All Episodes

#135: Do this instead of comparing yourself to others

#134: Defeat perfectionism with one weird trick

#133: Academia is just a job!

#132: Backpacks, bias, and your unrealistic summer plans

#131: Your binary thinking is trying to tell you something

#130: The bonkers mental gymnastics of your writing anxiety

#129: The hidden burden of decision fatigue

#128: Professor Katrien Devolder on why you're wrong about laziness

#127: Professor Polaris Koi on why self-control is not what you think it is

#126: Why you should care about emotional frailty

#125: Your moral gerrymandering is hurting you

#124: Dr Dana Klisanin on wild willpower and drawing resilience from nature

#123: What do you have to brag about?

#122: Write it down, make it happen

#121: Is your self-improvement self-rejection in disguise?

#120: Professor Wendelien van Eerde on the science of procrastination

#119: All about coaching

#118: The Academic Imperfectionist origin story

#117: Intervention for inept time management

#116: Procrastination is a bad idea

#115: Who cares about achievement?

#114: Ego, resentment, and recognition

#113: What if you don't have good habits?

#112: David Hume and the battle between reason and passion

#111: Erving Goffman, Instagram, and the Real You

#110: How to sabbatical like a pro, with Professor Bethany Wilinski

#109: Productivity, golden eggs, and inner critics

#108: Your writing warm-up

#107: The problem with your sense of entitlement

#106: Do you know how much you can control?

#105: Professor John Sellars on how to live like a Stoic

#104: Kate Ahl on what academics talk about in therapy

#103: Tony Stubblebine (CEO of Medium) on how to find, build, and engage your audience

#102: Professor Stephanie Dunson on levelling up your writing process

#101: Professors Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea on the absolute basics of doing research

#100: What I've learned about perfectionism

#99: Hey! What you reading for?

#98: Guest interview! Dr Debbie Sorensen on battling burnout

#97: When failure of inspiration strikes

#96: Guest interview! Dr David Brax on the dangers and inequalities of 'hope labour'

#95: The perfectionism-busting power of hobbies

#94: Postcard from the Costa del Burnout

Announcement!

#93: Guest interview! Professor Joli Jensen on draining the drama from writing

#92: Your writing-anxiety Sliding Doors moment

#91: Sartre, 3pm, and writing off writing days

#90: The surprising productivity of rest

#89: Doubting your willpower is holding you back

#88: How to be a quitter

#87: You're overlooking your unique value

#86: Every Academic Imperfectionist episode, summarised

#85: The fundamental attribution error is ruining your life

#84: The underappreciated value of waiting for success

#83: How to be happy

#82: Stop policing yourself

#81: Are you trying to live a final draft life?

#80: What are you so afraid of?

#79: My imperfect but adequate working day

#78: Fix your self-compassion with the metaphysics of personal identity (and an Aeropress)

#77: Mediocrity is underrated!

#76: This is what positive change feels like

#75: Your progress tunnel vision

#74: When taking on more can energise you

#73: How to practise being instead of doing

#72: Bend so you don't break: a stress survival guide

#71: The best time to write is the worst time to write

#70: How to write

#69: How to read

#68: Plato (and Barbie) on perfection

#67: You owe your success to your flaws

#66: The only productivity hack you need

#65: Reflections on a recent failure

#64: Reject work/life balance!

#63: In defence of your comfort zone

#62: Guilt! Guilt! Guilt!

#61: Your productivity standards are like a 1980s fad diet

#60: Self-acceptance or self-improvement?

#59: Hold your nose and do the scary thing

#58: When you're doing everything everywhere all at once

#57: Understanding your productivity shame

#56: You're not weak-willed, according to Socrates

#55: Inertia and your overthinking dick brain

#54: Soothe the overwhelm with the 1% question

#53: When happiness tanks your productivity

#52: Hack your fear of failure

#51: Is looking after yourself just another thing to fail at?

#50: You hate doing it because you think you're doing it wrong

#49: Say no to FOMO

#48: Stop trying to run a marathon at sprint pace

#47: Is your life story dragging you down?

#46: How to ace job interviews

#45: Consistency is important, but what is it?

#44: The idea of 'quiet quitting' is dangerous

#43: You don't know how you're feeling

#42: Are you waiting for permission?

#41: Dealing with uncool emotions: envy, jealousy, resentment

#40: Why I took SO BLOODY LONG to write my book

#39: 'Thick' ethical concepts and your sneaky inner critic

#38: Freud, sublimation, and your toxic attachment to your inner critic

#37: You should spend more time thinking about your anxiety

#36: What if it doesn't need to be so hard?

#35: Why am I putting off doing that ridiculously undemanding thing?

#34: In praise of half heartedness

#33: I'm supposed to be doing what I love - what's gone wrong?

#32: You need a mindset audit

#31: Hedonism and other paradoxes

#30: Rejection stings less when you channel your inner toddler

#29: You need to date your career choices, not marry them

#28: Moore's paradox: When what you believe about yourself doesn't make sense

#27: Your new year resolutions survival guide

#26: Why writing is like sleeping

#25: You don't know what 'success' means until you know who you are

#24: Your inner critic is not a videogame boss

#23: The way you're trying to motivate yourself is all wrong

#22: Dealing with uncertainty

#21: Let's talk about lists, plans, and goals

#20: Don't just write it - ferment it!

#19: Not writing is an essential part of writing

#18: There is no such thing as self-sabotage

#17: The importance of wasting your time

#16: Stop moving your goalposts

#15: Help! I have brain fog!

#14: Become your own biggest advocate, with Immanuel Kant

#13: How to work as efficiently as you procrastinate

#12: Delete your scarcity mindset

#11: Why you have impostor syndrome, and what to do about it: remembering Katherine Hawley

#10: Dealing with your inner reviewer 2

#9: Cancel your productivity anxiety

#8: The nostalgia illusion

#7: How can I flourish in an unjust world?

#6: Live the dream!

#5: Bitch, do you even dream?

#4: How to hack your assertiveness with Aristotle

#3: Rage against the positivity

#2: But I haven't earned a rest!

#1: Toxic gratitude