Here is another blog post dedicated to Nerdify reviews of the most interesting and important stuff. This time we want you to meet Chelsey – one of our top Nerds. Hear her out.

Hello, I’m Chelsey. I decided to contribute into Nerdify Reviews topic to share my experience and help people who suffer from the phenomenon of “unhealthy perfectionism”. I see myself as a perfectionist, albeit an unhealthy one. I mentally criticize people (specifically new ones) who I think do not meet my standards or expectations.  

I’m afraid of failure because I always want to be “perfect”. In school, I exert as much effort as I can in my exams. When the results are not in my favor, I would internally beat myself up for not getting the grade I desire. I tend to be overly cautious of taking risks, possibly rooted from my fear of failure. If I stay in my comfort zone, then nothing will happen.

I conducted a short research about perfectionism, and I’d say that (to an extent) I inhibit one of the main signs of a perfectionist. I’m not surprised; perfectionism does have harmful effects on my mental health.

What is Perfectionism?

Perfect means “… being entirely without fault or defect.” Now, if we look at Merriam-Webster’s definition of perfectionism, it means “… to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable.”

In psychology, perfectionism in the psychological field means “… striving for flawlessness and setting high-performance standards….”

If they do not meet such standards, it would take a huge toll on their self-esteem and self-worth. On the same vein, unattained goals and standards would contribute to disappointment and unhappiness. Possibly, even depression.

Why is it a Toxic Trait? 

People usually regard perfectionism as a “positive” trait. I’ve read articles that it is a cliché answer to the job question, “what is your weakness?”

Yes, it can be your weakness. But did you know perfectionism is more than that? Are you aware that it is toxic to your mental health and detrimental to your growth? For the curious soul, here are the reasons why:

You can’t bring yourself to commit mistakes or experience failure, for they make you believe you are incompetent. You have to be ready to face failure in order to be successful.

You don’t celebrate with pure joy and happiness. Instead, your success and achievements are met with scorn and self-criticism. Negative self-talk is what harms your happiness. You are too focused on the negative aspect of things.

You are afraid of being judged. You like other people to see you as a perfect human being (when in fact, you’re not). Perhaps you are hesitant in stating your flaws, as it may ruin your “perfect” self. There’s internal pressure involved too.

Apparently, these reasons are also correlated with the signs of perfectionism. Let us move on.

Five Signs of Perfectionism

1. Setting high (unrealistic) goals and standards

There’s nothing bad in establishing standards and not settling for anything less. It’s not even bad to have high goals. However, creating unrealistic standards and goals is unhealthy because they have to be realistic. Further, you are pressured to accomplish your goal no matter what. You may even have the tendency to expect that everyone has to abide by your… demanding and ultra-high standards. As said by Amy Morin, a psychotherapist. perfectionists are critical of people and expect them to be perfect as well.

2. Fear of failure/Making mistakes and staying within your comfort zone

You set a goal for yourself, but you are afraid of failure. In that regard, you are more inclined to focus on the end results (without fail) rather than enjoying the thrill and experience of achieving your goal.  On the other hand, you refuse to move out of your “shell” because you don’t want to disappoint yourself (or anyone). Hence, you lean towards tasks you can do successfully—100% guaranteed. This brings more harm than good to your mental health and personal growth.

3. Trust issues

According to Elizabeth Lombardo Ph.D., perfectionists rarely delegate tasks because they think that their peers cannot do the job correctly. In practical settings, you don’t trust your colleagues enough if you want to assign them work. In the end, you do everything by yourself.

4. Low self-esteem and unhappiness

Let’s say you are angry with yourself because you failed to reach your goals. You immediately conclude you are inadequate and flawed. It can leave you a feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Kendra Cherry states that fear of failure is a sign of low self-esteem.

5. Negative self-talk and too critical

Perfectionists have the habit of finding faults in their achievements— no matter how small that is. You loathe yourself because you are not good enough. Therefore, your mind ends up being clouded with negative thoughts. You are also too critical of other people. Like I said, perfectionists highly expect their peers to be of “high standard” and “perfect”. This may push (or intimidate) people away. Unfortunately, it can lead to loneliness.

Overcoming Perfectionism: What Can You Do?

