Do You Suffer from the Over-Prepare, Never-Ready symptom?
How to overcome the 3 bad habits preventing you from getting things done
Story
Brady had been planning his vacation for months.
Meticulously researched every travel tip
Watched countless packing videos
Even created a color-coded packing list.
He packed his suitcase with military precision, with items packed in labelled boxes.
He spent weeks, days, hours and minutes arranging and rearranging his luggage.
Every inch must be perfectly utilized.
He was very adamant that his shirts, socks and shoes were in the right place.
On the day of his departure, Brady proudly wheeled his suitcase to the door, ready for a smooth journey.
He was at the airport, about to check in.
Drats, he’d left his beloved gadgets — laptop, phone chargers, and headphones —safely packed away in a neat little box at home.
His suitcase looked impeccable, but missing the things he needed most.
Being too detail-oriented can lead to unintended mishaps.
A cliché story.
Brady’s obsession over details didn’t actually prepare him for what he really needed.
Over-Prepare, Never-Ready is a gut-wrenching reality for writers.
Are you also suffering from the Over-Prepare, Never-Ready sympton?
You start to write. Hours pass, but you are far from hitting the publish button.
The more you look at your draft, the more anxious you got.
Let me work on it more. I’ll publish tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes, you start again. You do more work.
But you are not ready to hit publish.
Oh well, I can still publish tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes again.
Does this sound familiar?
If yes, you may be hit by the Over-Prepare, Never-Ready syndrome.
The worst part, you never get to hit that publish button. You are guilty and anxious. You feel trapped.
These 3 bad habits are preventing you from getting things done.
Habit 1: Obsession Over Every Detail
Are you sabotaging your writing progress because of this habit?
You spend too much time on:
1. Getting your grammar correct
You’re stressing over every comma and semicolon, convinced that a single mistake will make readers run for the hills.
So you lose sight of the actual message.
It slows you down and leads to perfectionism paralysis, leaving you with unfinished content.
What if you prioritize clear, engaging writing over perfect grammar？
What if you use tools like Grammarly to catch major issues? Minor errors will not stop you from publishing.
What if your ideas and voice matter more than flawless punctuation?
2. Searching for quality images
You spent a disproportionate amount of time on various photo websites, getting your post to “picture-perfect”.
I used to do that too. Until I realized simple diagrams work too. And it works especially well for distilling big ideas. Think of visual impact.
For example, here’s an infographic I created:
3. Fixating on length of posts
Is this too long or too short?
Are there too many or too little stories?
Should I add in more points?
The more you question yourself, the more your posts go astray.
The real focus should be on delivering value and keeping your readers engaged.
To counter this, aim to write with one topic. Go for clarity instead of hitting a specific word count. Long or short, so be it.
4. Formatting to perfection
Should your post be about aligned headings and bullet points?
Yes.
But the real game-changer is crafting content that’s easy to read and meaningful.
Focus on the flow instead of the technicalities.
An article may have the ultra perfect structure, but without flow, readers stop at the first sentence.
And that’s our death sentence.
5. Chasing subscriber count
Firstly, I’m majorly guilty of that.
Having said that, it is a new writer’s syndrome for me.
I posted my statistics on notes when I crossed my one-month here.
Now I want to be free from that mindset and apply the energy to write better stuff instead.
Constantly looking at subscriber numbers create constant distractions.
This leads to anxiety-driven decisions rather than focusing on what really matters: your readers.
Advice to myself: create better content for my readers.
Quality beats quantity every time.
Habit 2: Feeling insecure unless you are fully armed
You need to prepare.
You must have all the tools, resources, skills available before you feel ready.
You wait to start because more preparations are needed.
Procrastination is like an old friend following us around.
We feel insecure, so we procrastinate.
Because we fear failure, we overthink and we are paralyzed by perfectionism.
it’s like being stuck in quicksand. The more you try to move, the more you sink.
This is a downward whirlwind trapping you into:
1. Avoidance Behaviour
This is a defense mechanism that keeps you from facing feedback, failures and challenges.
Instead of protecting yourself, this leads to increased anxiety and missed opportunities.
You become majorly stuck because of this.
The compound effect then, is huge!
2. Self-Doubt Spiral
Negativity and procrastination are circling you.
The more you doubt yourself, the more it reinforces your limiting beliefs about yourself.
When you are in this spiral, you find it hard to make decisions.
Criticisms get to you and you always view things through the narrow scope of negativity.
These 2 rats in our minds hit us with the mental block of focusing on mistakes.
Focus on learning from those mistakes instead.
Habit 3: Stubbornness
This is the hidden cost that is pulling you away from success.
When I’m stubborn, I
insist on doing things my way because I have been doing them for years
refuse to listen to feedback and suggestions from other people
blind myself to the fact that there are more innovative methods
I know best, period.
But that means:
stifling your creativity
blocking self- improvement
not keeping up with trends
How to counter stubbornness?
1. Stay open-minded
Challenge your own ideas.
Navigate around new approaches.
Pivot to what works.
2. Embrace flexibility
Know that the above is a process and not an ending.
Be ready to adapt and revise based on what’s effective, not what you prefer.
3. Encourage experimentation and collaboration
Value the input of others.
This opens up new perspectives.
Access and into integrate them into your approach.
Break free from the over-prepare, never-ready symptom
Get rid of these 3 bad habits:
Obsession over details
Feeling unprepared and insecure
Stubborness
Which habit prevents you from getting things done?
Let’s find out from this poll:
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