Teens: How do you learn to cope up your anxiety? Activity 15 & 16

Source: The Anxiety Workbook for Teens by Lisa M, SCHAB, LCSW

Activity 15

Perfectionism is a way of thinking that often raises our anxiety level. Since complete perfection is not actually possible for anyone to achieve, the more you try to be perfect, the more anxious you will feel because you will continually fall short of your goal.

 People often think that they are doing a better job if they try to do things perfectly. Actually the opposite is true. Perfectionists tend to achieve less in the long run because of their inability to complete tasks and make final decisions. In the excessive amount of time the perfectionist spends correcting and refining the “unacceptable”, the non perfectionist can accomplish twice as much work that is acceptable.

Can you think of a time when trying to do something perfectly actually caused you to do worse job? If so, describe it here.