On perfectionism, procrastination and finally taking my own advice

Hi, I’m Bel, and I’m a recovering perfectionist.

There should probably be a support group for people like me – people who can write entire strategic plans in an afternoon but will spend three weeks choosing between two words that say the same thing. People who can produce content for others at lightning speed but mysteriously lose all ability to hit “publish” when the work is for themselves. People who agree with the expression “done is better than perfect”… while quietly polishing the same sentence for the 56th time.

Which brings me to our website – our long, long, long overdue website zhoosh.

For months (okay, years), I treated updating our site like a cervical screening I kept rescheduling. I knew it needed doing. I knew we had outgrown the old one. And yet, there it sat, quietly judging me.

Then in walks Peita… former newspaper editor, world-class whipcracker, and the human equivalent of a deadline with legs. She has this rare superpower: the ability to cut through waffle, indecision, and emotional attachment to adjectives with one sustained eyebrow raise.

“Bel, it doesn’t have to win a Walkley. It just has to go live.”

Rude. But fair.

The thing is, working with someone who used to close newspaper editions on the daily does strange things to a recovering perfectionist. It’s like I’ve been living in slow-motion while she’s been living in an Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talk. You cannot cling to perfectionism when someone next to you is saying, “O.K. What’s next?”

And honestly? She’s right.

So, this month, we (and by we, I mean me) took a wee dose of our own medicine. We stripped back, tidied up, clarified, deleted, rewrote, reordered, and finally – finally – hit publish on a website that actually reflects who we are. Simple. Clear. Frank. Earnest. And (brace yourself) slightly imperfect in places.

Because it’s a work in progress. As it should be.

Learning to embrace “good enough for now” feels a bit like learning to cold-plunge: mildly horrifying at first, surprisingly invigorating once you're in. I’m not saying I’ve given up on caring. I’m just learning to care quicker. To trust my instincts. To stop overthinking the bits no one else will ever notice. To let Peita’s inner editor keep me moving.

And most importantly, to take the same sage advice we dish out daily: publish the thing. Share the story. Get it out in the world. The only bad content is the content still sitting in drafts.

So yes, the new F&E website is here. It’s cleaner, clearer, more us… and absolutely still evolving. Progress over polish. Momentum over manicuring.

And from this lil recovering perfectionist to you, I say: you really can hit publish before everything is perfect. Look…I just did.

Bel