Perfectionism is destroying your productivity.

Summary

This video explores the concept of perfectionism through the lens of Steve Jobs' story with the NeXT Computer. It challenges the notion that perfectionism is a strength, citing research linking it to negative outcomes like stress and burnout. The speaker shares personal experiences and offers strategies to overcome perfectionism, such as setting realistic expectations, applying the 80/20 rule to focus efforts, and embracing imperfection through deliberate exposure. The video concludes with a demonstration of Notion's organizational capabilities in content creation.

Takeaways

• 🍏 Steve Jobs' perfectionism was both a strength and a weakness, influencing his work at Apple and NeXT Computer.
• 🎨 Perfectionism is often romanticized but can lead to stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression according to research.
• 🔑 Perfectionists tend to set unrealistically high standards and link their self-worth to their achievements.
• 🔍 There are different types of perfectionism, including self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially-prescribed perfectionism.
• 🚫 Perfectionism isn't linked to better overall work performance, despite popular belief.
• 🛠 To overcome perfectionism, one should set more realistic expectations and challenge perfectionistic beliefs.
• ⏰ Understanding the 80/20 rule can help perfectionists focus on what truly matters and avoid wasting time on trivial details.
• 🤸‍♂️ Being imperfect on purpose, such as setting limits on attempts or engaging in quantity challenges, can help reduce perfectionistic tendencies.
• 📈 Exposing oneself to imperfection repeatedly can help normalize it and reduce fear associated with it.
• 📚 Feedback is crucial for growth, and perfectionists often miss out on it by not publishing or sharing their work enough.
• 🌟 Notion, as showcased in the video, is a versatile tool for idea generation, research, scripting, and project management.

Q & A

What significant event occurred in Steve Jobs' career in 1985?

In 1985, Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple after a long power struggle with John Sculley, the CEO at the time.

What was the name of the company Steve Jobs founded after leaving Apple?

Steve Jobs founded a company called NeXT, which aimed to develop the NeXT Computer.

What is the anecdote about the NeXT Computer's case that illustrates Jobs' perfectionism?

The anecdote is that Jobs insisted on applying black paint to the inside of the NeXT Computer's case, even though customers would rarely see it, at an extra cost.

Why is perfectionism sometimes considered a weakness despite its association with high motivation and work hours?

Perfectionism is considered a weakness because it is also associated with stress, burnout, anxiety, overworking, and depression.

What are some common responses people give when asked about their weaknesses in an interview, which are actually forms of perfectionism?

Common responses include 'I work too hard,' 'I care too much,' and 'I have no weaknesses,' which are all indicative of perfectionist tendencies.

How does the video creator describe his personal experience with perfectionism in the context of making a video about strategic thinking?

The creator describes spending an excessive amount of time setting up a shot with a chessboard to ensure the pieces moved in realistic positions, even though no one likely noticed this detail.

What is the definition of a perfectionist according to psychologist David Burns?

A perfectionist is a person whose standards are high beyond reach or reason, and who strains compulsively and unremittingly towards impossible goals, measuring their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment.

What are the two classic types of perfectionism traditionally identified by psychologists?

The two classic types are adaptive perfectionism, which involves high standards for work, and maladaptive perfectionism, which is more focused on avoiding failure.

What are the three types of perfectionism identified by Canadian psychologists in 1991?

The three types are self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, and socially-prescribed perfectionism.

How does the research mentioned in the script relate the different types of perfectionism to work performance?

The research found that neither type of perfectionism was aligned with better overall work performance, despite the common belief that perfectionists are more successful.

What strategies are suggested in the script to help overcome perfectionism?

The strategies include setting more realistic expectations, understanding and applying the 80/20 rule to allocate efforts effectively, and being imperfect on purpose through exposure therapy and quantity challenges.

How does the script use the example of Pixar's 'The beautifully shaded penny' to illustrate a common perfectionist behavior?

The example shows how artists at Pixar spent significant time and effort on details that were barely noticeable in the final product, illustrating the perfectionist tendency to over-deliver on minor aspects.

What is the significance of the '80/20 rule' in the context of overcoming perfectionism?

