Are you a perfectionist or a good enoughist?

“There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over.”

— Jeff

This topic came up for me during a simple repair. Years ago, Jeff installed an exterior garage door LED night-sensing light. Sometimes, on entering the garage and turning on the overhead light we would hit the wrong switch and unknowingly turn it off. The next night the light is not on. To prevent this Jeff rewired the switch to be always on with both wires on the same switch pole.

There were times though when we wanted to turn the light off, for example, to reduce light pollution during a celestial event. As this was not a pressing repair, I put it off for years.

I decided to rewire the switch, a simple process if good enough is your goal. Turn off the breaker, pull out the switch, and reattach one wire to each pole. Bada-bing. Fifteen minutes with ten of those spent trying to find the right breaker.

Side Note: Don’t assume both switches in a two-gang wall plate are on the same circuit breaker. They weren’t. One was on the overhead light circuit and the second was on a GFCI circuit. Duh, Tom, it is an exterior fixture. Always test with a voltage meter. Two breakers to find, not one.

But what if you think, “Can I get it perfect?” As seen in the photo, the homebuilders sucked. The electrical box was improperly mounted too deep and at a slight angle, the top being further out than the bottom. Instead of using a box extender, they cut away the sheetrock and mounted the plate into the hole. Ugly. Poorly done. Their “good enough”. Well, it is a garage so I ignored it for years.

Having the luxury of retirement time and the desire for engaging projects, I went down the rabbit hole and purposely sought perfection rather than good enough.

After rewiring the switch, I went to Home Depot (first trip, remember, it always takes at least three trips) and bought a jumbo wall plate to cover the massive cavern the builders left. It was only available in white but covered the hole well.

I put the plate on the wall and realized the mounting screws were way too short to reach the improperly recessed box. So off to HD (second trip) for longer screws. Returned and then realized the light switch levers aren’t long enough to stick out of the plate.

OK, insert plastic spacers to bring the switches out further, an unequal number for each mount point because of the box misalignment.

Great, put the jumbo plate on and didn’t like the glaring contrast between the aged, dirty, almond colored switches and the bright, clean white wall plate.

Good Enough?

Off to HD for the third trip to buy two white switches. Returned only to realize that one of the switches is three-way. Back to HD for the fourth time. Finally, after several hours, perfection.

So, what is the point of this blog post?

I deliberately chose perfection when my natural tendency is good enough. I believe that, in general, perfection is the enemy of the good, making life miserable while seeking the unobtainable. Nothing is ever good enough. As a child, I was plagued by the need for perfection, often leading to inaction to avoid failure and missed opportunities.

In this case, I wanted to test my skills, correct a long-standing ugly area, and engage my mind actively so I chose to spend more time, effort, and money on the repair than was necessary.

But that isn’t the final lesson this taught me.

“Good Enough” is an arbitrary random point on a sliding scale between lousy and perfection.

“Good Enough” changes with your mood, available time, and energy that day.

Take pride in your work. Do it “right”.

Make your “good enough” the best you can. Move it up the curve, but know when to let go and accept “good enough” imperfection.

Afterword

Could I do better?

It is embarrassing the number of mistakes and poor thinking I reveal in these repairs. Obviously, on an initial inspection, the box was too deep, the switches on separate circuits, one switch was three-way, and there was a color mismatch. With forethought, I needed just one trip to HD. I did not take the time to think the problem out, just reacted as the repair evolved from simple rewiring to minor remodeling. An area for self-improvement. Instead of my four trips, Jeff would make two, as follows.

Jeff’s Handyman Rule

On the first trip to HD, buy half the store’s inventory.
On the second trip, go to the return desk.