The Mental Health Behind “Done, Not Perfect”
Why progress beats perfection in creative work
Perfectionism has good PR.
It shows up dressed as “high standards” and “professionalism.” It pretends it’s helping you. It tells you it’s the reason your work is good. It whispers, If you just tweak it a bit more, you’ll finally feel proud.
But for most creatives, especially those of us living with mental illness, neurodivergence, chronic stress, or burnout… perfectionism isn’t a quality control system.
It’s a cage.
And “done, not perfect” isn’t a motivational quote for lazy days. It’s a mental health strategy. It’s a way of choosing momentum over misery. It’s how you keep creating when your brain is trying to protect you with fear.
Let’s discuss why this matters, what perfectionism really does to creative work, and how progress becomes the safer, smarter path forward.
Why Perfectionism Feels “Responsible”
Perfectionism often starts as self-protection.
If you make something perfect, no one can criticise you.
If you get it exactly right, you won’t be rejected.
If you never post the work, you never risk being seen.
Perfectionism is rarely about the work itself. It’s about what the work represents: your identity, your competence, and your worth.
For many business owners and designers, branding and creative output feel personal… because, well, they are. You’re not just making a post. You’re making a statement about who you are.
So when perfectionism shows up, it’s usually trying to keep you safe from:
Judgement
Failure
Embarrassment
Rejection
“Wasting” effort
Being misunderstood
The problem is that perfectionism doesn’t actually keep you safe. It keeps you stuck.
The Mental Health “Tax”
Perfectionism might look productive from the outside. But internally, it often creates:
Anxiety and hypervigilence
Creative paralysis
Burnout
Shrinking self-trust
Joy-loss
If you’ve ever felt exhausted after “just designing one thing,” it may not be the work itself that drained you. It may actually be the pressure you put on it.
Psychological Safety of “Done, Not Perfect”
“Done” creates closure. Closure calms the brain.
When you finish something… just post it, send it, publish it. It gives your nervous system a signal that you’ve completed the loop and that you’re okay.
And once the loop is complete, you gain something perfectionism can’t actually offer: momentum.
Momentum is mental health-friendly because it:
Reduces rumination
Builds self-efficacy (“I can do the hard things”)
Creates structure
Lowers the stakes of each individual piece of work
Helps you learn through real feedback, not imagined fear
Perfect is an illusion. Progress, on the other hand, is data.
Progress tells you what works. What connects. What feels aligned. It allows your craft to evolve in real time.
Progress beats perfection is creative work because it’s how skill is built.
No creative becomes brilliant by waiting until they feel brilliant.
You get better by making a lot of things. Some of them awkward, some of them great, some of them ‘eh',’ some of them unexpectedly incredible.
Perfectionism tries to skip the learning curve. It demands mastery before repetition. But creativity simply just doesn’t work like that.
Progress is what builds:
Style
Voice
Consistency
Confidence
Skill
Range
“Done, not perfect” gives you permission to create your way into clarity.
What It Looks Like in Business
It looks like:
Choosing a brand direction and committing for 90 days instead of rebranding every other week
Posting the reel even if the captions aren’t poetic
Publishing the blog post even if you could technically tweak another paragraph
Sending the proposal even if you’re nervous
Launching the offer before you feel ready
It also looks like boundaries:
“I’m not doing endless revisions”
“This gets one final proofread, then it goes out”
“This is good enough for this stage of business”
Because “done” doesn’t mean sloppy. It means appropriate. It means proportional effort.
Practical Ways to Practice
Here are a few quick strategies you can use when perfectionism is hijacking the process. These are strategies I try to implement myself and teach my clients:
Set a time limit, not a quality limit: Give yourself a set time (eg. 45 minutes) to design the post. When time’s up, it’s done.
Decide your “minimum viable version” first: Ask what does this need to do, then create only what supports that goal
Create templates and rules: Perfectionism thrives in endless choice. A simple brand system (fonts, colours, layouts) reduces decision fatigue and makes “done” easier
Practice low-stakes shipping: Post a casual story. Share a quick tip. Make something intentionally simple. Train yourself to tolerate being seen
Keep a “proof of progress” folder: Save testimonials, kind messages, wins, work you’re proud of. When doubt hits, you have evidence (not just feelings)
On A Personal Note
For me, perfectionism gets louder when my mental health is wobbly. When bipolar symptoms flare, when I’m tired, when my nervous system feels raw, the urge to control the outcome is more intense.
That’s when “done, not perfect” becomes more than just another mantra. It becomes a form of self care.
Because choosing “done” is choosing:
Sustainability over self-punishment
Courage over hiding
Trust over control
Momentum over rumination
And over time, that choice builds something bigger than a portfolio.
It builds self-trust.
Perfectionism will keep moving the finish line. Progress builds a path you can actually walk.
So if you’re stuck right now, consider this your permission slip.
Make it simple. Make it clear. Make it done.
Your creativity deserve movement. Your mental health deserves mercy. And your future work (the truly brilliant stuff) needs you to keep going.
If perfectionism is making your brand feel heavy, scattered, or impossible to keep up with, I can help. My human-centred branding process creates calms systems that reduce decision fatigue and help you show up with clarity (without burning out).
Book a discovery call with me to get started.