The '80/20 rule', or the Pareto Principle, is significant because it helps perfectionists to identify and focus on the most important aspects of their work that yield the majority of results, rather than getting caught up in less critical details.

How does the script suggest using exposure therapy to combat perfectionism?

The script suggests being imperfect on purpose, repeatedly exposing oneself to imperfection in a controlled manner, to gradually reduce the fear and anxiety associated with not being perfect.

What role does feedback play in the process of overcoming perfectionism as described in the script?

Feedback is crucial as it helps perfectionists to learn and grow from their imperfections, counteracting the lack of 'at-bats' or opportunities for improvement that perfectionists often avoid.

How does the script use Notion to demonstrate the process of creating and organizing content for a video?

The script outlines the use of Notion for idea generation, research, scripting, project planning, to-do lists, and archiving, showing how Notion can be a comprehensive tool for content creation and organization.

Outlines

00:00

🍏 The Paradox of Perfectionism

This paragraph introduces the video sponsored by Notion and delves into the story of Steve Jobs' perfectionism, particularly his insistence on painting the inside of the NeXT Computer case. It contrasts Jobs' well-known attention to detail with the common perception of perfectionism as both a strength and a weakness. The speaker admits to being a perfectionist and outlines the negative impacts, such as stress, burnout, and overworking, as supported by a 2018 research review. The paragraph sets the stage for a discussion on overcoming perfectionism.

05:01

🔍 Exploring Perfectionism's Many Faces

The second paragraph expands on the concept of perfectionism by discussing different types as defined by psychologists: self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially-prescribed perfectionism. It reflects on how these types manifest in the speaker's life, affecting their work and relationships. The paragraph also references research that links perfectionism with negative outcomes like depression and anxiety, and notes that neither type of perfectionism correlates with better work performance, challenging the myth that perfectionism is beneficial.

10:02

🛠 Strategies to Overcome Perfectionism

In this paragraph, the speaker offers practical advice for perfectionists seeking to lessen perfectionism's impact on their lives. Suggestions include setting more realistic expectations, understanding and applying the 80/20 rule to focus efforts effectively, and intentionally being imperfect as a form of exposure therapy. Examples such as Andrew Huang's music production process and Jennifer Dewalt's website challenge illustrate how embracing imperfection can lead to greater productivity and learning. The speaker emphasizes the importance of feedback and the counterproductive nature of perfectionism in professional growth.

🌟 Harnessing Notion for Video Production

The final paragraph shifts focus to the video's production process, highlighting the use of Notion as a comprehensive tool for idea generation, research, scripting, project planning, and archiving. It describes the step-by-step process from initial concept to final publication, showcasing Notion's flexibility and utility in managing complex projects. The speaker also promotes Notion's personal plan being free and invites viewers to check out additional resources for mastering Notion and improving their workspace efficiency.

Keywords

💡Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a personality trait characterized by striving for flawlessness and setting extremely high standards for oneself. In the video, it is the central theme, illustrating both its potential to drive success and its negative impacts on mental health and productivity. The script uses Steve Jobs' insistence on painting the inside of a computer case as an example of his perfectionism.

💡Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is mentioned as an iconic figure often associated with perfectionism. His story of insisting on the NeXT Computer's paint job, even in areas unseen by customers, exemplifies the extent of his pursuit of perfection. This narrative serves to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of perfectionism.

💡NeXT Computer

The NeXT Computer is an example of Jobs' perfectionism in action. It was a high-end workstation computer with a distinctive black cube design. The script uses it to illustrate Jobs' attention to detail, even in aspects of the product that would not be visible to the end-user.

💡Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism

Adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism are two categories discussed in the script to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy forms of perfectionism. Adaptive perfectionists have high standards that drive them to excel, while maladaptive perfectionists are driven by a fear of failure, which can lead to negative outcomes like stress and burnout.

💡80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is introduced in the script to suggest that perfectionists should focus on the most impactful aspects of their work. It implies that 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts, advising viewers to allocate their efforts more effectively.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic stress that can result from the relentless pursuit of perfection. The script associates burnout with perfectionism, indicating that the constant drive for flawlessness can lead to exhaustion and a diminished ability to perform.

