How a Perfectionist Teammate Taught Me the Importance of Boundaries in Productivity

Working with a perfectionist is like running a marathon with a lead weight strapped to your ankle

You can be as productive as you want, but if you don’t have the right team you will still work when you don’t want to and do more.

A few years into my studies, I figured out productivity, working part-time, studying, and being the president of a student organization. I managed everything well and had time blocks for each life priority.

The next semester comes around and I got teamed up with a person I don’t know yet. He seems nice, motivated, and ambitious like me.

What I didn’t know at the beginning: he is a perfectionist and does his tasks at the last minute.

This was the opposite of my structured life. I had limited time for my uni projects, so I usually plan my weeks in time blocks. Those are dependent on my work and my student organization.

Here are the mistakes I made and what I could’ve done differently:

I had the task of putting it all together at the end of every week

I had to wait until he finished his stuff to put them together to present weekly at our reviews.

This resulted in me being done with my tasks days before and then waiting until the evening before the weekly review to finish when he was finished.

It annoyed me because I wanted to get it done quickly in my time blocks and then be done with it.

It resulted in me working at 10 pm every week: tired, unproductive, and annoyed.

Even though there should be some kind of teamwork, I would’ve preferred to separate the tasks and work more independently.

We finish our tasks whenever we want to, and then individually put the results together in a presentation file.

If you work with someone doing their tasks late, give them the final to-dos of putting them together.

I didn’t set boundaries

Because of this project, I learned to turn off my phone at 10 pm. Whatever people write to me afterward can be discussed the next day.

I don’t like working late because I know my productive time is in the morning. I make more mistakes, and I’m not productive.

That’s why I’m writing this at 7 am before work.

The lesson I learned here is to set boundaries from the beginning. I know we want to be nice when we don’t know the other person. As a woman, I don’t want to be a burden or “be difficult”.

But to keep a healthy relationship to your teammate, your health and your other priorities, you need to be a bit disliked and set boundaries.

Clear communication is important and it’s what I didn’t do.

I wanted to be liked by everybody, (which is impossible) and it kept me from prioritizing myself.

If he wanted to do a night shift before the review to make it perfect, I went to bed and finalized it in the morning. That’s the boundary I set.

My priority was my sleep, and I definitely set my boundaries there.

I didn’t try to find someone else

At the beginning of the semester, we didn’t have time to get to know all the other available teammates. Or I should have tried to find a compatible friend to do it with me.

If it’s possible and the project is important, I recommend doing speed-dating to find a compatible partner. Don’t accept the first one!

Be a little picky because it influences your life, productivity, and time!

With the other semester projects I had to do during my studies, I made sure to do them with friends I knew I worked well with.

If you don’t have anyone yet, then I recommend you go to networking events or just try the semester projects with other people.

For me, it worked out to do the project with a stranger, but some other team split up because of differences or 1 person gave up. They failed the course or did it alone, which is a lot of work.

Not taking breaks and getting to know each other

I could’ve invested some time in getting to know him and taking breaks together. It takes me some time to warm up with someone and it just wasn’t my priority so I didn’t find time.

It was only a relationship for 1 purpose: doing a good project together.

We actually have a word for that in German: Zweckbeziehung. A relationship based on a specific purpose (and not love or friendship).

I missed the opportunity to extend the work relationship because I had other priorities.

Every person should be seen as a possible friend in the future.

Conclusion

Your team can make or break your productivity.

The most important lesson I learned is to be honest and set boundaries. My time is valuable, and I don’t want to do twice the work because I’m productive and structured.

I apply this lesson in my relationship too. My partner isn’t as structured as I am, and he needs more time for everything. I’m finishing tasks quickly because I want to do other things.

Because I trust my partner and we are a team, I communicate my boundaries clearly and accept his slower pace. I’m not doing more because I’m already done with my part.

It took some time to get used to, but with trust, patience, and communication, everything is possible.

The mistakes I’m sharing help you have better teamwork and project time. If you can’t choose your team, you can set boundaries, clearly communicate, and accept the other person.