Hi Reader,

Do you believe in perfection?

I don’t believe perfection exists or could ever be achieved.

So I was really surprised when, back in 2014, the counsellor handed me a form and I hit a high score for perfectionism.

Not only that, but a high score for Maladaptive Perfectionism.

In practice it meant:

• Not starting a task if I was not sure the result would achieve a high standard.
• Not delivering what was promised because it is still "not good enough".
• Overthinking the work (read, think and design) rather than doing it.
• Not celebrating achievements because they felt mediocre.
• Avoiding professional relationships with other people. (Did you know there is a correlation between perfectionism and social anxiety?)
• Decreased confidence and perception of self-worth.

It was no surprise I quit my PhD in the following year...

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So when I decided to create my Idea Management system in 2021 I was already in my journey to solving that BIG problem.

I wanted a system where I could properly organise all my sources, thoughts and outputs.

I also wanted to learn all the tags that were the ‘right fit’ for what I wanted to organise.

And I wanted to use the best app for the job, with any available automations that could enable my work.

I wanted my system to be perfect!

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Do you see any problem with that?

Yes, I was falling on the same trap AGAIN! 🤦‍♀️

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Fortunately by that time I was already aware of my perfectionism so, rather than getting trapped by it, I went to battle ⚔️

I used that opportunity to explore how my system could help keep my perfectionism in check. I came up with:

• The PKM mindsets that would help me avoid perfectionism (e.g. Notes as Pieces of Understanding; Create First, Organise Later)
• Methods that allow me to put these mindsets into practice (e.g. freewriting, one-pass reading strategy)
• A framework to fight perfectionism during the whole process of Idea Management (that’s what I call the Agile Idea Management Framework)

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Then I mapped out the apps that would definitely not work for me (Evernote, Notion) and those that I could try.

I started my Idea Management in Obsidian, then later on I found that Scrintal made my (personal) flow much easier. So I made the switch.

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I am not sure if it is at all possible to “get rid” of perfectionism just by wishing that it will go away.

If you are a monk with high levels of self-awareness, who can stop perfectionism in its tracks as soon as it starts influencing your mind, perhaps you could.

But for the rest of us, living a crazy busy life… it is not that simple.

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So the real secret is:

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There is where my system is at nowadays and that’s what I teach at the mentorship programme in the Prolific Researcher community.

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If you are a (recovering) perfectionist like me, I wish you happy experiments and that you find the system that works for you.

Oh! And if you are curious, here is the form that I filled at the counsellor’s office.

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Talk to you soon.

Until then, take care.
Bianca

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P.S.: I have super exciting news coming up so you may receive a bit more emails from me next week. All of them with valuable content (I hope) but you will also have the chance to mute these emails if you wish.