💡Failure Avoidance

Failure avoidance is a concept in the script that describes the fear and anxiety related to not meeting one's own or others' expectations. It is a type of perfectionism that can lead to stress and anxiety, as individuals are overly concerned with not failing.

💡Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a psychological technique mentioned in the script as a method to overcome perfectionism. It involves deliberately exposing oneself to the source of fear or discomfort, in this case, imperfection, to reduce its impact over time.

💡Notion

Notion is a productivity tool featured in the script as the platform used to organize the video's creation process. It is described as a set of building blocks that allows users to create customized tools for various tasks, from idea generation to project planning and archiving.

💡Feedback

Feedback is an essential component of growth and improvement highlighted in the script. It suggests that perfectionists often lack the feedback that comes from producing and sharing work, which can hinder their development. The script encourages embracing imperfection to gain more opportunities for feedback.

💡Quantity Challenges

Quantity challenges, like the examples of Andrew Huang's music production and Jennifer Dewalt's web development, are presented in the script as a strategy to overcome perfectionism. By setting a goal to produce a large volume of work in a short time, creators force themselves to accept imperfection and learn from the process.

Highlights

Steve Jobs' perfectionism is exemplified by insisting on painting the inside of the NeXT Computer case, despite the extra cost and the fact that customers would rarely see it.

Perfectionism is often romanticized, but it is associated with negative outcomes such as stress, burnout, anxiety, overworking, and depression.

The video challenges the common interview response of claiming perfectionism as a weakness, suggesting it is more of a liability than an asset.

Perfectionists tend to focus excessively on minor details, potentially wasting time and energy on aspects of a project that are not crucial.

The creator's personal experience with perfectionism led to inefficiencies and a tendency to delay starting projects until close to deadlines.

Psychologist David Burns defines a perfectionist as someone with unreachable standards who compulsively pursues impossible goals and measures self-worth by productivity.

Perfectionism is categorized into adaptive and maladaptive, with the latter further divided into self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially-prescribed perfectionism.

Research indicates that the negative aspects of perfectionism, such as depression and anxiety, are more prevalent among failure-avoidant perfectionists.

Both types of perfectionism do not correlate with better work performance, contrary to the popular belief that perfectionism leads to excellence.

To overcome perfectionism, it's suggested to set more realistic expectations and challenge the belief that one's interpretations and standards are absolute truths.

Understanding and applying the 80/20 rule can help perfectionists allocate their efforts more effectively, focusing on what truly matters.

Pixar's 'beautifully shaded penny' phenomenon illustrates the potential downside of perfectionism in creative work, where details are overemphasized.

Intentionally being imperfect can help overcome perfectionism, as demonstrated by Andrew Huang's four-take limit when recording music.

Quantity challenges, like Jennifer Dewalt's 180 websites in 180 days, can lead to significant learning and improvement despite imperfection.

The importance of feedback in growth is highlighted, as perfectionists often limit their opportunities for improvement by not seeking enough input on their work.

Notion is showcased as a versatile tool for idea generation, research, scripting, project planning, and archiving, all in one platform.

The video concludes with a demonstration of how Notion was used to organize and create the video content, emphasizing its flexibility and utility.

Transcripts

- Thanks to Notion for sponsoring this video

and supporting my channel.

When most people think of Steve Jobs,

they naturally think of Apple.

But, there's a story about Jobs

that's always stuck in my head

and it has nothing to do with Apple.

Well, almost nothing.

In 1985 Jobs was forced out of Apple

after a long power struggle with John Sculley

who was the CEO at the time.

In response, Jobs left Apple

and took a handful of the employees with him

to start a brand new company

which would develop what was called the NeXT Computer.

This was gonna be a much more powerful,

workstation style computer meant for colleges

and it was housed in this black cube shaped case.

And in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs,

he recounts how Jobs insisted

the black paint that covered the outside of this case

also be applied to the inside at extra cost

even though almost no customer would ever open it up

and see the paint for themselves.

