How Self-Doubt Leads To Slower Work

When many people take on a major project that lasts days, weeks, or even months, they have a tendency to take their time throughout the project, thinking that they must slow down their work in order to complete it at a high level.  They doubt their own ability to work at a quick pace and still complete that work at a high level.

While you do have to slow down some work in order to complete it at a high level, many times, people will slow it down to such an extent that they become less productive than they could be, which will hamper their profitability and even their credibility and reputation.  Many people associate the idea of having to work slowly throughout a major project because if they quickly finish off a task or an entire project, they fear people will think that they didn’t put enough focus on it, they worked haphazardly on it, etc.  If they work slowly throughout the project, they won’t be accused of not putting enough effort or putting enough attention to detail on it.

The problem with this way of thinking is that people use it as a crutch or excuse to work slower on tasks than they really need to to still complete the work at a high level.  Whereas at one time, employers, customers, and target markets cared more about the quality of the project rather than the time it took to complete it, nowadays in our content-driven, fast-paced world, people are looking for both quality and efficiency.  

Businesses need quality content and quality products created efficiently on a regular basis in order to survive and thrive.  Those employees, independent contractors, and entrepreneurs that take too long to complete quality work will likely be replaced by those who can complete that same level of work at a faster pace, as it’s the only way businesses can gain an advantage over their competitors in this fast-paced world.

Therefore, if you start doubting your ability to do quality work quickly, you will make yourself less efficient than you could be, which will damage your credibility, reputation, and profitability.  The key is to remain focused on what you are doing and be confident in your ability to perform and complete high-level work at a rapid pace.  There is a reason businesses, customers, and target markets turn to you to perform the work they need done or purchase the products you produce- you are a credible expert in your field, and you need to believe in your own ability to complete tasks and projects at a high level in an efficient period of time to be as successful as you can be.