what if you used that time to actually enjoy life outside of work?
Perfectionism might feel like it’s helping you do better work, but in reality, it’s just slowing you down. It leads to inefficiency, procrastination, and burnout, making it harder to stay on top of everything. And as we’ve seen, there’s actual brain science behind why it’s so tough to let go of perfectionism and move on.
But here’s the good news—you don’t have to stay stuck in this cycle. Smarter time management isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about knowing when good enough is truly enough and putting your time into the things that actually matter.
At the end of the day, your value as an accountant isn’t in perfect work—it’s in smart, strategic thinking. The more time you waste chasing perfection, the less time you have for high-impact work, for growing your career, and for actually enjoying your life outside of work.
Now, imagine what would happen if you finally gave yourself permission to move on. That’s where real productivity begins.
Pulling Back the Curtain
Pulling back the curtain for a moment…
Perfectionism has been a companion of mine for as long as I can remember. Even early in my career, I wore it like a badge of honor, especially working for the Big 4. I thought it made me better—more responsible, more dependable, more professional.
But over time, it stopped feeling like a strength and started feeling like a trap.
I remember staying late at the office, rereading the same email over and over, rewriting a single paragraph three times, just because it didn’t sound quite right.
And when I’d finally hit send, instead of feeling satisfied, I’d feel tense—like I had missed something, like I should’ve done more. That part was the hardest. Not the doing—it was the never feeling done.
And perfectionism didn’t clock out when I did. I’d come home to my family and my brain would still be spinning. “Should I have added that line to the report? Did I sound too direct in that meeting? Was that spreadsheet formatted exactly right?”
It took me years to realize that perfectionism wasn’t about high standards. It was about fear. Fear of judgment. Fear of being wrong. Fear of not being enough.
And it was stealing my time. Not just during the workday, but in the moments that were supposed to be mine.
That’s when everything started to shift—when I decided that I didn’t need to be perfect to be effective. When I stopped obsessing over the last 10% and started focusing on what actually mattered.
And the interesting thing is that nothing fell apart. I didn’t suddenly become sloppy or careless. If anything, my work got better. It became clearer, more strategic, more sustainable.
If this episode struck a chord and you’ve been thinking, “I need this kind of support,” fill out an application to work with me for July, August, or September are now open.
I work with a small number of accountants each quarter who are ready to stop feeling behind and start working smarter—not harder.
If that sounds like you, head over to www.thesmarteraccountant.com/application and fill out a quick application. We’ll take it from there.
And don’t worry if you’ve got summer plans—we can absolutely work around them.
And if this episode felt helpful, would you do me a favor and share it with another accountant? Perfectionism is everywhere in our profession, but it doesn’t have to be the standard anymore.
The truth is that you’re already smart, but this podcast will show you how to be smarter.