When
I sit down with a client to work on prioritizing and delegating,
the biggest challenge we face is deciding what kinds of activities
and responsibilities to give up. Quite often, we get so entrenched
in what we think we SHOULD be doing, that we forget to pay attention
to what we ENJOY doing. So when it comes time to let go of the boring,
tedious, and time-consuming tasks that eat up our day, we have a
struggle trying to identify them.
It is incredibly difficult for people to admit that they can't do
everything themselves. Well guess what -- you can't! And I don't
know that you would want to, even if you had the time. Some activities
in life are unpleasant, outside of your range of expertise, or just
not what you want to spend your time on. And there is nothing wrong
with admitting that you don't want to do something, as long as you
can find someone else to do it for you. That is the purpose behind
creating a not-to-do list -- helping you identify chores, errands,
and daily responsibilities that you can (and should) delegate to
another person.
GETTING STARTED
They key to creating a successful "not-to-do" list is awareness
-- paying attention to what you do, how long it takes, how often
you do it, and whether or not you get some benefit from that particular
activity. However, we spend so much of our days on autopilot and
in a state of overload, that simply trying to recall how you spent
yesterday morning can be a real challenge! You will make things
much easier if you keep a NOTEPAD nearby, where you can record your
daily activities.
This doesn't mean that you have to log every second of your day
("8:00 -- got up" / "8:05 to 8:10 -- used bathroom" / "8:15 to 8:45
-- had breakfast" isn't really going to help you be more effective
and efficient!) But if you can start tracking your work activities
(could be paid outside work or housework or whatever fills your
day), your travel time to and from activities, and any other external
responsibilities (committee meetings, carpools, volunteering), you
will begin to see places where you can trim and tighten your schedule
through delegation.
So as you sit at your desk or work in your house or travel in your
car, make a note of what you are doing -- such as "checking e-mails"
or "cleaning oven" or "buying groceries." Then, estimate how much
time you have spent on that particular chore or errand (don't forget
travel and preparation time). We will continue on later with some
in-depth questions about whether this action needs to be done at
all (!!) and whether it needs to be done by you. But for now, that's
the start of your "not-to-do" list.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME IS WORTH?
When you were a kid, you probably had no clue what it took to earn
money -- and you had no qualms about spending it freely on anything
that caught your eye. But when you got an after-school job or started
working for your allowance, you became a lot more discriminating
about where you spent your hard-earned cash.
It's the same with time. Very few people in our society really know
what their time is worth -- in concrete financial terms. But until
you recognize that your time is intrinsically valuable, you will
never be able to make informed decisions about where your time is
best spent. Here's a general guide you can use in determining how
much an hour of your time is worth -- determine your annual salary
and divide by the number of days you work each year. Then divide
by the number of hours you work a day. That's how much your hour
is worth
Now, think about how much time you lose to disorganization a day
-- multiply that by how much your hour is worth. Then multiply that
back again by the number of days you work each year -- that's how
much one wasted hour a day for a year is COSTING you. Staggering,
isn't it?
So, you can always look at delegating in terms of the biggest financial
payoff. When I hire someone to take care of an item on my not-to-do
list -- and I pay them $25 an hour while my hour is worth $60 --
I'm coming out ahead. The same is true when I can hire someone to
do a task in a half hour that would take me 3 to complete. I can
be focusing on higher priorities -- things that feed my soul or
grow my business or let me know I'm alive -- without worrying that
the work isn't being done.
LOOK AT COSTS VERSUS BENEFITS
Have you ever caught yourself spending a lot of time on a very low-payoff
activity? Maybe it's something that really does need to be done
-- like addressing 1500 envelopes for a routine mass mailing or
cleaning all of the window screens in your house -- but it's not
something that is going to tremendously improve your quality of
life. And it might be a hugely time-consuming activity, where the
rewards you will reap don't even begin to compare to your investment
of time and energy.
Most of these kinds of low-payoff jobs really serve as maintenance.
The completion of these small activities doesn't make a major impact
on your life -- but if left undone, they can erode away at your
home, your career, your health, your peace of mind and cause serious
problems down the road. That makes these chores perfect candidates
for your "not-to-do" list -- items that really need to be done,
but not necessarily by YOU. Here are some of the most common suggestions
I hear from my clients -- see which resonate with you as being potentially
delegable:
- house cleaning
- grocery shopping / meal preparation
- paperwork (filing / mailings / organizing)
- errand-running
- yard work / landscaping
- home maintenance / car maintenance
- follow-up with clients (phone calls / e-mails)
- travel / meeting / event arrangements
ARE YOU HAVING FUN?
Of course, you have to pay attention to more than just the financial
cost of each task you perform yourself. You also have to ask if
you really enjoy the work. Even though I could probably find someone
else to maintain my website for me, I really enjoy the process of
creating new pages, bringing ideas to life, and watching my "baby"
blossom and grow. It is time consuming, but I'm filled with a renewed
energy each time I sit down to add a new section to my site. So
the payoff for me is in the emotional charge I get -- the sense
of satisfaction and creativity -- and that is priceless, regardless
of what my hour is worth.
On the other hand, my sister loves gardening. She finds it incredibly
relaxing to dig in the dirt and watch a tiny bud explode into color
in her front yard. Now lawn care is pretty much my idea of hell
-- so I would probably hire someone else to take care of my shrubbery
and flowers (if I had a yard!) It's all a matter of what energizes
you, what fills your life with joy, and what you look forward to
doing. If an activity fits this description, keep it for yourself
and find other less-pleasurable chores to include on your not-to-do
list.
IS THIS THE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF YOUR TIME?
The final question I always ask my clients when setting up their
lists is, "What is the best possible use of your time at this exact
moment?" We usually tend to focus too much on the daily grind --
paying bills, keeping the house clean, writing reports, etc. --
and too little on our real PRIORITIES. Do you really need to be
organizing the garage, or spending time with your kids at the park?
Is it a higher priority that you decide where to put the coffee
pot and how to arrange the chairs at the upcoming sales meeting,
or that you develop a strong agenda and provide guidance during
the group discussion? Ask yourself where you will get the biggest
bang for your buck. That should be where you focus your attention,
and let someone else handle the rest.
FINDING AN ALTERNATIVE
Okay, so you've made a list of items that you would love to delegate
-- who do you hand them off to? You have so many options!
- Get your family involved in the act -- kids and spouses are just
as capable of handling those daily chores as you are!
- Ask a co-worker for some assistance -- and offer to help out the
next time he or she needs a little bit of a break
- Make use of your support staff (administrative clerks, assistants,
and other assorted minions) -- that's what they are there for
- Hire an independent contractor or freelancer to help with household
and business tasks that you don't have time for
- Develop a local co-op for sharing those time-consuming domestic
(trading off on cooking, cleaning, errand-running, or child care)
-- or set up an informal swap with a neighbor
Just remember, you aren't in it alone. You simply have to decide
what you want to delegate and then be willing to ask for help. Good
luck!
Ramona
Creel is the founder of OnlineOrganizing.com
--
offering "a world of organizing solutions!"
Visit OnlineOrganizing.com
for organizing products, free tips, a speakers bureau -- and even
get a referral for a Professional Organizer near you. And if you
are interested in becoming a Professional Organizer, we have all
the tools you need to succeed. (Copyright 2000, Ramona Creel)
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