I play speed chess with a three-minute clock. I lose more games by running out of time than by making bad moves. I’m winning the game. The clock hits zero and it’s over.
The best move is worthless at zero seconds.
I’ll see a strong move but spend 40 seconds thinking through whether there’s a stronger one. Sometimes there is. I find it with two seconds left. The search for the “best” move cost me the game.
Speed chess beat the perfection out of me. Hundreds of losses. Losing a game you were winning changes you faster than any mantra about perfectionism.
In a longer game you can think three moves ahead. You have slack. In a three-minute game you play by instinct. You trust your preparation. You move.
The same thing happens in work. A post that takes 45 minutes to write and 3 hours to polish. A product that works but isn’t yet “beautiful.” An email that communicates the point but could be tighter.
“Perfection” is expensive. Every hour you spend polishing one thing is an hour everything else sits waiting.
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What’s one thing you could ship this week by trusting your first instinct?
