Overwhelmed? Here's 3 Ways Delegating Helps You Be More Productive
As a business owner, you’re probably used to the hustle mentality. You know the one. A lot of entrepreneurs, and even employees, pride themselves on being constantly busy, never sleeping, always on the go. Glued to their phone.
But is that really the type of life you want to live?
Most women feel trapped in the corporate world. Like they have to choose between life and work. The constraints of stuffy business practices affect their well being and limit their freedom.
If you’re like most women entrepreneurs, you started your business because you’re passionate about what you do. And you’re darn good at it. But you found challenges along the way in your “traditional” career.
So you decided to branch out.
Now it’s on you to make sure not to build the same roadblocks within your own company. After all, that’s what being your own boss is about. Being able to build the career of your dreams.
How One Super Simple Work Habit Has Changed My Career
Are you constantly dreaming of having more time to get things done?
It’s in this constant pursuit for more that we often find ourselves biting more than we can chew. So it’s a good idea to stop and check in with yourself every now and then. To evaluate whether what you’re doing is in line with what you want. That your actions and goals align with your own definition of success.
Many times, we find ourselves filling our planner with busywork that we could stop doing. You can fall into this habit out of fear — who else will do it like me? —, out of shame — I should be doing this —, or even out of FOMO — well, So and So is doing it…
But you have a limited amount of resources (that’s time, money, and energy) to do everything in your life. If you devote those resources to things that don’t contribute to your well being or your growth, is that their best use?
You can build a successful company on your own. But if you want to scale that company, you better learn how to effectively delegate. You don’t want your empire to rely solely on your shoulders.
A strong team (even if it’s just you and one more person!) is way greater than the sum of its parts. By delegating, you learn to trust, communicate, and collaborate with another person, you bring a fresh new set of skills and knowledge to nurture your projects, and you get to witness the expansion of your vision in ways you haven’t even dreamed of yet.
Plus, you get to focus on your strengths and get your best work done without worrying about the sides that weigh you down.
In our minds today: Marie Forleo’s How to Create Work That Lasts: Ryan Holiday Interview
3 ways delegating helps you be more productive:
Free up your time to focus on your real talents
When you’re juggling everything in your business and life, your attention becomes scattered. It’s hard to focus on the task at hand, you have less time to give to the more demanding aspects of your job, and you’ll likely drop a ball or two because you’re stretching yourself thin.
When you let go of the smaller tasks in your business, you give yourself space and open up the resources (time, energy, and focus) to work intentionally in the things that drove you to start a business in the first place.
You’re able to hone in on your expertise and give your best version of yourself to everything you set out to do. Your clients thrive, your business grows, and you have the capacity to take on more projects when you have a strong support team.
Get an outsider perspective
When you’re up close with a project, it’s hard to keep a balanced perspective and realize when something’s not working the way it should. Whether you’ve been writing a course, developing a proposal, or leading a team, it’s an excellent idea to have an “outsider” look at the work you’re doing so they can point out anything you may have missed.
When you delegate things like revisions, proofreading, bookkeeping, and even project planning, you give yourself space to crank out the work without fearing imperfection because you know you have a solid network that helps you elevate everything you do.
In collaborating, you’re opening up to the insights of your team and ensuring that the final product is the result of a group effort, making it that much more valuable for your customers.
Master a few tools instead of half-knowing a lot
I get it: Once upon a time, you had to do the bookkeeping, the lead generation, and the sales. You learned all about email management, invoicing, and more.
But are you truly an expert with all the tools you use on a regular basis?
Whether you are a coach, a project manager, or a recruiter, when you hone in on a few consistent tasks and perform them over and over, you gain a whole new level of experience with the tools your job requires. You become an expert, sharpen your craft, and provide your customers with an incredible experience with your brand.
Not only does this allow you to sell yourself more confidently. You’re also able to charge more and sell more as an expert.
Seven Habits That Seem Lazy (But Actually Let You Get More Done)
Are you truly working to your fullest potential?
Key takeaway: Identify the tasks in your business that are essential for you to do. And get rid of the rest.
Whether you choose a virtual assistant, an online business manager, a social media team, or a bookkeeper, when you let go of control and accept that it’s ok to have a support staff, your business reaches heights you couldn’t dream of.
You gain confidence in your business’s ability to thrive without running yourself to the ground, and you feel empowered seeing a strong team that’s working to support and nurture your business with as much passion as you are.