to complete a task or not.....that is the question!

[minx1]

i guess it is better to complete a task poorly because it shows effort, but that is SO HARD for me to do. i am a perfectionist as well, especially when it comes to writing. i want it to be perfect and never fail to have the desired effect on the person reading it. When i am scattered or stressed, i don't think that is possible for me. (Probably largely due to self-doubt...but that's another issue.)

i was in your situation earlier this week. My PYL gave me a small writing assignment that was supposed to be completed within 24 hours. Well, between packing to move next Wed and still trying to maintain my life here, i didn't do it. i would sit down at the computer and look at a blank email form and the words wouldn't come....at least not the words He wanted. So what did i do? i wrote everything i was feeling to Him. Vented all my stress and frustration...with moving, with the assignment..etc. Sent the email, and then we discussed it. After we discussed all those feelings i was able to sit down and complete the task that He assigned.

i don't know if that was any help...but i hope things work out for you...

*hugs* thankyou soooo much HM
I knew there must be others who had been in a similiar position at some time or another. Afterall I know of many who have been punished or who have felt it necessary to hand out a punishment. I guess I was hoping some of those people would post too...maybe they will. Perhaps its difficult sometimes because it means publically highlighting a 'flaw'.*smile*
But really, I am so thankful for your post. On top of feeling so down on myself for disappointing him, reading some of the contributions was beginning to make me question my ablility to be a good submissive. So thankyou for making me realise its not just me.
I will say again though that I am grateful, genuinely, to everyone who has posted. I accept constructive feedback whatever it may be, whether I like it or not...afterall I asked for it!
This is the first time I have been punished since I began serving my Master 7 months ago and its the worst feeling in the world. To look for a positive in all this...well we discussed it and he dealt with it just as i thought he would, with a loving firmness. Once again this makes me realise how lucky I am to be his and strangely, if anything, I feel even closer to him for the experience....though its not one I intend to be repeating again.

 

[minx1]

i'm gonna print that out and post it on my monitor. i NEED to remember that!

*smile* yeah thanks Cat

I am partially reformed too. No where near as bad as I was....under his guidance, I know I am progressing all the time.
It wasn't a 'perfection' issue for me this time though....more that my brain was still cloudy from the previous weeks and I needed clarity to write what i had to. Anyway...my punishment is more than enough to clear my head

 

[Auraka6669]

For me on a personal level.

I will not set you up for failure. With that being said, there is no reason to "fail" an assignment.

Now I did say "fail". Done poorly? Perhaps, but as it's been said... if poorly is your best, then it isn't poor.

It's a very subjective thing, and boils down to the perfectionist in each of us.

Obviously if your PYL is a perfectionist, it may just be in fact better not to do it at all, then to give them anything less.

Now, I'm a perfectionist... yet I see my own flaws. Perfection is the illusion that I aspire to. Not what I am, and not the end all be all. Those are the limits that I place on myself, and I've been doing better at not holding people to my personal standards.

Great topic. Not under the best of circumstances... but everything happens for a reason.

 

[MasterPhoenix]

When I give rose an assignmet, I am always looking for her BEST EFFORT. As long as she has put forth her best effort, it gets accepted.... I make sure to give her enough time that she can ask questions and such as she is working on it.

She has a project that is due when I arrive there next month, that she is fighting with herself to do. Its not too difficult, and she can get it done in a couple of hours. I am hoping she does not wait until my plane is in the air.

As a writer myself, I do understand writers' block. One of my former Creative Writing professors always said that the cure for writers' block is to "Give yourself permission to write shit."|

Without knowing the particulars of your situation, I would have to say if I were your PYL, I would be disappointed that there has not been a true effort that got words, even not so good ones, on the page. (Granted, if it were me and the circumstances were made clear, I could consider that mitigating circumstances.)

 

[minx1]

When I give rose an assignmet, I am always looking for her BEST EFFORT. As long as she has put forth her best effort, it gets accepted.... I make sure to give her enough time that she can ask questions and such as she is working on it.

She has a project that is due when I arrive there next month, that she is fighting with herself to do. Its not too difficult, and she can get it done in a couple of hours. I am hoping she does not wait until my plane is in the air.

As a writer myself, I do understand writers' block. One of my former Creative Writing professors always said that the cure for writers' block is to "Give yourself permission to write shit."

Smile* thanks for that MP, I'll definitely be bearing that in mind for the future.

Without knowing the particulars of your situation, I would have to say if I were your PYL, I would be disappointed that there has not been a true effort that got words, even not so good ones, on the page. (Granted, if it were me and the circumstances were made clear, I could consider that mitigating circumstances.)

And yes in my situation he was disappointed and he did take into account what had happened and decided that a punishment was still in order.
and believe me I am feeling every second of it, rightly so. Its getting on for 4.30am here and I can't sleep *soft smile*

Thankyou again for your contribution

 

[the_pet]

Greetings All:

In my experience.....

No effort is unacceptable

some attempt should always be made

if your Master knows you well enough they will be able to detect the difference between a half-assed attempt to just get it over with and a geniune attempt to complete the task

(get to writing )



pet

 

[lil_slave_rose]

Hey everyone,

This may come out slightly garbled and it also may have been covered before....so apologies in advance.

