The Academic Imperfectionist

#129: The hidden burden of decision fatigue

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Are you frustrated with yourself because you just can't get on with the work you care most about? Do you find it easier to make progress with ema...

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

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is it bad to be called lazy? Prince Harry thinks so: in his memoir, he suggests that it's better to called racist than lazy. But even if you woul...

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

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Be honest. You're here because you think you completely suck at self-control, aren't you? You're constantly disappointing yourself, and...

#126: Why you should care about emotional frailty

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You know what frailty is, and you definitely want to avoid it. But have you heard of emotional frailty? No, of course not - I've just made it up....

#125: Your moral gerrymandering is hurting you

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You're a good person. You try to be a good friend, a good colleague, and a good neighbour. You care about other people, you pull your weight, and...

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

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What comes to mind when you think about willpower? Discipline? Self-denial? Overcoming your weak, useless, lazy self? Exhausting, right? Thankfully, t...

#123: What do you have to brag about?

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your willingness to say nice things about yourself? How about your willingness to point out your own failure...

#122: Write it down, make it happen

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you get up every day and tear around trying to get stuff done, and yet still end up feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at your lack of progress? Th...

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

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I know how committed you are to self-improvement. Self-improvement is a good thing, right? Well, it depends. If you're motivated to improve yours...

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

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you thought you knew everything about procrastination, prepare to be humbled. Professor Wendelien van Eerde is a psychologist who has spent her ent...

#119: All about coaching

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What's coaching, what's the difference between coaching and therapy, is a coach going to tell me what to do, what happens in a coaching sess...

#118: The Academic Imperfectionist origin story

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wondered how your Imperfectionist friend here got from academic philosophy to coaching? Lots of coaching clients have asked this over the years, ...

#117: Intervention for inept time management

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you massively over-estimate how much you can accomplish in any period of time? Do you struggle to work out how long it's going to take you to ...

#116: Procrastination is a bad idea

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If only you spent more time working and less time procrastinating, your life would be so much better. Right? Friend, I know how you feel, but it'...

#115: Who cares about achievement?

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel that, unless you achieve the things you think you should be achieving, you'll cease to exist? That you'll fade away, become...

#114: Ego, resentment, and recognition

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you struggle to make sense of the jumble of attitudes you have towards your career? Perhaps you feel overlooked despite the fact that you've j...

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

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

'Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement', James Clear tells us in Atomic Habits. But what if you don't have the right ha...

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

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You've done the coaching and the therapy, you've read the books, you've listened to the podcasts - and finally, you can accept that you...

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

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You know all the advice about ignoring your inner critic, avoiding comparisons, and giving yourself credit for your achievements. But you can't s...

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

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ah, the sabbatical. Getting one is like hitting the jackpot, right? All your problems would melt away if you had one. You'd go into it a frazzled...

#109: Productivity, golden eggs, and inner critics

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What's your reaction when your inner critic tells you that what you're doing is not good enough? If you think she's right, and that it&...

#108: Your writing warm-up

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know how writing is supposed to feel when it's going well? If you're anything like I was a few years ago, you have some pretty bizarr...

#107: The problem with your sense of entitlement

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you entitled? If not, you should be. No, not like that. I'm not talking about over-entitlement, which these days seems to be what people mea...

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

21 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Focus your attention on what you can control. That's what the Stoics taught us. But if you're someone who responds to every bad outcome with...

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

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered whether Stoicism might help you manage the stresses of modern life and find peace and satisfaction despite things being far mor...

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

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Friends, you are going to feel so SEEN in this episode. Kate Ahl is an integrative psychotherapist who has spent her entire life living and working wi...

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

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I know you love nattering about your research with your fellow nerds. But do you know how to talk about it with normal people too - without sending th...

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

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Stephanie Dunson is an award-winning scholar with over 20 years' experience as a writing process expert under her belt. She holds posit...

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

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know how to turn what you're interested in thinking about into something that other people want to read about? Do you even know what you&a...

#100: What I've learned about perfectionism

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Friends, it's the 100th episode! So, isn't it about time we talked about what perfectionism is, and why it's a problem? It's over ...

#99: Hey! What you reading for?

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's a familiar story. We're feeling stuck and out-of-our-depth with our writing, so we decide we'll go and do a bit more reading - jus...

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

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When I came across Dr Debbie Sorensen's recent article, 'How to recover from burnout', I knew I had to get her on the podcast! Debbie i...

#97: When failure of inspiration strikes

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What do you do when you have no idea? When you literally can't think of anything to write about? I don't know why I'm asking. I alread...

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

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever thrown far more time and energy into your work than you get paid for? Have you ever said yes to a request to be on a dull and time-consu...

