AH, perfectionism. It's a topic I love to discuss.

As someone who once identified with being a "perfectionist," it look many years of coaching and therapy to unpack and reframe my relationship with perfectionism.

When we understand that perfectionism is a protective mechanism, we can approach it with compassion rather than frustration.

"So how do we overcome perfectionism while still recognizing and serving the underlying values of excellence and mastery it often represents?"
- Tanya Geisler (read her article Overcoming Perfectionism)

In fact, I did so much healing around perfectionism, that I launched myself fully into the other end of the spectrum, embracing the idea of "being in beta" or doing "learning launches," and more freely sharing work-in-progress.

The freedom of sharing things that were obviously imperfect and intended as starting points took off so much pressure and made the process of creating much more fun. Progress is incredibly contagious.

If I hadn't healed my relationship with perfectionism, I would never have launched my Youtube channel, and I certainly never would have launched Notion Mastery.

Now, as I guide others through their productivity journeys, I see echoes of my former self in their struggles.

I see first-hand through our customers and students how the desire to create a perfect system often creates real anxiety for those actively building their digital workspaces and personal knowledge management systems.

I recently read a reddit post that a Notion user had written about the anxiety they feel about where to save something in Notion, because they experienced such a deep discomfort or anxiety around saving different sized notes into the same database when they had varying depths of content.

Can you save both a 10k-word note and a single-sentence note into the same Notes database? But they're so unbalanced!

This anxiety stems from a desire for control and a fear of 'doing it wrong' - as if there's one perfect way to organize information. The irony of course, is that striving for the perfect system often leads to decision paralysis and procrasti-working, and actually reduces productivity.

The idea that each of our thoughts and notes tuck neatly into perfectly sized digital boxes and carry the same weight is unrealistic, and doesn't reflect the way our brains work as they explore topics and connect dots.

Breaking free from perfectionism in our digital workspaces isn't just about better organization - it's about giving ourselves permission to be messy, iterate, and grow.

This is why I think of my entire Notion workspace as a digital garden. Most gardens are messy, and don't look the same week by week, and month by month.

There are parts of my workspace that are very tidy, pruned regularly, with contain well-worn and intentionally designed pathways... and there are neglected parts of the garden that are lined with blackberry brambles, dried and rotting leaves, and various "weeds" that go untended, overgrown, and are allowed to exist freely without supervision.

Just like a real garden, some areas will thrive unexpectedly, while others might need to be replanted or repurposed. The joy is in the growth and evolution, not in achieving a static, perfect state.

The temptation for students (or even youtube viewers) to emulate my setup is so strong, but it's important to consider that my workspace is a 5-year old digital garden that has been pruned to my preferences, and still contains many pages and areas that are a work-in-progress.

The real challenge is to approach our digital workspaces as opportunities for organizing our thinking, while also acknowledging that thinking and creativity are messy.

Having space for messy thinking allows for creative exploration and the generation of new ideas.

A "good enough for now" system will save you endless hours of time.
A "perfect" system will take you endless hours of time and will still never feel good enough.

So, the next time you find yourself paralyzed by the desire for perfection in your digital workspace, remember: Perfectionism is just your brain trying to protect you. Thank it for its concern, and then gently remind yourself that progress beats perfection every time. Start small, iterate often, and watch your productivity bloom in your beautifully imperfect digital garden.

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Tiny Tip: ​
One tiny way to combat perfectionism is to set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on building or improving one small part of your system. When the timer goes off, stop and use what you've created, no matter how 'imperfect' it might seem. Make imperfectionism a practice!

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Did you enjoy this newsletter? We'll be talking more about digital permaculture at the Second Brain Summit later this week; looking forward to seeing some of you there!