by mindy @glowettee

let's talk about something that affects sooo many of us in school - the exhausting cycle of perfectionism. here's how to actually work through it while maintaining your academic success 🤍

understanding your perfectionism type:

the all-or-nothing scholar

signs: abandoning tasks that aren't perfect

impact: incomplete assignments pile up

solution: create "good enough" standards for each task

practice: deliberately submit b+ work sometimes

reflection: track how "imperfect" work still succeeds

the endless editor

signs: revising until exhaustion

impact: never feeling finished

solution: set concrete editing limits

practice: use time boundaries for revisions

reflection: note when extra editing didn't change grades

the preparation procrastinator

signs: over-preparing but never starting

impact: delayed work and missed deadlines

solution: create starting rituals

practice: begin with imperfect outlines

reflection: document when "unprepared" work succeeded

practical steps for recovery:

(don't mind the formatting <3)

grade requirement analysis

calculate minimum grades needed

identify where perfection isn't necessary

create realistic grade goals

develop subject-specific standards

track effort vs. grade correlation

time management reality

set maximum study times

include mandatory breaks

create firm stopping points

establish "good enough" timeframes

practice leaving work unfinished

submission strategies

develop personal rubrics

create completion checklists

establish revision limits

set realistic quality standards

practice timely submission

perfection pressure release

identify trigger assignments

create comfort with b+ work

develop release statements

practice "done is better than perfect"

celebrate imperfect submissions

sustainable study practices

implement 80/20 rule

create efficiency metrics

develop quality guidelines

establish effort limits

maintain energy balance

daily implementation:

morning:

set realistic daily goals

identify perfection triggers

establish time boundaries

create completion criteria

prepare acceptance statements

during work:

use timer limits

implement stopping points

practice leaving rough drafts

accept good enough

maintain progress over perfection

evening:

evaluate effort balance

celebrate task completion

acknowledge progress

release perfectionist thoughts

plan next day's boundaries

practical exercises:

the b+ experiment

choose one assignment monthly

deliberately aim for b+ quality

track actual vs. expected grades

note emotional responses

document learning outcomes

time boundary practice

set firm time limits

stop when timer ends

submit work as is

track grade results

build trust in efficiency

imperfection tolerance

start assignments roughly

resist immediate editing

maintain forward momentum

accept messy progress

focus on completion

measuring progress:

keep a recovery tracker:

time spent on assignments

stress levels during work

grade outcomes

emotional responses

energy preservation

weekly check-in questions:

did i maintain reasonable hours?

where did i release perfectionism?

how did i handle imperfect work?

what boundaries did i maintain?

where can i ease standards?

tip: you can maintain excellent grades without sacrificing your wellbeing to perfectionism 🤍

xo mindy

p.s. your worth as a student isn't measured by perfect scores, but by your growth and learning.

Let's STUDY WITH ME 🔥

Find me on Instagram.com/studywithskola

Lets connect together !

NCERT NCERT NCERT

Focus on ncert .

Read ncert and make short notes and revise it again and again , everyday will be very helpful !

Hello everyone! For my first post I’m going to be talking about procrastination, how to fight it and the best tip I’ve seen in relation to it.

Procrastination is the bane of every student, but in case anyone doesn’t know what it means, procrastination is defined as ‘the action of delaying or postponing something.’ Procrastination leaves us with a temporary feeling of relief of not having to deal with the unwanted task, but the more we postpone something the more anxiety we actually create, until it reaches the point where it is impossible to avoid the task any longer, or we simply don’t ever complete it.

Even when we understand what is happening, however, its still a really hard habit to get out of. Naturally we’ll be lead to the least painful tasks first, avoiding the unwanted one and gaining that temporary relief. So how do we stop this?

One of the best tips I’ve ever seen in relation to procrastination, and one that has helped me so much, is this; spend 5 minutes on task, then if you still don’t want to do it, move on. 5 minutes may not seem like a huge amount of time to be productive in, but it is still 5 minutes of work you didn’t have done before! The task isn’t untouched anymore. and some of that anxiety is taken away, and you are in a better place than when you started. Whether you just made a plan or wrote the introductory paragraph to a dreaded essay, you didn’t avoid the task. You started it, and you may even find it wasn’t as bad as you thought, and return to finish it sooner. 

Take this approach and soon enough you may find yourself more organised and less stressed about things you haven’t completed; you’ve made a start and have made more progress than you would have if you procrastinated completely. I also find it really helps with any feeling of guilt you may have surrounding the avoidance.

Below I have put a link to a ted talk video about procrastination that is really helpful if you’d like to learn more about why we keep this bad habit so easily! 

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps!

Here are some tips that can help you find more motivation to study! These tips always help me to keep focused on my tasks.

sometimes when I feel burdened by the thought of exams, I would just stop in my tracks, a short moment, and I'd wonder, "What's the point of exams?" Most of the time, I'll get answers such as, it's there to test your abilities and understanding of the subject. It is then possible for me to switch from "studying to get higher grades" to "understanding".

I have a strange inclination to tweak the structure of a sentence until it is perfect. Perfectionism. It sometimes become so unbearable that I forget how to write. All the "perfect sentences" come to my mind to tell me I'm wrong. It is like an addiction to style; I restrict myself just so I can write with "clarity." I do not know how to change that, except for restraining it, holding it back when I am trying to write something.

Studying is not supposed to be a difficult thing. In fact, it is perhaps the easiest step to doing anything in general. You have guides, lecturers, books, to tell you what to do––but why is it so difficult for you?

That, perhaps, represents most parents' ideas about our studies.

Methods matter, then, if we want it to be not difficult. What is "understanding"? How do you know whether you understood something?

1. Short notes.

I usually take a very long time getting through the first reading, either with my textbook or journal articles. Sometimes it becomes dull, and the words run through my mind without staying. So, I'd advice myself to read while taking very short notes.

It may look like a mind map with only several words to guide the mind, or using several flashcards to note down the important terms or rules or cases. For me, I have not found the most efficient way of taking short notes because the more notes I write, the easier I forget. I'd think, "Oh, I wrote it down," and dwell in the feeling of security as I move on. So I forget. However, without notes, the chunk of text would be too overwhelming and when I forget, it would be the literal death of me.

Notes are important, but finding the right way of taking notes that suits you is even more so.

2. Write paragraphs.

When it requires critical analysis, better start practising with short paragraphs. Take a question and dissect it into perhaps five parts, for each part, try to fit 200 words in on your own opinions before searching for other sources and materials (like articles and commentaries). Or you may try to fit in 500 words at first try, combining what you've researched and what you understood.

3. Refresh memory in your sleep (um)

This is something I am trying to do, well, not literally. Basically, it is to go through the notes and cases before you sleep, and pray that you dream of yourself studying again and again the things you just read. Jokes aside, I think I've seen somewhere that this is one way to boost your memory on certain topics.

Once again, these methods may not be useful for some people. Truth be told, it probably won't be effective for me in a few months. (Hopefully not.)

Today marks the end of March and the end of the second term. All presentations and school work done, it's time to get into extensive studying.

regards,

ghosten xx