#95: The perfectionism-busting power of hobbies

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I know you think you shouldn't be making time in your life for hobbies, what with being so shamefully behind on your writing and everything. And ...

#94: Postcard from the Costa del Burnout

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So, that last episode that didn't happen. What was going on there, then? It was burnout, friends. Followed by trying and failing to take some rel...

Announcement!

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nope, not a new episode this time, I'm afraid.

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

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Your Imperfectionist pal here has lost count of the times she's recommended Joli Jensen's mind-bogglingly helpful book, Write No Matter What...

#92: Your writing-anxiety Sliding Doors moment

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Remember that movie, Sliding Doors? Gwyneth Paltrow's character lost her job and then we saw how her life unfolded in dramatically different ways...

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

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does your writing time ever turn into a stressful nightmare? You don't make the progress you hoped in the morning, which means you need to be eve...

#90: The surprising productivity of rest

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Athletes know that if they want to improve their performance, they need to incorporate rest into their training. You, on the other hand, are absolutel...

#89: Doubting your willpower is holding you back

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever tell yourself that it's your own fault that you don't have what you want in life, because you just don't have the willpower...

#88: How to be a quitter

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Never give up, right? Winners never quit and quitters never win! All nonsense, I'm afraid. The sensible advice is much more measured and boring: ...

#87: You're overlooking your unique value

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that your brain never devotes more than 0.5% of its power to important things like finding food, avoiding predators, thinking, perceiving...

#86: Every Academic Imperfectionist episode, summarised

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I've been thinking: how might someone summarise the main bits of advice from all 85 (so far) episodes of this podcast? Gather round the virtual c...

#85: The fundamental attribution error is ruining your life

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps you're already familiar with what social psychologists have had to say about the fundamental attribution error, but did you know that it ...

#84: The underappreciated value of waiting for success

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Where did we all get this idea that if we want to succeed, we need to go faster? And that if we haven't succeeded yet, that must mean that we&apo...

#83: How to be happy

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

No, not like that. I'm not talking about how to achieve the ultimate happiness, eudaimonia, or enlightenment. I'm simply talking about how t...

#82: Stop policing yourself

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How well do you know yourself? Are there feelings that you have, or things that you care about, that you're in complete denial about? Trust me, t...

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

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you hesitant to make certain changes in your life, like changing careers or ending a relationship, because you don't want the time and energy...

#80: What are you so afraid of?

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you're procrastinating, reluctant to knuckle down and get on with your work, taking way too long to do what ought to be a straightforward ta...

#79: My imperfect but adequate working day

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I keep getting asked what my working day looks like. You know, as if I've cracked this whole productivity thing. I definitely haven't, but I...

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

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Your problem with self-compassion: the one that leads you to be kind and supportive to other people, but nasty and vindictive to yourself. One reason ...

#77: Mediocrity is underrated!

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Here we are, a third of the way through January. Have you slipped up on your new year resolutions yet? Will you be kind to yourself if you do? Or will...

#76: This is what positive change feels like

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a sucker for self-improvement advice that offers to overhaul your life for the better overnight, even though you know that (unfortunately) it&...

#75: Your progress tunnel vision

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yeah, I know you're diligently working towards that big goal, and that you STILL haven't got there yet. But are you stopping to reflect on y...

#74: When taking on more can energise you

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I know. Your life needs an overhaul, but where are you supposed to find the energy to fix it? You're struggling to keep your head above water as ...

#73: How to practise being instead of doing

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Look at you there, always striving, always becoming, always hustling. When do you ever get to pause and just ... be? Do you even know how? Plenty of u...

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

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Just as trees aren't meant to remain stiff and unyielding in the face of a storm, you aren't meant to remain efficient and relaxed in the fa...

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

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you tell yourself that if only you had a day of uninterrupted time ahead of you (and, of course, the right stationery), you'd finally be able ...

#70: How to write

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Writing is why we all do what we do - or at least, a big part of it. But it's also a source of intense anxiety, whether we're new to it or w...

#69: How to read

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever try to read philosophy (or some other stodgy not-designed-for-entertainment text) and find yourself struggling to understand ... well, an...

#68: Plato (and Barbie) on perfection

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you won't accept anything less than perfection from yourself, I have some disappointing news from Ancient Greece. Back in the 4th (ish) centur...

#67: You owe your success to your flaws

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I get it: you want to be less of a perfectionist, more confident and assertive, less of a procrastinator, and all the rest of it. These, after all, ar...

#66: The only productivity hack you need

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all love a bit of productivity porn. What could be wrong with learning about how to get better at getting things done? Well, quite a few things, as...

#65: Reflections on a recent failure

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all hate failure. We're terrified of it. And so, when I chalked up a big fat failure a few days ago, I knew immediately that I needed to disse...

