This should be easy and obvious to every businessperson and leader, but it can be extremely difficult in practice. Face it, there’s only so much any of us can do in a day, week, month or year. As you get better at what you do, and your business grows more and more successful, demand for your time will increase but you will still have the same 24 hours each day to spend on your work, family and outside interests.
Your time is limited and precious, so why waste it doing things you don’t enjoy and specialize in? If you continue to do things you don’t like, or that aren’t your core competencies, you are holding yourself and your business back. Even “Super You” needs super support.
Think of time management through delegation as a matrix:
1. Keep what you love to do, that only you can do. These are probably the core competencies of your business, and might include strategizing, planning, outreach to partners, speaking… essentially, whatever makes You = You.
2. Delegate what you love to do, that other people can do. For example, if you love to design newsletters but it isn’t the core of your business and you are pressed for time, pass it off to your Virtual Assistant. You can always reclaim the task if you miss it and more time magically appears down the road.
3. Delegate what you hate to do, but feel you “should” do – like making your own travel arrangements, or picking out furniture, or even doing the day-to-day management of your inbox. A key sign of this type of task is that you procrastinate on doing it.
4. Delegate what you hate to do and others can easily do, which should be an easy choice. If you hate to design webpages or write copy, hire someone else! If you hate to create Excel spreadsheets or Powerpoint presentations, hand it off!
Did you notice that 75% of things can and should be delegated? Now that you’ve started to realize the magic of hiring a Virtual Assistant, or a team of Virtual Assistants, here are a few tips to get the most out of the amazing pool of talent available to you.
1. Articulate the desired outcome. Focus on the result you want to achieve, but if the “how” is important to you, just let your Virtual Assistant know. Otherwise, allow the skills of your Virtual Assistant to shine – you’re delegating something you don’t like to do to someone who probably loves to do the exact same task and excels at it!
2. Give a clear outline of your expectations regarding timelines, deadlines, checkpoints, how to handle questions, and the format of the work you expect to see. Be available for questions as your Virtual Assistant does the work so any issues can be resolved quickly and easily if they arise. Feel free to check in yourself any time for a progress report or if your vision or needs change.
3. Offer feedback, both positive and anything that you’d like to see improved. Your Virtual Assistant will be happy to fix anything that isn’t perfect. Also, this will help your Virtual Assistant learn what you liked and didn’t like about their work and equip them to do even better for you next time.
Doing work you are passionate about is energizing. If every day is a struggle to make it through an impossible to-do list, cut out anything you don’t love and keep only what you truly enjoy. We’re here to ensure that you wake up excited, knowing that all you have on your plate is what you truly love to do. Our mission is to empower you to share your unique gifts with the world – let us do the rest!