In a perfect world, we would only do the tasks we love and have time to do. There wouldn’t be any rushing, cutting corners, late nights, or multi-tasking. We would just do our best work, close our laptops, and call it a day. Sounds pretty dreamy, doesn’t it?
But, as we all know too well, the world is *not* perfect. Most of us are routinely working on things we don’t love. We’re spending our time and our talents on tasks that aren’t a great fit for us. We’re not connecting with our work because we’re either feeling burnt out or we lack the passion for it.
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way! You just need to learn to do two very easy — but incredibly valuable — things!
Two Words To Learn ASAP
There are two words you need to learn right now if you want to have a more manageable work-life: delegating and outsourcing. These two concepts can not only help you achieve those next-level business goals, but they can also protect your mental health.
When you choose to focus on the areas where you can make the most impact, you feel more passionate about your work. Not only that, you will be more able to push through when challenges present themselves. And they will… often.
So many of my clients have fear around delegating and letting go of the control. However, every single one of them comes back to me afterward to say how much of a game-changer it has been for their business. Why is that?
When people (especially “Type A” people) think about letting go of a task that’s important to them, they panic. They fear that no one else will be able to do it like they do it. They worry that it will take more effort to train someone to do the task than it takes to just do it themselves. They’re skeptical whether another person will “get it” or see the big picture. But what is all this fear costing you?
Delegation and outsourcing don’t have to be a scary experience *IF* you take a few precautionary steps before handing over the reins.
Setting Everyone Up For Success
It’s so important to remember that when you outsource or delegate work, the desired outcome is the same for everyone involved. You’re all on the same team, and everyone is hoping for a win!
Set yourself and your team up for success by doing some planning and organizing beforehand. This will allow you to communicate your expectations clearly, and it will help you measure if the work was completed to your satisfaction.
So what does this look like?
First, you need to write down the process, step-by-step. This is commonly referred to as creating Standard Operating Procedures, and you should have them for every task that matters in your business. Keep them updated so you can always just quickly send them off to a team member or contractor.
Next, make sure you know what your expectations are. You can’t delegate well when you don’t really know what you need or want the outcome to be. Communicate this to the person who will be completing the task for you so they know what is expected.
Lastly, measure the success and tweak as needed. Just like everything else in life, the first time you delegate or outsource a task, it probably won’t go perfectly. But you will learn things. For example, you may learn that you need to be more clear or you may need to shorten a deadline.
You will hopefully be able to determine whether the person can handle this and future tasks, which is a huge first step!
Done Is Better Than Perfect
Sometimes a task just needs to get done so you can move on. This can be a tough concept for a lot of business owners because we tend to be perfectionists. I know I am! I often feel overwhelmed by my desire to want to do everything myself because I want to make sure it gets done just right.
However, in order to move forward and make progress, I had to learn that “done is better than perfect.” With so many moving pieces and so much to learn and do, it’s impossible to get everything done perfectly every time!
What helped me is starting with something small. Look at your personal life, too! Sometimes delegating the housework to a house cleaning service once a month can feel a lot less scary than handing over social media marketing to a contractor. Time and energy saved is all the same, whether it comes from your business or your personal life.
I’m going to end this post with some homework for you. I want you to pick something to delegate or outsource this month. It can be something small (e.g. one blog post) or something bigger (e.g. booking your upcoming business trip).
Come back here to let me know how it goes or share your experience on one of my social media pages!
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