#64: Reject work/life balance!

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're constantly encouraged to strive for work/life balance. But it's a horrible, victim-blaming, damaging metaphor, and it tricks us into t...

#63: In defence of your comfort zone

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You know that remaining in your comfort zone is basically a psychic crime, right? Like, only losers do that. Successful people are out there pushing b...

#62: Guilt! Guilt! Guilt!

26 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whatever it is that you're doing and however it is that you're doing it, you're telling yourself that you're doing it wrong and an...

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

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You know better than to vow, after chomping your way through your fifth slice of chocolate cake, that starting tomorrow you're only ever going to...

#60: Self-acceptance or self-improvement?

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Self-acceptance is overrated, right? I mean, sure, you might feel more at peace if you could manage to accept yourself - but there's so much wron...

#59: Hold your nose and do the scary thing

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It would be great if we never felt insecure or anxious or scared when we had to do things like ask for money or refuse a request or even just get on w...

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

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You're trying to hold down your job/studies while raising your child/pet/houseplants and maybe also doing a couple of part-time jobs but also vol...

#57: Understanding your productivity shame

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's bad enough that you're nowhere near as productive as you ought to be (according to you) - but, to make things worse, you can't eve...

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

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Your weakness of will is one of your inner critic's favourite topics. She can go on for days about how weak-willed you are. But, did you know t...

#55: Inertia and your overthinking dick brain

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

That positive change you need to make, which you're not making. It's because of your perfectionist anxieties, right? It's because of th...

#54: Soothe the overwhelm with the 1% question

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, there is such a massive gap between how things are now and how we'd like them to be that there's no point even trying to make ch...

#53: When happiness tanks your productivity

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all know to expect less of people who are dealing with something difficult like bereavement or job loss or a divorce. But what about when something...

#52: Hack your fear of failure

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you supportive and compassionate and generally nice to yourself on those days when you've disappointed yourself? So many of us aren't....

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

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You've had 50 episodes of this podcast so far (well, 51 including this one). That's 50 bits of advice for you to absorb, think about, and im...

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

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Have you noticed how much time your inner critic spends looking over your shoulder and telling you how you're doing everything wrong? No, I bet y...

#49: Say no to FOMO

18 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You know, in theory, that you have too much on your plate and that you really should stop taking on even more - but, seriously, have you seen how grea...

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

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you end every day feeling guilty and ashamed because you haven't done enough? It wouldn't have killed you to send just one more email, or...

#47: Is your life story dragging you down?

21 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you view your life as a narrative? If you do, you might be holding yourself back in ways you don't even realise. From seeing failures where th...

#46: How to ace job interviews

07 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I've been on more job interview panels over the years than I can remember. I've developed my own insights about what makes for a successful ...

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

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You know you're supposed to be consistent with your writing routine. But how do you manage this, when so much of what goes into writing is so vag...

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

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Right, that's it - your imperfect friend here can't keep quiet about this any more. This idea of 'quiet quitting' that you've...

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

26 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you think that finding out how you're feeling is simply a matter of turning your attention inward? Oh, mate. You're so wrong. Often, we o...

#42: Are you waiting for permission?

12 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever said something like, 'If I don't get promoted this year, I'll feel justified in quitting this job', or 'If my p...

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

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you listen to podcasts like this one and think: But this advice is for people who are much nicer than me, who deserve success; it's not for me...

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

15 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I started writing my book, on the philosophy of swearing, in 2015. The original deadline from the publisher was December 2016. I finally submitted it ...

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

01 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Everything's a judgment with your inner critic, isn't it? It's never 'I'm having trouble focusing today'; instead, it&ap...

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

17 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You're totally on board in theory with the idea of being kinder to yourself - it's just that your self-criticism helps you succeed, right? A...

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

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you tell yourself that, in order to be a strong, successful, productive human, you need to have zero tolerance for anxiety? I thought so. You think...

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

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you one of those people who thinks that if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing painfully? Who feels like they must be doing somethin...

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

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Emails that will take 10 seconds to answer. That little pile of stuff in the corner of the kitchen that you need to take a couple of minutes to sort t...

#34: In praise of half heartedness

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you want something, you need to put in 110% to get it, right? Well, sure, if what you want is to turn yourself into an anxious mess. If you really ...

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

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lucky you: you get to spend your time researching that thing you find more interesting than anything else in the whole world! So, why is it that you c...

#32: You need a mindset audit

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You know 'Believe in Yourself' is an important message - why else would it be emblazoned across so many t-shirts for pre-teen girls?  But d...

#31: Hedonism and other paradoxes

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

According to the 19th century philosopher Henry Sidgwick, ‘The impulse towards pleasure can be self-defeating. We fail to attain pleasures if we del...