And this story illustrates

one of Job's most famous qualities, his perfectionism.

Jobs demanded absolute perfection of all the hardware

and software that he and his teams developed.

And it's one of the reasons

why he was notoriously hard to work for.

It's one of the reasons that pushed him

to be so cruel to his employees at times.

And yet the legacy left behind by Jobs

and by other famous perfectionists

often makes perfectionism

seem like something worth striving for.

Some people even wear it as a badge of pride.

That's why, "I'm a perfectionist,"

is one of the classic cop-out answers

to that age old interview question,

"Tell me your greatest weaknesses."

Along with really brilliant ones.

Like, "I just work too hard, man," or,

"I care too much,"

or the classic, "I have no weaknesses."

But, as you're gonna find out in the rest of this video,

perfectionism really is a weakness.

Sure, it can have its benefits and the stories

from people like Jobs can make it seem like a strength,

but overall, the drawbacks

really do outweigh those benefits.

In 2018 a research review surveyed

all of the perfectionism research

that had been done over the past decades.

And they found that while perfectionism

was aligned with being more motivated at work

and putting in more hours,

it was also aligned with stress, with burnout, with anxiety

with overworking and with depression

and to add some anecdotal evidence to that research review,

I have been a perfectionist for a very long time

and I found some additional drawbacks,

often focus way too intently on a small part of a project

that ultimately doesn't really matter at the end of the day

and it will 'cause me to waste a lot of time.

Earlier this year, I made a video called,

How To Think More Strategically.

And if you saw it, you'll know that we did

a lot of chess B-roll in that video.

And I had one shot in particular

that I really wanted to get.

I had envisioned having the camera suspended

over a chess board, slowly moving back

as different chess positions sort of flashed by.

So, essentially, I had to play out

a game of chess on the board

and I could have gotten the shot a lot quicker

just by randomly moving the pieces,

taking one away every once in a while,

and then, you know, taking some stills

from that sequence and creating out of that.

But in my mind,

the only way to do that sequence properly

was to play an actual game on the chess board.

- [Woman] So here Tom is playing against himself.

- So that way, when saw those chess pieces

moving in the shot, they would be moving in real positions

that actually made sense.

And no one has ever commented on that.

I doubt anybody has ever noticed

that they were moving in a realistic way

and that took me way longer than it should have,

but I just couldn't let it go.

And in addition to just wasting time on things

that I really don't need to be fixating on,

I'll sometimes be paralyzed and unable to start

until I get right up against the deadline for a project.

I'll get ideas, I'll start writing something down

and then my brain goes, "That's not good enough,

your audience has better expectations than that of you,

that's not gonna fly."

So, personally, I would like it if perfectionism

had a little bit less influence in my life.

And if you identify as a perfectionist as well

you might want the same things.

So, I wanna talk about some ways

to get over this perfectionism

or start moving past it in this video.

And to do that, I think it's important to tell you

what a perfectionist really is,

because it isn't just somebody

who has high standards for themselves.

As a psychologist, David Burns describes it,

"A perfectionist is a person whose standards

are high beyond reach or reason

and who strains compulsively and unremittingly

towards impossible goals."

And, this part's very important,

"Measures their own worth entirely

in terms of productivity and accomplishment."

Having high standards for yourself is a great thing

but perfectionists tend to take it a bit too far.

They set the bar impossibly high

and then they tie their self-worth to it.

Now, classically, perfectionism has been divided

into two camps, adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism.

These have also been called excellence seeking perfectionism

and failure avoiding perfectionism.

The excellence seeking perfectionist

are the people with ultra-high standards for their work.

They're constantly trying to make their work

as good as it can be

and they apply their perfectionism

to people working under them and sometimes

even their significant others and friends as well.

Meanwhile, the failure avoiding perfectionist

are the people who are more fixated on not failing.

They're worried that other people

don't think their work is good enough

and by extension, that they aren't good enough either.

And this can be split up even further.

In 1991, a pair of Canadian psychologists

developed their own model with three different types.

