I think half-arsing is fine if you're able to make a reasonable judgement of what you can and can't half-arse. It's certainly better than relentless perfectioni

I think half-arsing is fine if you're able to make a reasonable judgement of what you can and can't half-arse. It's certainly better than relentless perfectionism since this tends to mean you leave a lot of things undone - even things you should have done. Still, and this is where it's going to be hard to avoid sounding like a snob, the implicit assumption here is that everybody is qualified to decide what they can and can't half-arse. Manifestly this isn't so: - If you half-arse redecorating your bathroom by painting it with plain old matt emulsion paint rather than dedicated bathroom paint, and refloor it with laminate flooring that isn't water resistent, it's not going to last: the paint will peel and the laminate will, well, delaminate - If you half-arse building a concrete block wall by not putting in footings it will one day blow over in a strong wind - If you half-arse electrical wiring you create a serious hazard and risk injury both to yourself and others, as well as the possibility you may burn your house down The problem is that plenty of people half-arse all of the above along with many more things that are immensely stupid to half-arse. Hence schools drum into people that it's important to do things "properly" because the world is rammed full of people who can't reliably decide when it makes sense (and is safe) to cut corners.