Struthless's 70% Rule video, reviewed for perfectionist procrastinators
In this 2020 video, Australian illustrator Campbell Walker (Struthless) proposes the 70% Rule: release work when it feels about 70 percent as good as you want it to be, because the last 30 percent is where perfectionism stalls projects indefinitely. It is personal advice from a recovering perfectionist, not research, but it targets a genuine driver of procrastination.
Watching loads the player from youtube-nocookie.com. Video by Struthless (Campbell Walker); embedded for review purposes.
| Creator | Struthless (Campbell Walker) |
|---|---|
| Length | 10 minutes |
| Published | 2020 |
| Type | Creator commentary |
| Best for | Perfectionists whose projects die waiting to be good enough |
What the video argues
Walker's argument is that perfectionists do not procrastinate because they are lazy but because their standard makes every task unfinishable: nothing can start until it can be perfect, and nothing can ship until it is. The 70% Rule cuts the knot by making 'good enough to release' an explicit target. He is candid that the rule is a personal coping mechanism from his own creative paralysis, illustrated with his usual scrawled drawings, and that shipping imperfect work repeatedly is how his career actually started.
Where it aligns with the research
The link between perfectionistic concerns and procrastination is real: fear of failure and evaluation anxiety were among the main factors students reported in Solomon and Rothblum's foundational study, and lowering the standard for starting is a recognised route out of avoidance. The rule also works like a crude exposure exercise, repeatedly shipping at 70 percent teaches the feared judgement mostly never comes. But no study has tested a 70 percent threshold; the number is rhetoric, not measurement.
The honest criticism
It is one idea stretched across ten minutes, and it only helps the perfectionist subtype; if your procrastination is driven by boredom, task aversion or distraction rather than fear of imperfection, the rule has nothing for you. It also needs a boundary the video never draws: some work, surgery, structural engineering, tax filings, does not want a 70 percent standard. For creative and career output, though, it is a memorable correction aimed at the right target.
Anecdotal advice whose target, perfectionism-driven avoidance, is well documented in the research, even though the rule itself is untested.
Solomon, L. J., & Rothblum, E. D. (1984). Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31(4), 503-509. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.31.4.503
Related
Solomon & Rothblum on fear of failurePerfectionism, in the glossaryThe two-minute rule
Frequently asked questions
Is the 70% Rule backed by research?
The specific number is not; no study has tested it. What is backed is the diagnosis: perfectionistic concerns and fear of evaluation are established contributors to procrastination, and lowering the bar for starting and finishing is a sensible response to them.