Every time I attempt to get organised, I find myself procrastinating wildly or calling my mum. A life coach diagnoses perfectionism. Can I make peace with ‘good enough’?
I am on the phone to my mother for what feels like the fifth time in as many hours. This time, I am asking her what on earth I am supposed to put in the box asking for the value of my furniture. I am, to clarify, trying to renew my flat’s contents insurance. Mum sighs.
Her frustration is understandable. I call her all the time, to ask whether I should switch energy supplier or which flight to book. I panic about whether to file things alphabetically or chronologically (and it ends up being neither), or whether to pay my flat’s service charge monthly or quarterly. On the face of it, the anxiety I have around personal admin is hard to understand. After all, I am perfectly happy to do much more traditionally anxiety-inducing things: public speaking, exams or writing about myself online. The insurance renewal, though, has been bothering me – I’d already put it off until the last possible day.
