Some People Never Learn So it Is Said
I can remember those days long ago, as a child hearing my mother say 'some people never learn'. She was mainly saying that about herself when forgetting or overlooking something.
All these years later, I can relate that to myself, particularly concerning my websites.
Throughout this entire year, I have wasted so much time. I am well aware of the reason for this loss of one of my most precious assets.
It is a fact that time is the most valuable asset we have. To waste time can have a severe effect on many aspects of life. Loss of time could be detrimental to health, finance, family life or to whatever is most important to a particular person.
In my case, creating content for my websites is continuously on my mind. I set targets, goals; write notes to myself, talk to myself severely, but very little activity takes place.
The entire reason is that I have not accomplished the level of design I desire for both my websites moved to a different theme. Consequently, I wear myself out by placing value on perfection.
Perfection, Excellence - Essential or not Essential?
The little bits here and there that I know are imperfect on my websites drive me to distraction. Out of that distraction comes almost nothing.
Way back, about two years ago, I wrote a post about perfectionism. In that post, I mentioned how Kyle encourages us to Take Action and to move away from Attempting to Be Perfect.
In spite of referring Kyle's training in that post, I've put it on the back burner during this entire year! Of course, I haven't done that intentionally. What I have done is let perfectionism again get the better of me.
Importance of Website Design vs Website Content
Design is essential. The more near to perfect design is, the more pleasing it is for the visitor.
However, without content or lack thereof, who is going to discover the published website?
Being dependent on SEO for results but ignoring the need for content is most unlikely to achieve the desired results of owning an affiliate marketing website.
I'm well aware that all good WAers abide by the excellent training provided to all members. So this is a lesson to myself to be more proactive with the creation of content.
Maybe, there will be one or two people who find my experience a reminder to put excellence or perfectionism on the back burner and concentrate on improving website traffic by regularly creating content.
With best wishes,
Recent Comments
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Good Morning Valerie,
Some time ago I settled on a certain outlay for my posts. I like the look of it and feel comfortable with it. The total has become a lot easier over time as I stick to the rules I have made for myself.
Having done this makes the writing of new posts a lot easier. The only thing I need is something of interest I can write about. The rest follows set rules and therefore saves a lot of time.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Good Afternoon Taetske,
Thanks very much for your comment.
I'm pleased you're not having the concerns such I'm experiencing with my websites.
As I've mentioned often, I was forced to change the theme I was so comfortable with due to it no longer being supported by its creator, Woo.
It's the little design things that annoy me and no doubt I need to get over it. There's no going back. I've spent too much money on WP themes within the past 12 months.
Due to the design annoyance, I am extremely behind with creating content. Things can only get better!
With best wishes _Valerie
I believe in the 90% solution working 90% of the time. It means I too am somewhat of a perfectionist which lends itself to procrastination...i.e. "I would publish but it is not good enough yet..."
So over the years, I have moved to the 90/90 formula above for sanity's sake (and so I get SOMETHING done!). There are times when perfection or darn near it is required, but most of the time, no...
Knowing the difference is also key. Flying a plane to 90% perfection is not good enough, as can be said for the air traffic controllers who keep planes from hitting one another...Not good jobs for me, BTW...
On the other hand, a word or a grammar error is not going to affect my life or the lives of others (most of the time - at least 90% not?)...So I have come to grips with "darn good" versus "perfection" (and these BOTH are in the eye of the beholder!)...
Cheers!
Dave : )
A very valuable comment, Dave. Thank you.
I like what you say about the 90/90 formula. It certainly wouldn't be adequate in flying a plane. For that matter, it's no longer adequate when driving a vehicle through a city or on a country road.
However, when it comes to creating content for publishing online, there can be a small percentage of error forgiven. I see it almost 95% of the times I read a publication by a professional author.
This is very different from my early years as a shorthand-typist in a Law Office where I was employed. Absolutely no room, or excuse, for error.
Although I had not recently recalled those times, no doubt the memories are well embedded in my mind which could be resurfacing at times and causing hesitation or procrastination.
Yes, you are right when it comes to taking shorthand in the courts. Those are most certainly times when getting it right is essential. That is a great example...People's lives are affected...
In my case...
I use to write and edit Army Regulations, Field Manuals, SOPs, contracts, etc. and it was very important to get it absolutely right. We had teams checking one another, put drafts out to the field for critique, etc.
