Attention to detail

Small details matter. Even the annoying, insignificant ones.

One thing I was always bad at when I was younger, was attention to detail. Small typos, unstraight lines, neatness, symmetry, consistency and anything else that might register as a concern to a perfectionist. I mean, who has the time? Surely effort is better spent on the big details, right?

Well, no as it turns out. Over the years I've learned the hard way that all these little details add up. Being asked to fix that really obvious typo for the third time gets tedious. Seeing a co-worker have to navigate your code you never bothered to refactor or a sea of Photoshop layers you never bothered to rename is just plain embarrassing. When you compare your work to others who you admire and realise yours is the messy one, those minor imperfections suddenly become glaring, hideous, amateurish flaws.

Ignore enough small details and your work eventually adds up to "okay" at best, but more likely second rate. Because of these repercussions, over the years I started to address many (unfortunately not all) of these shortcomings. Bit by bit they evolve from repeated annoyances I notice and have to address, to habits I instinctively fix straight away before eventually being conditioned out of my system completely and just being done right first time. Et voila, no more time is actually lost on that stupid little thing and my work is better as a result.

Be attentive to detail. Slow down and review what you've done before diving into the next thing. Don't settle for just "okay" and don't expect others to either. Your work will be much better for it and will stand out from those who took the quick and easy route.

#adventblogging post 12 of 24 see the rest.