“Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
This well-known quote by Winston Churchill conveys an important reality for UPSC hopefuls. In a marathon such as the Civil Services Examination — popularly referred to as the ‘Mother of all exams’ — perfectionism may seem like an asset, but it is one of the most perilous psychological pitfalls you could fall into.
In this blog, we’ll decode:
- How perfectionism manifests in UPSC prep
- Why it’s counterproductive? (with evidence from psychology and topper journeys)
- What Does Perfectionism Look Like in UPSC Prep?
- Practical, proven strategies to combat perfectionism.
Many aspirants unconsciously fall into perfectionist tendencies:
- Spending weeks on one topic trying to ‘complete it fully’. Many students just open Lakshmikant book and read polity , that too selective topics like Fundamental Rights for weeks together. They believe that they have to read perfect and retain the concepts. The basic thing they miss is that conceptual clarity comes from imperfections and then rightly correcting them.
- Delaying answer writing practice until ‘everything is perfectly prepared’. Many aspirants see Topper’s copies and are afraid if they could write such answers. Instead of starting answer writing practice, they just find multiple ways to right perfect anwers, which doesn’t happen in the initial attempts.
- Avoiding prelims/mains tests fearing poor performance. Many students suffer from a FOND syndrome I.e., ‘Fear of Not Doing’. Due to this fear, they do not start writing tests and procastinate in the name of perfection. The outcome is missing test after test and finally dropping that attempt. This is the most common thing you can see many aspirants.
- Accumulating endless material for a ‘perfect resource base’. UPSC paper is conceptual and dyanamic. No single book contains all the sources.The more material you gather, the less you can retain. Revising the standard contents from reference books would be more than sufficient.
- Constantly comparing notes, ranks, or routines with others. Every aspirant is unique in their own way. Your comparision with others should be outcome oriented and scientific. Many aspirants overtell their strategies. Don’t fall into that trap.
If this feels familiar — you’re not alone. You can visit La Excellence and talk to our mentors about your pitfalls in prepration. They can guide you on certain proven strategies of UPSC prep.
Some Insights given by our Mentors at La Excellence are:
Why Is Perfectionism Harmful? (Evidence-backed Insights)
- It Causes Decision Paralysis:
Psychologists term Perfectionism as ‘analysis paralysis’, where overthinking leads to inability to act.
In a vast syllabus like UPSC, chasing completeness is impossible. The exam rewards relative performance, not perfection. Even the topper scores just less than 50% of the marks in Mains.
The Journal of Behavioral Decision Making (2016) reported that perfectionism makes you feel more anxiety and indecision, and subsequently perform worse under pressure.
- It Enhances Anxiety and Burnout:
Perfectionists create unattainably high expectations and berate themselves even for small mistakes. This induces chronic stress, low self-esteem, and emotional burnout.
A study by Clinical Psychology Review (2017) associates perfectionism with increased anxiety disorders, depression, and burnout rates, particularly in high-stakes competitive settings.
- It Hinds Creative Working and Prioritization:
UPSC requires careful reading, intelligent revision, and effective use of time. Perfectionists tend to be unable to make a distinction between ‘essential’ and ‘optional’ material, burning time on diminishing returns.
Toppers such as IAS Tina Dabi (AIR 1, 2015) always stress: “You don’t need to know everything — you need to know what matters for the exam.”
- It Delays Answer Writing and Test Practice:
Aspirants delay mocks, in fear of bad marks or ‘incomplete preparation’.
But actual growth occurs via feedback and iteration — not alone.
Anudeep Durishetty (AIR 1, 2017) penned: “Your first answer will always be bad. Get it out of the way quickly.”
Break Free from Perfectionism — Working Strategies
Few strategies suggested by our mentors to combat Perfectionism are:
1. Mindset Shift to Progress:
Trade ‘perfect preparation’ with steady progress. Give yourself daily achievable targets:
- Read one topic
- Write one answer
- Revisit one subject
- Small wins add up.
- Employ strategies such as the Pomodoro technique (25-min focus intervals) to avoid rumination and do it fast.
2. Accept Imperfection as Growth:
Begin writing answers early, even if they seem incomplete. Writing the process enhances structuring, expression, and gaps in content identification.
Attend test series (Prelims + Mains) and consider low scores as feedback for improvement, not a measure of capability.
3. Adopt a ‘Good Enough’ Resource Strategy:
Limit resources. Select one standard book per subject + 1 newspaper + one monthly current affairs magazine. Edit many times rather than running after infinite PDFs and toppers’ notes.
Eg: Laxmikanth for Polity → Read 3-4 times. Avoid changing resources in between.
4. Learn to Prioritize
Categorize topics into:
- High importance (often asked — Economy, Polity, Environment)
- Medium importance (Ethics, Disaster Management)
- Low importance (seldom asked, peripheral topics)
- Dedicate 70% of effort to high-importance topics.
This you can do better only when you have a better idea on exam syllabus and the demand of the exam.Your understanding of the exam demand comes after thorugh practice.
5. Practice Detachment:
Meet UPSC prep as a professional obligation — not an identity.
Success or failure in an exam does not make you who you are.
Sai Chaitanya Jadhav (AIR 68, 2024) said: “Your preparation should be intense, but your attachment to outcomes should be minimal.” He emphasises on Nishkama Karma.
Conclusion: Progress > Perfection
UPSC is not about perfection. It’s about:
- Consistent effort
- Intelligent strategy
- Resilience in uncertainty
When you catch yourself falling into perfectionism, tell yourself:
Better to do than to be perfect.
Better revised once than read never.
Better an average answer tried than a perfect one left blank.
For more such preparation strategies, you can read here: https://laex.in/category/preparation-strategy/
La Excellence IAS Academy, the best IAS coaching in Hyderabad, known for delivering quality content and conceptual clarity for UPSC 2025 preparation.
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