1. Accept the realities of life

Let’s do a reality check—you have to acknowledge that everyone, including you, makes mistakes in life. We fail in life— tests, interviews, work, assignments, and etc. At the end of the day, they push us to do better and improve ourselves.  Just like everyone else, you have flaws. Don’t expect people to be exactly like you. Every individual is different. 2

2. Take on the challenge

Risk-taking is hard, as we do not know what is beyond the abyss of the unknown. If you are eyeing an activity that you’ve always wanted to try, go on ahead… don’t be afraid of failure and mistakes. Let go, and experience the “challenge” in all its glory.

3. Be open to learning

We have to reskill to cater to the demands of the 21st century. Skills are also a plus point in the workforce. When you are learning, always remember that everyone starts out as a noob or a newbie.

4. Set realistic goals and standards

Be grounded in reality! It’s fine to have high standards, but they have to be realistic. Use your standards as a guide or a framework, rather as an absolute ideal.  Also, make your goals feasible (Remember SMART?). Again, don’t let failure bring you down. Failure does not mean that you are garbage, and it does not define who you are. As said by Oscar the Grouch, “just because you’re trash doesn’t mean you can’t do great things. It is called garbage can, not garbage cannot.”

Don’t forget to reward yourself if you achieved something big or small. Bring nothing but good vibes ☺

5. Learn to trust and delegate tasks

This is a leap of fate you must take. If you are overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to ask your colleague for assistance. You have to learn to understand and work with your peers. Bear in mind that you can’t do everything by yourself all the time. 

After reading about perfectionism, I realized that I need to work on myself. I’d say that it was an eye-opening experience. Perfectionism is embedded in my psyche, and it will be a challenge to completely get rid of it. I hope this article has made you reflect on yourself.

How about you? Do you consider yourself as a perfectionist?

xoxo, Chelsey

More Nerdify reviews to come, stay tuned!

According to our experts at Nerdify reviews, it is almost impossible to find out how much time it will take you to complete an average task as you study because you do not know what to expect. Still, there are some life hacks that will help you to get more free time as you have to complete yet another assignment. You have to read your grading rubric and see what this topic means and what kind of homework you have to do. For example, if your task involves argumentative writing or a reflecting essay, you ought to know what the difference is! Knowing these simple tips will assist you in approaching your task without floating in the clouds of confusion.

Of course, some other aspects must be considered, including:

1. Know Your Task Before You Write. Do your best to learn more about what you have to do. Look up similar assignments online, read the basic rules, find good sources, read similar research papers, and take notes before you start. Our team at Nerdify reviews always acts this way to find out what matters the most when dealing with a certain subject. It also helps to get rid of those confusing aspects when we do not how to deal with a complex question.

2. Overcome The Writer’s Block. If you cannot start writing or your mind is busy with all these questions regarding outer space or the reasons why someone is not replying to your Facebook message, it is good to start with a freewriting technique that lets you free your mind. Just set your alarm clock ten minutes forward and start writing what you feel without stopping. It has to be the stream of consciousness that will help you to save time and have some mental inspiration!

3. Keep The Distractions Away. We all know how much time is always taken by distractions when someone keeps watching an odd TV show nearby or your phone is constantly keeping you alert. Our Nerdify reviews team recommends setting your phone to silent mode and focus on your studies. If it does not seem possible, study along with your friend, so you can talk to each other as you study! It will keep you busy as you communicate and get things done much faster!

4. Set Your Time For Studies & Leisure. The safest solution in finding some free time is to know what time is allocated for studies and what time is meant for fun. In other words, if you dance at a friend’s party and keep thinking about that assignment that you must finish, it is no good. Even our geeky experts at Nerdify reviews always do their best to avoid procrastination and follow the “learn hard, party hard” rule, which always lets them have fun and surprise us, not-so-nerdy types!

5. Proofread Your Work Aloud. One of the most time-consuming aspects, when we study, is editing and proofreading. Even when we are checking those short texts, it is easy to omit some grammar and style mistakes, which is why it is recommended to proofread things aloud. It helps to avoid wordiness and save some time as we learn to check our homework in terms of confidence! Do not be shy and give it a try even if you whisper!

6. Explore What Interests You When Not Studying. Do not ignore those times of leisure when you have a chance to explore something that interests you and discuss it with your friends. Make your times of fun entertaining by learning something new and challenging yourself all the time. For example, if you are majoring in Nursing, think of those unusual rural practices. Likewise, if you are a future lawyer, explore interesting case studies and watch those classic movies dealing with the Law. It will help you to keep inspired and add something special as you learn.

