There is a difference between good and shoddy work. It’s a one degree difference. One definition of perfect is: "excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement." Being perfect, complete in ones projects sometimes is the difference of a few minutes well spent.
- Did you take out a piece of paper and think through the project?
- Did you anticipate the pitfalls and identify the solutions?
- Did you take a break after the initial rough-draft of the project and reflect on the process?
- Did you have someone review for errors? Spelling, grammatical, graphical, linkage?
- Did you review the project as well looking for both errors and points of improvement?
- Did you come away from the project with a sense of satisfaction that you did your best?
These are really simple suggestions, but doing your best is not neglecting the mundane elements of a project.
Today, I took a different look at the tasks and projects on my plate. I considered how to reconnect the dots between like projects for development that would accomplish multiple tasks: One set of code for multiple HTML Email, one Flash kiosk concept for multiple presentations, one reporting mechanism for multiple statistical reports, one code revision for multiple applications on the web. Efficient work gives me time to do a more effective job with strategic goals in mind. In the end, I will produce better work in less time because I thought through how to reuse code and design. It is the little things that make the difference.