Setting our own standards can help us to work efficiently. But excessively high standards – perfectionism – can become a major difficulty at work. By seeking to always do better, we fail to meet deadlines. Our attention and energy get absorbed by a single task, while the rest of the work builds up. Project managers are familiar with this triangle, showing that work quality is constrained by cost, time and scope or, to put it another way, budget, deadlines and specifications.