Are you trying to be perfect during this Lockdown?

The plan of being most of the time at home during lockdown is helping many people to work on their interests, to-do list of things, to learn new skills, to adopt new hobbies, and to polish the existing ones. Besides the flooding tips on the internet to spend your time wisely trying to be a perfect mom, perfect wife, or doing things perfectly like being a perfect cook, a perfect home-maker or maybe having a perfect body etc. these are all making people run towards perfectionism.

Mental health experts are emphasizing that it’s okay not to be perfect and not to have a plan during this lockdown. Any kind of compulsive behavior can make us prone to increased anxiety and other disorders. It is to help people through this phase that the psychologists are exclusively suggesting the need of online counseling that provides a way to consult them at the ease of being at home.

When friends and close circle of family members post challenges or “things we learnt” on social media, we do try to do something out of interest to prove ourselves. It’s okay if we just try giving it a chance. But, people who work from home, cook three meals, take care of children and family, and try keeping up their physical and mental health, if take up such challenges, it might affect them.

The thought of being unable to put their 100% effort in those things might affect their confidence in the remaining things. This would start as a simple bothering thought and would end up as a mental disorder. So, running after perfectionism, trying to imitate others, and building up competitiveness could only result in making their lives miserable.

Unrealistic goals and Self-Criticism

The perils of perfectionism during lockdown could throw you into unending web of problems. Let me explain how. Here, perfection is not about trying to be our best but it is about being prone to thoughts about achieving ideal standards and relentlessly trying to reach unrealistic goals.

This continuous self-check makes us so negative about ourselves and our work, while making us too obsessed with what others are doing and how they are living. This could sometimes turn into jealousy on them. Though you work hard and do remarkable things, you won’t be able to have satisfaction at the end. This leads to the risk of depression and poor mental health.

This perfectionism won’t even let you take the help to come out of emotional issues that you would be facing. It feels that you are admitting not being perfect when you seek help. But the thought of not being really perfect lowers your self-confidence. This will result in social disconnections and loneliness in perfectionists. Sleep problems and eating disorders could also follow. Running towards perfection all the time might result in injury and exhaustion. Sometimes it could also result in disordered behavior.

It is Okay

It is okay if you cannot be a perfect mom or a perfect wife, nothing happens if that dish didn’t turn up so well or if you couldn’t make your husband happy for once. It is okay if you could not finish that work allotted by your boss on time, when you had already completed more than half of it. It’s perfectly fine not to be perfect all the time, especially when you are at home during this lockdown time.

According to the studies, this wriggling worm of perfectionism bothers women more than men, all over the world. So, it is highly important for her to take care of her mental health, especially if she’s working from home. Millennial aspires to be perfect all the time. Don’t worry if your home is cramped and cluttered. The same place is home for the other family members too.

Delegate the work among them and let them know that it is also their responsibility to keep the house clean. Though we fail at being perfect, there’s no harm done. But we should never fail at being relaxed at least for a while. Try to spend to a minimum of one hour with yourself. Practice meditation. Notice small changes in the nature like a flower blossoming or a butterfly fluttering. Thank god for the life and time.

Practice slow breathing. Our mental health during lockdown is already fragile and social media is bombarding it with perfection that can reduce our emotional well-being. The news of escalating number of cases and deaths is bothering us on the other hand. Under these circumstances, it is really important to be away from unnecessary stressors and to live peacefully than perfectly.

Does that feel still persist? Are you experiencing some underlying worry all the time? Seek some expert help from the experienced psychologists who are empathetic, non-judgmental and friendly. Log on to Wellness hub and book an appointment, today.