Terley, sometimes I too rush certain steps, and there's a very nice method to avoid that.
I find that once you start enjoying every stage of pixeling, you simply don't rush anything anymore.
Maybe you should build a larger part of your image while in laying-out mode. Experiment a lot with which colors fit best, and scribble every highlight and detail, don't leave it to 16x zoom hardcore pixel stage. Laying out is much more fun if you're making a palette at the same time, but oh well.
Easier said than done, tho.
Seeing how I hadn't laid a pixel in a while, I desperately wanted to pixel something simple and lighthearted, something I would enjoy without any difficult lighting situations or tough decisions. I made this avatar, started an iso-city house, almost finished a larger picture, and made that palette-challenge mobster, and I just keep finding myself too involved and challenged whatever I do. No challenge probably means no value, but I keep on trying to do the wrong thing.
And it shows. Take a look at that mobster guy. When looking at other entries, I thought 'hey, this should be fun'. Once I finished designing the face, and 'solved' several critical lighting bits, I just rushed the cigar smoke and glow and hair and whatnot. The end result is rather dull. Now at least I have a good example of a bad thing
As a more concrete advice, try to stick a grey or blue on the left side of the face (our left), next to the hariline on the big patch of mid-fleshy color, as a sort of secondary light. It would freshen the pic considerably. Maybe there's a better color for the job, I'm just speaking off the top of my head.