Perfectionism

Last (academic) year, whilst doing my A2's, I used to spend ages my work looked ok. For example, if I had an essay which should be written in an hour, I would write it all out in rough and rearrange and the like, and then write it up. However, if I was using biro to write it up (as opposed to a fountain pen where I could erase it) and made a mistake, I have to throw it away and start the write up again. Sometimes it could take 4 hours for a one hour essay! This isn't just for work that is handed in, but also class notes, I have to have them neat even though no one will see them.

I don't want to be doing this at uni as I'll have more work to do... how can I stop being such a perfectionist? :confused:

Reply 1

Xx Tomásíona - Mháire xX

14

Anonymous

Last (academic) year, whilst doing my A2's, I used to spend ages my work looked ok. For example, if I had an essay which should be written in an hour, I would write it all out in rough and rearrange and the like, and then write it up. However, if I was using biro to write it up (as opposed to a fountain pen where I could erase it) and made a mistake, I have to throw it away and start the write up again. Sometimes it could take 4 hours for a one hour essay! This isn't just for work that is handed in, but also class notes, I have to have them neat even though no one will see them.

I don't want to be doing this at uni as I'll have more work to do... how can I stop being such a perfectionist? :confused:

I do that all the time :eek:

I don't think you can really 'stop' being a perfectionist though :hugs:

Reply 2

omaremad

Practise memorising things?

I never write notes at all, i just read textbooks and if im feeling not lazy i might highlight a bit or two.

Try and concentrate on understanding the stuff rather than writting it out again (im furiosu when i see my friends do it).

If you cant remdber or undersatnd something read it again or apply the knowledge in a question. simply writting things is time consuming, tiring and not very productive.

At uni you would probably need a good undersatnding vs regurgiatting notes.
Also lecturers wont wait for the slow ones etc... so its better to get used to other revision methods.

also when writting essays get it right the first time through palnning
planning as in making sure you can imagine it all as if it was on the paper, writting in neat paragraphs is a good way to prevent mistakes.

i ussually iamgine the paragraph ordering before i write

Reply 3

omaremad

do a similar thing; when watching TV shows, I have to understand every word spoken and read every word on-screen. If I don't I have to rewind it and watch it again. For dodgey accents it sometimes takes a few rewinds... this gets really annoying fast so now I just leave it (assuming I don't think it's that important).

ehhh use teletext 888.

Reply 4

Chumbaniya

17

Xx Tomásíona - Mháire xX

I do that all the time :eek:

I don't think you can really 'stop' being a perfectionist though :hugs:

Maybe you can't stop wanting things to be perfect, but you can certainly get used to working through mistakes. My advice would be to deliberately make imperfections in some of your work, and then force yourself not to correct them or start again. That way you might get used to the idea of having errors and realise that they're really not as bad as you feel they are.

Reply 5

purpleone

2

i use to do that, write things out again and again until perfect, but when at uni i wanted to spend time with friends and stuff as well as getting work done so i learnt that my first draft with notes was fine, if i could read it and make sense of it then it was fine, and making changes to work done on computer is quick and easy..

Perfectionism

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