Procrastinating Perfectionist? Here’s How I Made Marketing Feel Less Overwhelming

Woohoo! You’ve just wrapped up a client project that went really well.

The feedback was great, the creative work felt energizing, and you got paid. Love that for you.

But then the high wears off, and reality sets in. You don’t have another project lined up.

You scroll through your inbox. Nothing. No new leads, no discovery call bookings, no “hey I saw your work” DMs.

You realize your marketing has been pretty much non-existent for the last few weeks. Sound familiar?

That was me, over and over again during the first few months of offering video editing services.

Like many procrastinating perfectionists, I’d go all in on a client project and completely ghost my audience while I worked. Then I’d finish the job, panic about money, and promise myself I’d be more consistent next time.

Spoiler: I wasn’t.

And here’s the thing. I did have time.

I had time to binge-watch Altered Carbon.

Time to read Circe.

Time to scroll Instagram for way longer than I’d like to admit. But I still wasn’t making time for marketing.

So I had to ask myself, why was I avoiding the one thing that would actually bring in clients?

I sat with that for a while. And here’s what I realized:

1. I was afraid to take messy action. I wanted every post, every caption, every strategy to be perfect.
2. Content creation felt overwhelming, especially when I didn’t know what to post.
3. And honestly? I was scared it wouldn’t work anyway.

If you’re not familiar with the term procrastinating perfectionist, it’s basically someone who puts things off not because they’re lazy, but because they want everything to be flawless before they even start.

And that pressure? It’s exhausting.

Once I understood why I was procrastinating, I could start building systems and habits that made marketing feel lighter. Less pressure. More doable.

Here are five things that helped me show up consistently, even as a recovering perfectionist.

1. Redefined consistency as a procrastinating perfectionist

One of the biggest pieces of marketing advice is to be consistent so your audience sees you regularly.

At the time, I was focused on Instagram. That meant trying to show up daily on Stories and posting on my feed three to five times a week.

I was (and still am) a solopreneur. Creating that much content on my own felt huge.

Trying to post with a smart strategy, on-brand visuals, and the perfect caption that would convert? It was exhausting.

I could keep up the pace for a week or two. Then I’d burn out and stop altogether.

Eventually I realized I had to define what consistent looked like for me. I decided to aim for one Story a day, more if I felt like it, and one static post a week.

At first, it felt like I was doing less than I “should.” But the truth is, it was sustainable. And something small and steady was better than nothing at all.

Are you putting pressure on yourself to post on a schedule that doesn’t actually fit your energy? What would consistency look like if it felt doable?

Letting go of the ideal and creating my own version of consistency made all the difference.

2. Found ways to market that felt easier

One of the reasons I leaned into Stories was because they were easier.

Stories felt more relaxed, like something you’d send to a friend. I could share quick thoughts, behind-the-scenes moments, or even just repost something funny or relatable.

It felt good. It felt light.

Static posts, on the other hand, felt heavier. Like they had to be polished. Valuable. Strategic. Like I needed a hook, a CTA, and a clear outcome every time.

So I gave myself permission to do more of what felt simple.

I also started scheduling coffee chats.

These were casual Zoom calls (or sometimes in-person) with other entrepreneurs.

No sales pitch. No hidden agenda. Just getting to know someone and having a real conversation.

And they worked. In fact, one of my favorite long-term clients found me through a coffee chat I did back in 2019.

It paired so well with my Stories strategy too.

I could engage with someone through Stories, start a DM convo, and it felt totally natural to suggest hopping on a call.

Marketing didn’t have to be about pushing or promoting. Sometimes it just meant being a human and having conversations.

Are there marketing tasks that feel less heavy to you? What’s one platform or format you actually enjoy using?

3. Set up a system to organize my marketing workflow

This step saved me hours of time and even more mental energy.

Having a system gave me direction. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time I wanted to do outreach or post something. I just followed the steps I already mapped out.

And no, your system doesn’t need to be fancy. Mine started out really simple.

Here’s what my coffee chat workflow looked like:

• Make a list of people I wanted to connect with
• Set a reminder to check their Stories and engage when something resonated
• After a few interactions, send a DM to ask if they’d be interested in a coffee chat
• If yes, send over my scheduler link
• Prep and show up for the call
• Follow up with a thank-you message

I stored this system in a Notion template, which made it super easy to track where I was in the process. All I had to do was plug in the name and dates.

Not every coffee chat led to paid work. But plenty of them did.

One 20-minute chat with a fellow video editor led to thousands of euros in revenue over the years.

Systems don’t just save time. They reduce decision fatigue. And for someone who tends to overthink, that’s huge.

4. Batched content to reduce context switching

Before I started batching, content creation looked like this: Come up with an idea. Create the graphic. Write the caption. Post it.

Then do it all over again the next day.

It felt chaotic and slow.

Batching helped me group similar tasks together so I wasn’t constantly switching gears. I could brainstorm five post ideas in one sitting. Then design all the visuals at once. Then write all the captions.

Staying in the same mode for longer made it easier to get into a flow. And it saved so much time.

If you’re a creative, you might think you work best when you’re inspired. And sometimes that’s true.

But too much creative freedom can feel like pressure. When every option is on the table, choosing one is harder.

Having a structure helped me stay focused and reduced the urge to perfect every single post. It gave me less space to overthink and more space to actually follow through.

Are there marketing tasks you could batch to make things smoother?

5. Gave myself permission to take messy action

If you only take one thing from this post, let it be this.

Give yourself permission to take imperfect action.

Even if you know you could do it better. Even if you feel like it’s not quite ready. Just post the thing. Send the DM. Share the offer.

A lot of my procrastination came from the pressure I was putting on myself to get it just right. The longer I waited, the heavier it felt.

Once I stopped holding everything to perfectionist standards, I could finally move forward.

And I reminded myself that not everything I do needs to lead to instant results. Sometimes a Story today leads to a client a year from now.

That coffee chat that brought in thousands? It didn’t turn into paid work until twelve months later.

Progress doesn’t always look fast. But it adds up.

Commit to 5 minutes

One of the hardest things about being a procrastinating perfectionist is getting started.

Not because we don’t care, but because starting means facing all the pressure we’ve built around the task.

What helped me was setting a five-minute timer. If I didn’t feel like writing a caption, I’d just open Notion and jot down ideas. If I didn’t feel like networking, I’d reply to one Story.

One tiny action. No pressure to “finish.”

Most days, that one action was enough to build momentum. And if it wasn’t, I still showed up for myself—and that mattered too.

You don’t have to show up perfectly.

Especially if you’re a procrastinating perfectionist. The goal isn’t to get it right—it’s to keep showing up in a way that feels doable for you.

That might look different than what you see online. It might be simpler, slower, or softer. And that’s okay. What matters is that it works for you and feels good enough to keep going.

Start small. Take messy action. And give yourself credit for every single step forward.

You’re doing better than you think.

Need a push? Read these quotes to stop procrastinating and take action today.