Trying to be perfect yourself can make you crazy. Trying to get the people around you to be perfect will make them crazy. And, it's not worth it, either. Consider these ideas to practice "selective perfectionism."

First, consider how much time it "costs" to be perfect. Imagine that getting a task to 90% (of perfect) takes one unit of time (and that unit might be an hour, 6 hours, or 3 days). If you are going to take that task to "perfect," or 100%, then it will take you another whole "unit" of time. Do the math. It takes twice as long to do something perfectly as it does to do it to a 90% standard.

There are times you (and those around you) need to work toward perfection..and other times, you don't. Tasks that probably need to be as close to perfect as humanly possible include:

Surgery. You don't want your doctor to do a 'pretty decent job' of getting that organ repaired. You are hoping for the best (100%) that your surgeon can possibly do.
A budget you are submitting for a federal grant. Granting agencies want to see budgets that add up perfectly, not 'pretty close.'
The scoring of SAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT, and other high stakes tests and exams. Too much is riding on these tests for students and their families not to expect that they will be scored at the 100% accuracy level.
Preparing for a major speech, address, or interview. There are situations in any of these categories that don't need to go all the way to 100%, but then there are the ones that deserve every bit of attention and practice you can possibly do. I'm sure you have a few others, but here are some that do NOT need to be taken to perfect (and where 90% will probably work fine):

Most memos. Just get the information in there, check for spelling, content, etc. and send that memo on its way. People need the the correct information in a format where it's accessible. They shouldn't be oohing and aahing over the incredibly decorative memo that you sent.
Cleaning your house (no matter who is coming over). If the person coming over cares more about how your house looks than seeing you, then don't invite them next time.
Creating a handout for a class you are teaching. Students need accurate, useful information that supports their learning. You can do that without spending twice as long to find the cutest clip art and the snazziest fonts and adjusting the margins 10 or more times.
Putting on make-up and fixing your hair. Look professional. You can do that at the 90% level.
Organizing almost anything. The idea is to have items where you need them when you need them and to be able to find them, but having books, files, spices referenced and cross-referenced....that's over the top.
Your holiday letter (or other greeting cards, etc.) Communicate and send or mail. Perfectionists make it harder than it is (because it takes twice as long).

If you are a perfectionist (and you might know this to be true--or just ask those around you), then take this article's ideas to heart, please.

I always tell people in my workshops that if you try to take everything to 100%, then you won't have the time really to take the most important things to "perfect."

Practice selective perfectionism, please.

Educators have the most influential positions in our society - and need every bit of support that can be mustered. Two resources that will help increase educators' sense of peaceful, predictable productivity are Meggin's weekly emails:

**Top Ten Productivity Tips http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay http://www.KeepingChaosatBay.com

(c) 2008 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, and consulting.

If you are planning to attend med school you are going to have to take the medical college admission test. This may very well be one of the most important tests you will ever take. You may be able to improve your score with a MCAT practice test. Practicing tends to make you more at ease with the test questions. Feeling less intimidated by the test may help you to do better.

It is important to become familiar with the various question types that will be on this test. This is a time to test and being familiar with the test questions may help you to get them all answered within the time limit. This is one of the reasons why practicing might help you to get a better score. A better score is important because it will help you to have more options when it comes to choosing a school. Good scores in some cases also lead to scholarship opportunities.

Quite a few different types of questions will be found on this test. Verbal reasoning is one of the test question types that you will find. In this section you will be given a passage to read and questions to answer about the passage. This is reading comprehension and that is something that you have likely been tested on before. For that reason that most people do not struggle when this section of the test. It does not hurt to practice it anyway.

Another section of the tests that you will come in contact with its physical sciences. This section of the test also gives you passages to read that are similar to what you would find in a medical journal or a science journal. There will be questions regarding these passages that are intended to gauge how well you understand new concepts as they pertain to the sciences. These questions will normally be about physics and about chemistry. Practice questions may help you to brush up on the subjects.

Another section that you will run into will be on biological sciences. This section will be very important for medical professionals and med students alike. You will be using biological science everyday in medical school and in your career. This section consists of 52 questions and all of them are multiple choice. Like all of the other sections of the test this section is timed. If you do not answer all of the questions within the time limit they will be left blank.

Another section of the test will be the writing section. Like all of the others this section is timed. And these questions are not multiple choice though they are essay questions. There will be only two essay questions in this section. You will have 60 minutes to complete your essay responses. This section is intended to determine how well you can communicate complex ideas. It is also intended to gauge your writing skills.

Taking practice tests can be quite beneficial. Most people believe that they have increased their score from taking practice tests. You can improve your score with a MCAT practice test too. Even if you only improve your score by becoming familiar with the questions so that you feel more comfortable it is still an improvement.

To help you further prepare for your MCAT Test, please check out our Free MCAT Practice Tests.

Scott Mansfield, Test Editor for Test-Guide.com

Free Test Prep from Test-Guide.com - Test-Guide.com provides free test prep for MCAT, GMAT, GRE, GED, CDL, GMAT, TOEFL exams and more. Helps test takers improve their scores. Find out test dates and how to interpret your test scores. Includes free practice exams, test taking tips, and study guides.

With the tremendous increase in the number of medical aspirants it became extremely difficult for the institutes to select the right candidates from the crowd. Hence, the system of having a common medical entrance test was introduced. This entrance test came to be known as the MCAT or Medical College Admission Test that is now mandatory for getting admission into any reputed medical institute in the United States.

The MCAT is a comprehensive examination that assesses every aspect of the individual's aptitude for medicine and is hence difficult to crack or get a good score in it. In order to help students in enhancing their MCAT scores, several MCAT practice tests have been developed to prepare the students for the pre-eminent medical examination.

MCAT Practice Test

There are several practice tests that help the candidates to prepare themselves thoroughly for the forthcoming examination. The important features of the MCAT practice tests are as follows:

1) The MCAT practice tests usually comprise of the forms and papers of previous MCAT examinations.

2) The MCAT practice tests also comprise of extended sections of each of the six categories, namely, Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample and Biological Sciences. The practice test includes all the questions, which are expected or even unlikely to appear in the examination.

3) Usually, candidates can get the questions from the question papers of the mid-90s up to 2000.

4) The MCAT practice tests are usually available with solution sets or answers to the questions, which is of huge benefit for the students.

5) MCAT practice tests are available in both the formats, namely, online version and paper version.

Need for MCAT Practice Tests

Taking the MCAT practice tests are of utmost important if the candidate wishes to get admitted to a reputed medical institute. The advantages of solving the MCAT practice tests are as follows:

1) The most important advantage is that it prepares the candidate to handle every kind of question and equips him with the solutions for every possible problem that may arise in the examination.

2) Since the practice tests include the questions from the previous MCAT question sets, the candidate has enough time to get used to the format and difficulty level of MCAT.

3) Solving different practice sets allows the student to notice the changes in the MCAT format that may have occurred over the years. This prepares him to expect any kind of changes in the forthcoming MCAT examination.

4) The advantage of having both the versions of MCAT practice sets is that it allows the individual to take the test anytime in any format of his choice. This provides great convenience to the candidates.

These are some of the major features and advantages of MCAT practice tests. These tests play a huge role in enhancing the MCAT scores of the candidates.

Allan Wilson owns and operates http://www.medical-school-entrance.com where you can find many medical exam tips. Medical School Entrance Exams