Another period when grammar and citations/annotations counted a lot was while in college, university, and post-graduate/doctoral studies...Right down to the acceptable format being used...
I still remember clearly when as a young student, being a bit cocky about school in general (breezed through high school), getting shot down by a professor who bled all over one of my papers (LOTS of red, lines, circling of errors, etc.)...
Talk about a wake-up call hehe!
I've even suffered the consequences of not getting the words right too, monetarily and in stress...This was for certain business activities over a decade ago...Lost a ton of money...
There have been many instances upon reflection where the "getting it right" really was important...Perhaps that is also why these days I do not focus on that as much as in the past (for blogs)...
Now, with our current activities, there are contracts, statements of requirements that we are developing with clients, and etc. where things have to be really spot on...
We have independent contracts that have to spell out clearly what the expectations are for both sides of the contract signatories (provider and receiver).
I do put a lot of thought/past experience into these types of documents...
In all these cases ambiguity is not a friend, period - they can cost money and cause a lot of headaches. When I write these documents I am very attuned to the possible consequences if not done correctly...
I guess the more I think about the subject the more I see that I have not beaten the need for perfection completely! In any case, this is a really good topic...
Perhaps our discussion can shed some light on the subject for other members here and help them in some small manner!? Hope so...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi Valerie. I totally agree with you, content doesn't have to be perfect, but it helps if it is good. Jim
Hi Jim, and thanks very much for leaving your comment.
My thoughts are that content needs to be the best I can create and to ease off a little with the website design.
Tomorrow is a new day and I intend to start afresh.
Thanks again. Much appreciated.
It’s a balance for sure... can certainly understand where you are with this one as I’ve been there myself! Content is so important and so is design. It’s most certainly an interesting process.
It certainly is an interesting process balancing two important tasks.
Thanks very much, Judy for your words of support. I greatly appreciate them.
One of the toughest things, remembering the phrase “physician heal thyself” because despite knowing what has to be done we will often go off at a tangent or procrastinate...
However on this occasion I think you maybe being a little hard on yourself, ....my guess is your website looks great, content is killer but because you are a perfectionist you see fault...
Have a wonderful day Valerie, you are actually killing it...just maybe not quite as perfected as you would like 👍
Thanks so much, Cordelia for your words of support. What you have said is very helpful. It is true that I have been on a tangent and it's now time to move on.
I will start tomorrow with a new plan focusing on creating content.
So important Valerie. It's wanting everything perfect that slows us down. Me too. I decided that I would never learn if I didn't just jump in writing content and go back later to polish as I learnt more. But I still find myself drifting.
I tell my self I will just do a little of my post today and that seems to work.
Crazy huh
Have a lovely productive day
Lily 😊
Thanks so much, Lily, for your message. Well done to you with just jumping into the much-needed task of writing content. It definitely is the way to go.
With best wishes.
Enjoy the rest of your week :)
Valerie
Yes I agree. Content is very important to me. If I don't find what I'm reading interesting, then I'm going to push it aside and not read it. We must write content to hold our reader's attention or our hard work is for nothing.
Charlotte
So very true, Charlotte. I do the same as you with uninteresting content. When I write, I aim for the best quality I'm capable of. I've just got to set my mind on writing and less on what I'm not enjoying about the design of my websites.
Thanks very much for your comment.
Hi Valerie
It is our imperfections that make who we are. Our faults are our most endearing feature, as we define them, people will adapt to them.
It is better to aim low and do better than expected than aim high and be disappointed.
Do not be too hard on yourself. Remember even chess grandmasters make obvious blunders.
Hi Antonio, thank you so much for your encouraging words. Your message is very helpful and greatly appreciated.
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perfection runs at the pace of the snails:)
I must admit your website is very tidy Valerie:)
Where I am not a perfectionist, I am a functionalist and often settle for as long as it works.
Remember your only 1 article/review away from next red cent.:)
Sorry to hear about loosing your valuable asset. What did you mean by that?
Hope you flow again. Blessings
Rob
Thank you Robert, for your response to my post.
And, thank you also for your comment about my website.
The asset I refer to in the post is 'Time'. We all have the same amount of time each day, which is best spent wisely.
I have allowed myself to lose so much time due to my efforts in attempting perfection with my websites.
That time would have been better spent on creating content to improve the SEO value of my websites.
Anyway, we have a holiday weekend coming up!
Enjoy your long weekend, Robert.
Valerie