My Master set me a task to complete, it was to write an account of something...a story if you like and he gave me a week to write it. The deadline is today.
The thing is I haven't done it. Possibly for a couple of reasons. The first being that I find writing very difficult...it's not something that comes naturally and I lack confidence in my writing skills. It doesn't help being a perfectionist...... I am my own worst critic. Having said that, I do understand that its all about pushing my limits and the last writing tasks he set me I struggled with, but thoroughly enjoyed and the sense of achievement it gave me was amazing. For the record, he loves my writing.

Secondly, for various reasons I had felt some difficulties in the period leading up to the task I have n't been in a particularly good frame of mind...although to be fair i have been much better this week, so i can't use that as an excuse.
It's just that it left me unable to find the words.....with a complete writers block lol

So I was left with a dilema to try and write something that wasn't very good or to not do it and face any consequences. I think you could probably count on two fingers the number of times I haven't completed something he has set me and even then I completed it with a small extension as i had, what he decided, was a valid reason.
I had also raised that I was finding it difficult during the week. I take any tasks he gives me very seriously and I absolutely hate disappointing him.

Anyway I'm not so much asking you what i should do as I know this is something that I will need to discuss later with my Master.

I am more interested in your thoughts generally, both subs and Dom/mes please.
What is your view.....whatever the case, is it better to complete a task poorly than to not complete it at all?
As a Dom/me would you be more annoyed/disappointed at a bad or half hearted effort, when you know your sub could do much better, than it not being completed at all? Or would you prefer them to 'be upfront' about the difficulties they were experiencing?

Thanks

i, of course, can only speak for mine and Master's relationship, but He would much rather me TRY to do the task, even if it comes out crappy, than to not do it all..by NOT doing it, or even attempting it, i am showing Him i'm not taking the task too seriously or Him for that matter. there have been plenty of times that i didn't want to do a task He had set for me, but i did it, and He was happy regardless of how it 'turned out'. just the fact that i did it, put effort into it, was enough for Him.....though that's not to say that sometimes He doesn't make me 're do' it to get it right.....

 

[lil_slave_rose]

and from the pyls...have you ever been in a situation similar to this?

Thanks again

yes i have, and i've done both. not completed the assignment and then completed some even though it wasn't exactly what He wanted. i must say i got punished for the ones i didn't complete or put ANY effort into, simply because i put no effort into it, instead i chose to make excuses as to why i didn't get it done. the ones that i got done but were not what He was wanting exactly, He explained it wasn't what He wanted so much and either had me do it over until i got it right..or...explained to me that next time it needed to be better...but i didn't get punished for those, as i had shown some effort was put into it and that i just couldn't get it right.....

 

[lil_slave_rose]

When I give rose an assignmet, I am always looking for her BEST EFFORT. As long as she has put forth her best effort, it gets accepted.... I make sure to give her enough time that she can ask questions and such as she is working on it.

She has a project that is due when I arrive there next month, that she is fighting with herself to do. Its not too difficult, and she can get it done in a couple of hours. I am hoping she does not wait until my plane is in the air.

As a writer myself, I do understand writers' block. One of my former Creative Writing professors always said that the cure for writers' block is to "Give yourself permission to write shit."|

Without knowing the particulars of your situation, I would have to say if I were your PYL, I would be disappointed that there has not been a true effort that got words, even not so good ones, on the page. (Granted, if it were me and the circumstances were made clear, I could consider that mitigating circumstances.)

*soft smile* i am working on it...i really am. it will be done before You get into the air, i promise....and i don't know why i'm struggling with it, it's not hard, it's not even something un-enjoyable at all..it should be something 'fun' but for some reason it's just not turning out that way. *shrugs* minx, sorry you had such a hard time with this, i feel your pain

 

[Becca007]

I would try my hardest with what time I have left because I wouldn't want to disappoint him or have him unhappy with me for any reason.

 

[minx1]

yes i have, and i've done both. not completed the assignment and then completed some even though it wasn't exactly what He wanted. i must say i got punished for the ones i didn't complete or put ANY effort into, simply because i put no effort into it, instead i chose to make excuses as to why i didn't get it done. the ones that i got done but were not what He was wanting exactly, He explained it wasn't what He wanted so much and either had me do it over until i got it right..or...explained to me that next time it needed to be better...but i didn't get punished for those, as i had shown some effort was put into it and that i just couldn't get it right.....

Thanks for that Rose.

And thankyou to everyone who PMd me too. If I haven't reponded yet....I will, at some point today. But thankyou for telling me that I am not alone....it means a great deal.

I probably made a real mess of explaining it...possibly because its almost impossible to. In that of course I wanted to do the task....I just couldn't.

But anyway, for me this over and if I can I am going to put it behind me.

As I said in looking for something good out of the whole thing....well it has reconfirmed to me just how fortunate I am to have Damian as my Master. I love him very much and have detested the feeling that I have failed him. The best thing that I can do now is to serve him properly, to my best ability and with the devotion that he not only commands as a Dom, but more than deserves as a person.