As a very busy entrepreneur, we tend to swim in a deep pool of to do lists and there are times we drown ourselves in a deep sinking feeling of overwhelm. Delegation seems tough if not impossible.
The other day, I had a conversation with an awesome client, she is a very successful entrepreneur but she struggles a lot with delegation. Everything is all in her head – her task list, her modules, her materials, her promo ideas, her design ideas, etc. Everything that she wants to implement sits comfortably in her brain and has a hard time dumping it all out.
I can no longer count the number of times she said: “Oh but it’s easy, I can do this at all – no problem!” – But that is exactly the problem – every single thing seems to be easy and fast and it ends up sitting on her to-do list – adding up the burden and consumes her time. Then she wonders – why is it that her to-do list seems endless…
The answer is very loud and clear – she wants to do the things all by herself. Can you relate? Is this you?
Delegation is a skill that needs practice. You have to learn it, practice and utilize it to be effective in it. Here are some tips that will help you in honing your delegation skills
1. List down your reasons (or should I say excuses)
Find out the main reason why you are not delegating. Some of the excuses that I often hear from clients are “I’m too busy to delegate or write down instructions” or “It’s better if I do it myself” or you’re afraid that if you’re not busy enough – you’re not handling your business well.
There will be a lot of excuses and when you do this exercise, make sure you’d be honest with yourself. This is the most challenging and critical step so no skipping here.
2. Adjust your behavior
Now that you know why you aren’t getting rid of those tasks, it’s time to get out of that of that mindset and adjust your behavior. Track your time for a few days and see what particular task eats up most of your precious time.
Ask yourself is that task profitable? Is it providing high value to my vision and my business? Can this be delegated?