The common link between perfectionism, procrastination and imposter syndrome
Plus bonus links of great visual content from around the web.
Welcome to the Sketchy Ideas newsletter.
I hope you don’t mind that I skipped last week’s edition but I’ve had a little family drama. Everyone’s fine now but it’s been a trickier time.
(In reality, I had this newsletter 90% ready to go but finding the time to make those final touches was just a bit too much. But I’ve included a couple of extra links to make up for it).
While I know that consistently creating and publishing is important (see this week’s visual essay), there are more important things.
I appreciate you all for popping by and I hope you have a drama-free week.
Inspiring links
What’s the best way to remember what you read? Personally, I love making sketchnotes of books I’ve read, and so does
of . In his recent newsletter, he shared his current process. It might help you.
Need a creative project for the week? My friend Chad made “a little book of IMPROV” using Austin Kleon’s Zine process. Perhaps it could inspire you.
Danny Gregory and Sketchbook Skool is running a 10-day drawing challenge over on his YouTube channel. A few days have already gone (depending on when you see this) but that means you’ve got a few you can do in one go.
Mike Rohde, the creator of sketchnotes, is a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan. He regularly sketchnotes the games and after they exited the playoff, I thought I should share his last one.
Emily Miles of Sketch Academy shows a flick through her sketchbook.
Breaking the perfectionist cycle
Perfectionism, procrastination and imposter syndrome are good friends.
When you struggle with perfectionism, you can do everything to avoid others seeing your work.
Being vulnerable and sharing is the only way out of the cycle. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes — although it’s never easy, especially when you encounter a troll online.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't self-edit first, but no matter how good your self-editing is, it won't be perfect — that's why publishers hire multiple copyeditors for each book.
And when you are brave enough to open your ideas up to critique, you'll benefit from more diverse insights.
Good product managers know this all too well -- It's better to find out the problems than what is good. Finding out what’s good makes you feel good, but doesn’t make your work any better. Finding out the problems is essential for improving.
It might not be pleasant, but critical feedback is the best way to grow.
And if you want to develop a growth mindset, you need to see correction and feedback as a way to grow.
Thanks once again for popping by.
What are you working on this week?
I’d love to take a peek.
Chris