7. Take Breaks As You Learn. The most important part is to take breaks as you study because if you get exhausted, it will take twice more time as you learn because your brain will have to reprocess every rule and every bit of text that you have to memorize. Stretching your muscles, drinking a cup of coffee, or just doing something else for about ten minutes will help you to cope with the stress before you continue with your studies.

Most importantly, you have to find inspiration before you start because if you do not feel that inner drive, it will feel boring and exhausting. Your brain and body must experience something similar to watching a baseball game or jumping during a rock concert. Become a part of your task as you study, think outside the box, and explore everything that comes your way!

Missed Nerdify reviews? Here we go again! Even though it may sound frightening if we imagine robots taking over the world, it is not entirely true. Automation does replace several processes and even jobs that have been done by people in the past, yet there are serious limitations like static operation and necessity of clever, detailed programming. Moreover, there are even jobs that will not be automated since no artificial intelligence can replace, analyze, and process information the way a human being will. Just think about physicians or policemen who apply physical skills and logic in order to carry out the final decision. Automation, after all, is a supplementary tool that simplifies processes that are done routinely. Thankfully, success takes more than that! Today Nerdify reviews 5 jobs that can never be automated, so you can reconsider your career choice 😉

Mental Health and Social Workers

It is a safe assumption because such a job requires empathy, compassion, patience, quick decision-making, and an ability to relate. Since robotics do not possess these crucial qualities, the work in the field of mental health and the social sciences will remain free from automation. The same can be said about recreational therapy and development with the inclusion of sports, dance, choreography, and many other specific skills that can be placed within psycho-social environments of a person. Therefore, such specialists can be summed up as creative personalities or those who can make an illogical decision, the one that cannot be expected. As an example, artificial intelligence social worker is a vague idea since no machine can tell the difference between substance addiction case or a person going through PTSD. Now a trained physician will analyze the case study and see what skills to apply.

Elementary School Teachers

It may sound surprising, considering the fact that modern school and even pre-school children grow up with several electronic devices and cannot imagine a day without a trusted gadget. Still, it is entirely true! The elementary school teachers are there for a reason since they help children learn how to perceive information and channel their attention and energy just the way most parents do. A typical machine can present information and be entertaining, but let’s not forget that an average child will hardly learn anything from that since there are logical limitations and no analysis per se. An elementary school teacher is also an advisor and a role model who can be approached differently. For example, when a child asks a question, the teacher will see the logic (remember how creative the children are!) and explain it in accessible terms.

Detectives and Emergency Police Units

Yes, there are many supplementary devices and forensic cybernetics become more and more advanced, yet nothing can surpass human logic and wisdom when dealing with criminal offenses and investigation. Thankfully, detectives, police forces, and diverse emergency units will remain there without the inclusion of robotics. A reason why it is so can be easily explained by the human ability to make time-critical decisions in emergency cases. The same relates to police and detectives work where deep analysis and comparison of complex information, body language, gestures, and interviews allow understanding who is right or wrong.

Surgeons

It is no secret that healthcare specialists are among the opposition to automation in any shape and form because the malfunction of robotics can cause serious damage that may be irreversible. Of course, it is also true for human errors due to lack of knowledge or wrong considerations, but there are more analysis and prior consideration. The machine can only follow a scenario, which is pre-programmed, but a human being acts according to even those situations that have never occurred in the past. Imagine a program that does not have a specific parameter or command for cases when a human system acts in a different, non-typical way during a time-critical surgery. A surgeon will instantly react while the automatic process will just freeze or return to default. In other words, automation is a repeated process that is at times more precise than human actions, yet it cannot analyze the situation and act against the rules in order to save someone’s life.

Animal Trainers & Bio Scientists

The animals always rely upon instincts, the scents, and a complex set of biosignals that are produced by living organisms. The case is entirely different when the talk goes of inanimate objects, which are hard to connect to. There are several experiments in the field of cybernetics that show how the dogs could feel attached to robot dogs, yet it does not provide the required accuracy and proper training. An explanation is rather simple – the animals transmit information towards a robot or a device, yet they do not receive a reply or a signal they can identify like it is with biological objects. Since biology is a constantly evolving process, automation rarely makes it to this branch of science, much alike to Chemistry and Astronomy where human input and analysis are crucial.

Finally, whether automated or not, any job requires constant growth and dedication, so take your time to learn and grow better both as a professional and as a person!

xoxo,

Nerdify Reviews team