Self-oriented perfectionism,

where you have your own ultra-high standards for yourself,

other-oriented perfectionism,

where you have unrealistic standards for other people

and then socially-prescribed perfectionism,

where, again, you feel like other people have

super high standards for you

and that you can't live up to them.

And when I look at my own perfectionism

I can see that it doesn't neatly fall

into any one of these categories.

Yes, I have my own high standards for my own work,

I want to see things be as good as they can be

but I also feel like the people that I know

both in the real world, my personal relationships

but also my audience online

has super high expectations for me and for my work.

And that creates a lot of pressure

which can lead to that paralysis

and that fixation of the things that don't really matter

at the end of the day.

And while we're talking

about these different types of perfectionism,

I will note that, that research review

found that the big drawbacks of perfectionism,

the depression, the anxiety, the stress, the burnout,

these were more aligned

with the failure avoidance type of perfectionism.

But, they were also aligned with the excellence seeking type

if to a lesser degree, they still were there.

And crucially, they also found

that neither type of perfectionism

was aligned with better overall work performance.

So, even though we may have people

like Jobs as the storied counterexample,

the broader research has shown that being a perfectionist

doesn't make you better at your job.

So, the question now is, what can we do about this?

If we are perfectionists,

how can we move past it and let perfectionism

be less of an influence in our life and on our work?

Well, the first thing is to work on setting

more realistic expectations for yourself.

As the author, Martin Anthony, writes in his book,

"When Perfect Isn't Good Enough."

"Although standards and beliefs are subjective,

people usually take for granted that their interpretations,

their beliefs, their predictions and standards are true.

So becoming less perfectionistic will involve

relaxing your standards

and changing your perfectionistic beliefs.

It'll involve treating your standards

and beliefs as possibilities or guesses

about the way the world should be,

rather than as hard facts."

And if you, like me,

have that socially prescribed perfectionism

I think the best way to start doing this

is to talk to people, ask them,

"What do you really expect of me?"

Because I can not tell you how many times

I've had conversations with people that I work with

or with people in my audience and find out

that what they expect from me is still high

but not to that astronomical level

that I've built up in my head.

Next, if you're gonna perfect something,

then perfect how you allocate your efforts.

In other words, get to know the 80/20 rule.

This rule states that 80% of the results

often come from just 20% of the efforts, the vital few.

And we as perfectionists are often pretty bad identifying

those vital few things, both as individuals

but also sometimes as entire organizations.

As I was researching this video,

my editor Tony gave me a great story

from the book, "Creativity, Inc."

Which is written by Ed Catmull, the co-founder of Pixar,

where he writes, "There is a phenomenon

that producers a Pixar call, 'The beautifully shaded penny.'

It refers to the fact that the artists

who work on our films care so much about every detail

that they will sometimes spend days or weeks

crafting the equivalent of a penny on a nightstand

that you'll never see."

There is a great example of this in Monster Inc,

for Mike and Sulley bring Boo back

to their apartment for the first time.

There's this three second shot

of a stack of CDs that Boo knocks over.

And even though it's only three seconds long,

and even though you only see a few of the CD covers,

the artists at Pixar took the time

to create art for every single one of those CDs,

there are more than 90 of them.

In telling that story, Catmull was mainly making a point

about the production process of the company,

writing that, "Because of the way production unfolded

our people had to work on scenes

without knowing the context for them,

so they just overbuilt them to be safe."

But, there's another insight here as well.

He goes on to write that, "To make things worse,

our standards of excellent are extremely high

leading them to conclude that more is always more."

This is something that perfectionist really deal with.

And the truth is often the opposite.

Often less is more, taking away is more.

So get critical about your work.

Try to identify that crucial 20%, that vital few

and spend a little bit less time fixating on the 80%

that doesn't matter.

Finally, be imperfect on purpose.

One of the most common ways to get over a fear

is called exposure therapy.

Essentially, you expose yourself to the thing you fear

over and over and over again

at slightly increasing levels of intensity

until eventually, you're just kind of over it.

And to apply this principle of exposure therapy

to this problem, you need to be imperfect on purpose.

One of my favorite examples of this in action

comes from the YouTuber, Andrew Huang,

who makes a ton of music.

