Banishing the to-do list: 7 steps to become a master delegator

The end of summer is a busy time of year.

If you haven’t yet embraced the handy practice of delegation and outsourcing, you are doing yourself a disservice. This could be as simple as asking for help from a friend, family member, or colleague, or hiring someone to provide a paid service.

Here’s your thought for the day— “Life is short: outsource your hassles.”

When people balk at the idea of paying someone else to do something that they can do, I encourage them to think about the value of their time. There are a few ways to do this.

Some people find it easiest to think about their hourly wage when they think about what an hour means to them. Although this is not always a fair or accurate estimate of the value of one’s time, it can be a good starting point.

Others think about this in terms of opportunity cost. Simply put, this means that for every choice one makes about how to spend one’s time, there are opportunities or options that one opted to decline. For example, if I am spending my weekends cleaning the house or running errands because I do not have time to do this during the week, what am I missing out on in the meantime? Many people do not think about this—they think only of the things that need doing in the moment and then somewhere down the line, frustrated and unhappy, they realize what the opportunity cost has been all along in doing things a certain way.

For an overscheduled mom, an hour of uninterrupted free time for her to run errands or get her nails done once a month might be worth the extra $15 to $20 she would pay a babysitter to watch her child. If she doesn’t have the money available, she might offer to exchange childcare with a friend so they each get some time off—in this instance, everyone wins and no money is spent.

Dual-earner couples who make a good salary but work long hours may want to protect their brief evenings together by paying someone $300 to do the housework a few times a month. For some couples, doing this insulates their marriage in the long run from the gradual wear and tear of everyday hassles. It also saves them the trouble of arguments that often arise around housework delegation.

So, when you think about the cost of doing something yourself, don’t think about it simply in terms of time and money. Think about the emotional and mental energy that go into keeping and tackling a long to-do list alone.

If paying someone outright for a service is not an option, consider the possibility of barter or trade. Friends do favors for each other all the time—just be sure you’re not always on one end of the favor.

Here are seven steps to help you become a master delegator:

1.) Stop it before it starts. Prevention is key. If you say no to more things, you’ll have less to do. See if there’s anything you can do to shorten your to-do list. Practice politely declining for a week and see what happens.
2.) Develop your list of hassles. These are the small but redundant tasks that add a lot of stress to your week. Write down every obligation, errand, and duty you can think of—be thorough, and don’t worry about whether or not some of them are things you can delegate.
3.) Identify the problematics. After making your list, identify your top three or five worst ones. You could measure this by how much time the task takes, or how much you dislike a certain task.
4.) Ask for help. Decide which tactics you are comfortable with and can afford, and investigate these options. Then, practice asking for help on certain tasks. If you want to barter instead of paying someone outright, consider your unique skills and talents as something you can offer in trade.
5.) Follow through. All the research in the world won’t help you if you don’t follow through. Be sure you make your request. If someone isn’t interested, that’s fine. See if someone else is willing. You’re not the only person you know who has an unmanageable to-do list who could use some help.
6.) Embrace good enough. One of the biggest reasons people do not delegate is because they are confident in their capacity to do something but are concerned whether others will be able to meet their standards. You are, of course, entitled to your standards. You may find it a bit easier to delegate if you are willing to modify your standards a little bit. And you are always welcome to “shop around” for a better option if you are dissatisfied.
7.) Evaluate, rinse, repeat. After trying delegation on for size, see how it suits you. I’d suggest trying this a few times or over a period of a few weeks or months before making a decision. Check in with yourself on a number of factors to evaluate the outcome—how it felt financially and emotionally, and what it did in terms of your free time, and so forth.

Are you a master delegator? Please share your tips and suggestions with me.