The Academic Imperfectionist

Would you rather boil your head than start the day by making a task list? Does the idea of identifying your core values make you feel faint? Are you terrified to make plans because - what if you get them wrong? You're not alone. Your anxiety about writing down what you need to do and what's important to you is understandable, but misplaced. Join The Academic Imperfectionist for the low-down on all the things you have to gain from embracing imperfect planning.Find the 'Identify Your Core Values' exercise on the Resources page of The Academic Imperfectionist website.Here are a some other list-based resources I find useful:The One Thing website has some really useful exercises for long-term planning and prioritisation - I especially like the 411 and the GPS.Try the bullet journal method for making effective task lists. You don't need a special journal to do it (although if you really want one, you can buy one). Find instructions about it here.And of course, for getting clear about exactly what sort of life you want to be living, and working out how to get there, go listen to #5: Bitch, do you even dream? and #6: Live the dream! You can find the exercises mentioned in those episodes - the Wheel of Life and the Ideal Life Instruction Manual - on the Resources page.

Dr. Rebecca Roach discusses the importance of creative fermentation in writing processes, emphasizing the power of non-writing activities to enhance creativity. The podcast highlights the significance of taking breaks, navigating self-doubt, and promoting mental fermentation in a busy life.

Yeah, I know - you should be writing. Same here. Not writing enough is one of the worst sins a researcher can commit - and we're all committing it almost all of the time. But what if we've got 'not writing' all wrong? What if those procrastinating hours you spent trying to decide which font to use and what colour to paint your bedroom were actually important parts of your writing process? What if, without plenty of time spent not writing, you wouldn't be a writer at all - at least, not one that anyone would want to read? Shut that laptop and let your imperfect fairy godmother blow your writing guilt out of the water. Here are a couple of summaries of the research on the role of day-dreaming and mind-wandering in creativity:Kaufman, S. B. and Singer, J. L. 2011: ‘The origins of positive-constructive daydreaming’, Scientific American, 22nd December.Kaufman, S. B. and Singer, J. L. 2012: ‘The creativity of dual process “system 1” thinking’, Scientific American, 17th January.And here's the Adam Grant article mentioned in the episode:Grant, A. 2016: 'Why I taught myself to procrastinate', New York Times, 16th January.

Do you have a battle going on inside every time you try to achieve something important - a battle between the part of you that's trying to do well and your inner saboteur, who is determined to mess things up for you? Have you ever wondered why you work against yourself in this way? I mean, it's exhausting, right?The answer, my imperfect friends, is that your inner saboteur isn't a saboteur at all - at least, not intentionally. She wants you to do well. It's just that she's afraid of what might happen if you do. If you want to go places, doing battle with her isn't the answer. You need to tune in to your inner saboteur, work out what makes her tick, and then get her on side. I'm going to show you how. Download your Self-Sabotage Worksheet here.

That productivity you care so much about: what's it for? For too many of us, it's not for anything. It's the ultimate end. Unless we're being productive, we feel like we're wasting our time, like we're being lazy, selfish, immoral, a loser. We can only bear to take a break because we think that not taking a break might harm our productivity.That's not what we tell ourselves, of course. We tell ourselves that being productive is a means to attaining our goals: finishing a thesis, getting a job, getting promoted. Except we're pathological goalpost-movers who never attain our goals. Too often, our goals are just the excuses we need to keep on keeping on. We're wasting our lives with our pointless productivity.The antidote? Make peace with wasting time. Yeah, I know it's uncomfortable. I know sitting around doing nothing makes you feel more evil than the devil. Embrace it. Get good at it. It's worth it, I promise.Here are the readings mentioned in this episode:Camus, A. 1942: 'The Myth of Sisyphus' (a nice person has made it available here).Headlee, C. 2020: Do Nothing (Piatkus).Keller, G. and Papasan, J. 2013: The ONE Thing (Bard Press).   McKeown, G. 2014: Essentialism (Random House).  McKeown, G. 2021: Effortless (Random House).Russell, B. 1932: 'In Praise of Idleness', in In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays (George Allen & Unwin, 1935). 

You know what I’m talking about. You set out to achieve something important, you manage to achieve it (because you’re awesome and of course you did) - but instead of celebrating, you tell yourself it was no big deal and that you probably weren’t aiming high enough anyway and omg how are you ever going to get anywhere if you keep chasing such tiny, piddling little goals? Goalpost-moving is one of the main perfectionist weapons we use against ourselves. Doing it means that, by definition, we can never succeed. But there’s a way you can stop. In this episode, I’m going to:Explain how you’re harming yourself when you move your goalpostsTalk you through how to set goals in a way that makes later goalpost-shifting more difficultShow you how to set goals in a way that helps you become the sort of person you want to beExplain why celebrating your successes is importantTo download the Goal Contract template mentioned in the episode, go here.

Last week, you were storming it. Hitting your writing targets. Keeping up with emails. Getting everything done (well, more or less). So, why is everything suddenly such a struggle? Why is it that you can barely remember your own name, let alone find anything intelligent to say about ... well, anything?Congratulations, you have brain fog. But also, your reaction to it is probably causing you some problems too. Don't worry, though - The Academic Imperfectionist has fought through her own brain fog to pull you out of your mental swamp.In this episode, you're going to learn:how to sidestep the self-blame that is making it hard for you to see a way out of the fog,how your idea of what sustainable productivity looks like is unrealistic, and how to reset it,how to switch into 'safe mode' so that you can troubleshoot your productivity problems without dropping any balls,how to protect what's important from what's urgent, even when you're feeling depleted.Here are the references mentioned in the episode:The NHS’s page on the long-term effects of COVID-19Harvard Medical School blog post about brain fog and COVID-19Health.com article about COVID vaccine side-effects, including ‘vax fog’Guardian article about ‘pandemic brain’Atlantic article about the effect of the pandemic on our brains

How many times have people told you that you should believe in yourself, and how many times have you responded by thinking, 'Pfft,  how can I believe in myself when I see evidence of my inadequacy everywhere I look?'? Sorry, friend, but you see no such thing. Not only are your negative beliefs about yourself doing a great job at holding you back, they're also doing a great job at their own PR - by filtering the way you experience the world so that you think you see evidence for them where there is none.  The truth is - as Kant taught us - you don't see the world as it really is. You see a filtered version. The good news is that you can change the filters so that instead of seeing evidence of your inadequacy, you see evidence of your worth. Your imperfect fairy godmother is here to show you how.

Q: Why is it that you manage to find all the focus, enthusiasm, and dedication you need when it comes to explaining why some dude on Reddit is NTA, but you can't bring yourself even to make a start on what you're actually supposed to be doing?A: It's because the way you think about what you're supposed to be doing is not the same as the way you think about what you're doing instead.In this episode, we'll take a look at why your attitude to work is making it difficult for you to work and why your attitude to procrastination makes procrastination so easy - and at how approaching work in the way you approach procrastination can help you worry less and get more done.

HURRY! Listen now! This episode will expire in 13 hours, 49 minutes, and 37 seconds! You know that’s nonsense, right? Okay, but do you also realise that it’s nonsense that those other opportunities you’re considering - that not-quite-right project, that far-from-ideal job - are scarce resources that you’d better grab before they’re gone, or regret it forever? Join the Academic Imperfectionist to find out why it’s okay to hold out for what you really want, and for the lowdown on how to tell when your scarcity mindset is standing in your way.