And I cannot, for the life of me,

find the video where he said this,

but I saw a video where he said

that he'll often limit himself to four takes

when recording parts for a song.

So if there's a specific guitar lick he's gotta record,

he does four takes, takes the best one and that's it.

And fittingly, Andrew has published

hundreds of songs on his Spotify

and meanwhile, I've published three.

So, there's a thing or two that I could learn from Andrew.

Quantity challenges are also a great thing.

Jennifer Dewalt made 180 small websites in 180 days

and learned a ton doing it.

My friend Martin,

who helped me write the script for this video

and who is even worse at perfectionism than I am,

by his own admission,

said that he did a daily Instagram challenge

where he posted daily photos for over 200 days

as a way to be imperfect on purpose.

And as a side note,

he told me that he recently constructed a portfolio

of his best photography work.

There are 24 photos there

and he found out that 15 of the photos he picked

came from that daily challenge.

So, even though he didn't have a whole lot of time

to make perfect work,

he ended up with work he was proud of.

And there's a reason for this.

Not only do these deadlines

give you very little time to fixate

and act on perfectionist tendencies

but they also give you a ton of feedback.

You're making and publishing things

and getting feedback on them

and coming back and reviewing them

and this helps you get better.

Perfectionists don't get a ton of feedback.

That research review I mentioned

at the beginning of the video concluded that perfectionists

don't do any better at work than non-perfectionists

but they didn't know why.

And I think this is the reason,

perfectionists don't get as many at-bats.

They don't get that feedback that is crucial to growth.

So, be imperfect on purpose.

Not only are you gonna get that feedback

but each time that you act in an imperfect way

you're going to prove to your brain

that imperfection is not the disaster

that I thought it would be.

Imperfect chair turn.

Oh, hey there, other camera angle.

So I'd like to wrap this video up

by giving you a quick look at how we made it, using Notion.

So at first there is the idea stage.

Martin came up with the idea for this particular video.

So he added this cool content ideas area that we built

which can be separated by our channels,

or, if you switch the view, by topic.

Once we knew that we were gonna make the video

we use the template to create the video project area.

Martin and I both added a ton of research

and outlines to our research area, pasted tons of links

and then I did a bunch of writing

and turned that all into a script in the script area.

Now, while filming, I pulled up that script on my iPad

which sits on a music stand next to me

so I can look at the lines

and then to say them into the camera.

Then, once I've done the initial cuts

and know roughly how long the video is gonna be,

I add all my B-roll ideas to a tool called Frame.io,

which gives each one of them a timestamp.

I then export those and bring them

into this pre-made database in my video project.

And, because I have the timestamps

I can sort them all chronologically.

But, I can also tag them, film, overhead, screen recording,

whatever it is and switch my view

so I can more efficiently batch them as I gather them.

Once the video is done, I create an editing checklist

from a template that reminds me to do all the little things

like bordering captions and adding in cards.

And finally, I had the URL back in the Notion

and I marked the video, published,

so that it shows up in this special archive view we built.

So that is idea generation

that is research, scripting, project planning, to do lists

and an archive all in one tool.

And we're able to do this because Notion

isn't just a note taking tool or to do list app.

It's really a set of building blocks

that allows you to create the exact tools you need

for the work that you want to do.

It can be as simple as you want

or as complex as you need it to be.

And now is a great time

to try Notion out using the link below

because their personal plan is now completely free.

So check out that link below if you want to get started.

And after that, check out my new channel,

Thomas Frank Explains, for some tutorials

and even some free templates

that can help you get up and running more quickly.

Thanks as always for watching this video,

hopefully you found it helpful,

hopeful you liked it.

This is the last one for 2020.

So if you did like it,

hit that like button as always

to show the YouTube algorithm what's up and get subscribed.

If you haven't already,

you'll have a subscribe button somewhere on screen

along with the other couple videos you can check out.

And, once again, I'll have

that Thomas Frank Explains channel linked here as well,

so you can check that out if you are interested

in upgrading your Notion knowledge and workspace.

See you in the next one.