Finding the Sweet Spot: How to Set Time Limits on Tasks for Better Productivity

Do you spend ages perfecting emails that should take five minutes? Or maybe you rush through everything and miss important details? You are definitely not alone in this struggle.

Why "Perfect" Can Be the Enemy of "Done"

We have all heard "take your time and do it right." But here is the thing, there is actually a point where spending more time doesn't make things much better.

Think about brushing your teeth. Two minutes gets them properly clean. But brushing for ten minutes? You are not getting ten minute teeth instead you might actually damage your enamel.

Research backs this up too. Studies show that for most tasks, there is an optimal time investment point (Shafran et al., 2002). Beyond that point, you get smaller and smaller improvements whilst creating bigger problems.

The Hidden Costs of Over-Doing

When we spend too much time on one thing, several problems pop up:

Missing other important stuff - Spending three hours on one email means three other tasks don't get done. Research shows people who set time boundaries complete 23% more tasks daily (Morgenstern, 2004).

Never finishing anything - When our standards become impossible to meet, we often give up completely rather than accept "good enough." This affects about 20% of people and really impacts work and study performance (Parker & Stumpf, 1995).

Increased stress - Trying to perfect every detail becomes overwhelming. Studies link time-based perfectionism with anxiety and depression (Antony & Swinson, 2009).

Missing opportunities - Whilst perfecting one thing, other time-sensitive chances slip away.

A Smarter Approach

The key is working out when something is actually important enough to warrant extra time, and when "good enough" really is good enough.

Research suggests asking yourself three questions (Beck et al., 2011):

• What actually happens if this isn't perfect?

• Will more time genuinely improve this?

• What else could I do with that time?

People who regularly ask these questions report better work-life balance and higher job satisfaction (Rice & Preusser, 2002).

Two Practical Ways to Set Time Limits

Option 1: The Gradual Approach

This works well if you have got deeply ingrained habits of over-doing things.

Track your current time - Notice how long you actually spend on tasks. Most people underestimate this by 25-40% (Buehler et al., 1994).

Reduce gradually - Cut back by 15-20% each week. This incremental approach has higher success rates than dramatic changes (Lally et al., 2010).

Check the quality - You will probably find that reducing time doesn't actually affect the outcome much (Wilson & Schooler, 1991).

Find your sweet spot - Everyone is different, so experiment to find what works for you (Sternberg, 1997).

Option 2: Set Standard Times

This involves finding out typical timeframes and jumping straight to them.

Ask colleagues/friends how long similar tasks take them. Most people overestimate how long others spend on the same activities (Kruger & Dunning, 1999).

Use timers to create firm boundaries. Time-bounded work actually improves focus and reduces anxiety (Cirillo, 2006).

Accept that it will feel weird initially, that is normal when changing any habit (Festinger, 1957).

Focus on finishing rather than perfecting. Research shows completion-focused people perform better long-term than perfection-focused ones (Dweck, 2006).

Making It Work in Practice

Use technology - Phone timers, calendar blocking, and time-tracking apps all help with building new habits (Mark et al., 2008).

Change your environment - Set up specific spaces for time-limited work. Remove things that trigger perfectionist behaviour, like endless opportunities to revise (Clear, 2018).

Shift your mindset - Embrace "progress over perfection." Remember that most people won't notice small imperfections anyway (Hayes et al., 2006).

Who Benefits Most?

Time limits particularly help:

• People who get stuck analysing everything

• Students spending excessive time on assignments

• Anyone feeling productivity anxiety

• People who miss deadlines due to over-preparation

Research shows this approach works especially well for people with perfectionist tendencies, ADHD, or anxiety (Antony et al., 2007; Barkley, 2015).

Getting Started

Pick one task that consistently takes you longer than it should. Set a time limit and see what happens. Most people discover their feared drop in quality simply doesn't happen.

New time management habits typically take about 66 days to become automatic, though this varies between people (Lally et al., 2010).

The Bottom Line

This is not about becoming sloppy or careless. It is about making deliberate choices about where to invest your time and energy for maximum impact.

The goal is sustainable productivity that leaves room for what actually matters, family time, hobbies, or simply having a manageable to-do list.

If this sounds like something you would like to explore. Book your first session here: https://therapy-reframe.selectandbook.com/

References

Antony, M. M., & Swinson, R. P. (2009). When perfect isn't good enough: Strategies for coping with perfectionism (2nd ed.). New Harbinger Publications.

Antony, M. M., Swinson, R. P., & McCabe, R. E. (2007). When perfect isn't good enough: Strategies for coping with perfectionism. New Harbinger Publications.

Barkley, R. A. (2015). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (4th ed.). Guilford Press.

Beck, J. S., Beck, A. T., & Jolly, J. B. (2011). Beck Youth Inventories for children and adolescents manual (2nd ed.). Pearson.

Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the "planning fallacy": Why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366-381.

Cirillo, F. (2006). The Pomodoro Technique. FC Garage.

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. Avery.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.

Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1-25.

Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134.

Lally, P., Van Jaarsveld, C. H., Potts, H. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.

Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 107-110.

Morgenstern, J. (2004). Time management from the inside out (2nd ed.). Henry Holt.

Parker, W. D., & Stumpf, H. (1995). An examination of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale with a sample of academically talented children. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 13(4), 372-383.

Rice, K. G., & Preusser, K. J. (2002). The Adaptive/Maladaptive Perfectionism Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34(4), 210-222.

Shafran, R., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (2002). Clinical perfectionism: A cognitive-behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(7), 773-791.

Sternberg, R. J. (1997). Thinking styles. Cambridge University Press.

Wilson, T. D., & Schooler, J. W. (1991). Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(2), 181-192.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice. If perfectionist tendencies significantly impact your daily functioning, consider consulting with a mental health professional who can provide personalised strategies and support.