Asking yourself to stop overthinking can be as hard as asking yourself to stop breathing. We find ourselves thinking so very hard about all there is to do, to write, to create. Too hard. Thinking too hard about the content you put into the world is sure to do one thing: ruin it.
Perfection Isn’t Possible
It’s just not. It’s that simple. The more you try and force something to perfection, the further away it will get.
Besides, ‘perfection’ is an ambiguous term. What does it mean, anyway? Something that is perfect to someone may not be perfect to another. Just look at how different opinions are on Nickleback! No two people will look at content the same way. Some may love it, some may scroll past – and that’s okay.
What matters isn’t that it’s perfect. What matters is that your personality shines through and that you’ve added something to your brand by creating it.
Procrastinating Perfection
You know when you have an idea so good, you just can’t imagine putting it to paper? It’s so great that anything you create won’t measure up, which causes the idea to get shelved forever.
That’s the insidious power of overthinking. Your brain works itself into a frenzy over the concept of your idea not being good enough. It’s a never-ending cycle of failure without even trying.
The solution is simple: get that idea on paper. Don’t edit as you go, just write the words, make the graphic, film the video. A first draft is always messy, but it’s the first step to creating your vision. An eternally blank page is worse than the potential of falling short.
Stop trying to live up to standards you (and everyone else) will never reach! Creativity happens when you set realistic, attainable goals.
Yes, Edit, But Don’t Overdo It!
As we said, a first draft is the place to be messy. Editing is the way to get from that messy first draft to something your company will be proud to put out into the world.
Proofreading and rereading are two great ways to find problem areas, as well as having someone else look over our work. Our brains are trained to skip over our own mistakes, especially little things like typos we’ve already reread several times!
Still, when going through the editing process, keep it short and sweet. You don’t need pass your paper around to the entire office to get good feedback! Over editing is a real thing, and your voice, authenticity, and even your point can be lost if you fall victim to it.
If you find yourself making edit after edit, not knowing whether any of them are actually making your content better, it may be a good time to take a step back.
Find Inspiration
Many writers complain of not knowing what to write about. Nothing seems good enough: no topic, no headline, no thesis statement quite measures up. But for readers, it’s not about “good enough,” it’s about what they genuinely want to read. If you understand that, everything you need is right in front of you!
For inspiration, take a look at what’s trending on the platform you’re trying to use. Do you want to put something out on Twitter? See what’s already on your timeline, or what hashtags and topics are trending. Are you trying to figure out what to blog about? See what people are searching for online that’s relevant to your industry!
The internet is a whole world of inspiration – just don’t spend so long searching for inspiration that you don’t have time to create.
Just Be You
It’s one of the oldest pieces of advice out there. We’ve been hearing it since elementary school. But sometimes, cliches are cliches for a reason.
Perfection isn’t fun to read. It isn’t relatable, or enjoyable, or in any way realistic. What your readers and customers want the most is to see you being real.
So, say goodbye to overthinking. Goodbye, writer’s block. Goodbye, unattainable perfection.
Hello, realistic, enjoyable content.