Decide When Perfectionism Is Helping vs Harming

You have high standards and genuinely cannot tell if they are driving good work or quietly stalling it. This applies a two-question test: does the context actually demand this quality, or is it a standard you impose regardless? A framework instead of the usual unhelpful advice to just lower your standards.

<context>
You identify as someone with high standards and are wondering whether your perfectionism is driving quality or holding you back. You want a clear framework rather than generic advice to lower your standards.
</context>

<task>
**Apply this two-question test to your current situation:**
1. Is the quality level you are pursuing actually required by the audience, the stakes, or the context? Or is it a standard you are imposing that no one else is asking for?
2. Is the time and energy spent on perfecting this returning value, or is it beyond the point of diminishing returns?

**Then categorise:**
3. If both answers suggest the standard is required and the effort is returning value: this is healthy high standards, not perfectionism
4. If one or both suggest the standard is self-imposed and the effort is not returning value: name the specific place where the standard is becoming a constraint

**Practical step:**
5. Identify one current task where a good enough standard would still meet all real requirements and name what you would do with the time saved
</task>

<output_format>
- Two-question assessment: one paragraph each
- Category verdict: one sentence
- One task to apply the standard to: one sentence with the time saving estimate
- Length: 250 to 350 words
- Tone: rigorous and practical
</output_format>