Delegating is hard!!! For those of us that have bootstrapped our business we’ve become accustomed to doing it all and trying to figure out what and how to delegate seems like more work than it’s worth. So for the uber competent, slightly control freakish owner we’ve created our 5 Steps to determining WHAT to delegate.
- Find a quiet spot. Thinking effectively takes space: both physical and mental. Clear some time in your schedule so you won’t have interruptions and physically move to a quiet spot. Get away from the email pings, staff/client/contractor interruptions. Make space for the thoughts to flow.
- Write down everything you do. Often this will result in writing down the high level and complicated tasks or the tasks that are taking up the most time. That’s great; but write EVERYTHING down. Not sure where to start? Visualize what you do every day from the moment you wake up until you head back to bed. Feel free to leave showering and teeth brushing off the list but otherwise really write down EVERYTHING.
- Circle what you love doing. Using your red pencil circle everything on that list that brings you joy and that you truly deeply love and feel passionate about.
- Circle the items you feel are high value. Using your blue pencil, review the items you’ve just circled and circle any of those that you feel are high value to your life and / or your business. There may be some items that you don’t love but that you feel are high value – circle those too.
- Circle items that you feel only you can do. Use your green pencil and review your high value much loved items and circle those that only you can do. That you feel would be impossible to delegate or outsource.
Now, sit back and review your list. Anything that is circled in red, blue AND green will be items that you will want to hold on to. They bring you joy, satisfaction, high value to your business or life and you feel they would be onerous or impossible to delegate. Everything else you’re going to start delegating.
To find out HOW to delegate that list come back August 30th.