I’m not fast. I’m not quick at doing most things.
However, I am deliberate and accurate.
One example of this is cooking. Even if I have one of those “20 minute meal” type recipes, it’s going to take me over an hour. I will wash, peel, slice, chop, and do every single thing with care and precision.
I tend to make a lot of soups, which include tons of chopped veggies, and it takes me forever. I peel the skin off carrots and potatoes perfectly. I don’t chop quickly because I’m not confident about my knife skills. I don’t like to cook with meat, but when I do prepare chicken, I cut out almost every single tiny imperfection (raw meat is so gross; I can barely handle it).
The other day, I was preparing brussels sprouts. I cut off the ends, removed the outer leaves, then cut them in half. But after removing the outer leaves, I would examine each sprout carefully and often found gross stuff on the leaves, so I would remove even more leaves. (You would’t believe the nasty stuff inside brussels sprouts! Like, living things! Sometimes I ended up throwing out the whole sprout.) The picture above shows how many sprouts I kept (in the strainer) and how much I threw out. Almost the same amount! Ugh. (Most of the stuff in the pile on the right are individual leaves, not full sprouts.)
HSP Relevance?
HSPs pay attention to details. We like to do things correctly and accurately, because….we care. But sometimes all this attention to detail makes me slow.
Another example.
It takes me a long time to leave the house. When my husband and I are preparing to go out for the day (for example, enjoying a Saturday), it takes me a few extra minutes to think through everything I may need. For example, my clothing: if we will be walking around for hours, I need comfy shoes, which means the shoes must work with my outfit, and I need to account for the weather/temperature, bring a hat, and maybe sandals in case I get hot… and so on. Sometimes I bring even more extra clothing in case I’m not sure if I’ll be hot or cold.
I need to think everything through and be prepared.
Paying close attention to detail and being accurate and thorough are great qualities, but there is a downside–speed!
In the workplace, I think the quality of my work is what made me successful. People could count on me to have things done well and on time. I liked that.
And since I pride myself in details and “doing things right the first time”, I am extremely hard on myself when I do make a mistake.
I do have to tell myself that–sometimes–it’s more important to get things done than have them be perfect. Sometimes you just need to move forward and get on to the next thing! I constantly remind myself of this!
I’m not slow at everything, mind you–I walk really fast on the sidewalk. But that’s just me. 🙂
Boy you always hit the nail right on the head! My detail-orientedness and precision has saved my jobs in the past and present, due to me being a bit tardy. The value of my skills outweigh being a few minutes late. I don’t cook, but I have worked at a sub shop before and every single sub i made had to look like the photos in the ads. Customers loved my sandwiches! I also don’t like meat even though I will eat it, seeing it raw completely disgusts me…like it’s someones body part. Ugh! I can totally relate to this and almost every single post! I don’t need to explain more cuz I believe you’ve said it all!
Thank you for the comment, Bethanie! All I can say is….preaching to the choir!! 🙂 😀
Meat IS someone’s body part. A dead animal.
When even seeing or touching dead animals carcass make you uncomfortable for your eyes, why is it okay for for your stomach?
Animals don’t deserve to die because of us. Please consider animals lives bigger than our tastebuds ❤
Im starting to wonder if I am a HSP. I relate so much to this ha! I’m an INFJ and mostly its emotional stimuli that triggers a dramatic response.
I’m not detail oriented. Details drive me crazy and I just don’t have time for them so why do I do things so slow. I’m ENFP they tell me.
This has been a struggle with me when doing certain things. When I was working as a medical coder I was always under intense stress. Not only do you have to pay attention to detail and code quality work (which is a strength of mine) but you are also pushed to code so many reports per hour. The pressure of deadlines would stress me out and drain me at the end of the day. I’m now a stay at home mom and plan on changing careers when I do decide to work again. Also when buying gifts for loved ones I will research and research to find the perfect gift. Or planning for vacation. I want to make the best of my time with the best deal, so I spend HOURS looking into things. Wish I could find a job that is more about quality and creativity than quantity and deadlines. 🙁
Haha, I can most definitely relate to that. When I was in primary school, we didn’t get marks for our school performance in the different subjects, we received a written report every 6 months.
A number of times during these 4 years, my teacher wrote that I always fulfilled my tasks very thoroughly but usually much slower than my classmates. If not that, then she wrote how much I disliked unfairness and that I was always involved in resolving conflicts between others. HSP hooray! 🙂
This is totally me! It’s how I’ve been fired from at least 2 jobs. Too slow!! Precision wasn’t appreciated enough in those jobs. I tried to speed up but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it consistently. I can’t bear to make mistakes. I have learned to settle for less than perfect. At least that was a step in the right direction 🙂
Yep! Same here :/ Many upsides but the downside of being slow and unaware of time passing is a drag. I just spent hours making a stinking online grocery list, that I’m having delivered because, you guessed it, no time, lol, I’m making a few bulk things and new things and I’m very careful about reading ingredient labels, had to google some info, read a 100 recipe tips and reviews, manage budget, check sales, meal plan, make decisions, etc, now it’s 6am and I haven’t gone to bed 🙁 My husband thinks he does everything better than me because he’s faster and thinks I’m a lousy SAHM because I never manage to get it all done 🙁 but he is always impressed with the work I do get done, but I’m afraid that’s not enough for him, he’d rather I do more less perfectly, I just…. can’t, it’s not who I am and I get down on myself for it. So thank you for letting me know I’m not alone and giving me the opportunity to share.
Today I spent 5 hours cleaning the darn bathroom. I Disinfected each item inside it with alcohol, cleaned the tub and tiles twice, cleaned a gap in between the tub and the sink, set up a plastic cover for the gap so that water won’t get in. Cleaned inside the sink cabinet and disinfected all the products in there scrubbed the toilet a few times, wipes the tiles beside it. Wipes the medicine cabinet and disinfected all the items inside of it. Then moped. By the end of it I still wasn’t satisfied and felt it was quite clean enough and like it did smell quite fresh enough. Not happy about the results. lol I need help.
I relate to all of this. I think it is related to what I’m pretty sure is some depression I have!! Just screwed up another trial online english teaching class by going over the time more than my first trial!
I can relate to this..haha…i’m slow too and when I cook, it takes me an hour to finish the preparation like peeling and slicing, and another 30 min. For cooking. When I’m under pressure I can’t give my best. 🙁 Sometimes I questioned myself maybe I’m stupid and being slow is my biggest burden to me. I also got low scores on my exam. I hope I can find a way to get this through 😅
I’m with you, sis! Thank you for sharing. 🙂 I’m so glad there are wonderfully well-spoken/written humans like you exist. I 100% empathize with you!
It’s like reading whatever I’ve been pondering for the past few months. I cook most meals but it takes me hours to do even the most basic stuff. I’m practicing to do stuff quicker but let’s see…