14 Tasks To Delegate and Reclaim More Time

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As a successful, purpose driven person you cannot afford to waste time.  You always have a plate load of competing priorities, much of it being dictated by others.  The question always becomes “What is the absolute use of your time?”  The answer is basic.  Your time should be spent doing the most important things, that things that you do that most contribute to your purpose.  Find the tasks to delegate so you can reclaim valuable hours for the important things in your life.

This is easier said than done.  I know this from personal experience. Yet, purposeful living is not supposed to be easy.  It is supposed to be fulfilling, meaningful, and impacting.  Unfortunately, those things are not as valued today as is business.

Most of what you are doing can be delegated.  It’s so much easier to review work than to do it yourself!  Here are a couple of suggestions to get you started.  These may not all apply to your situation.  I tried to think broadly about different types of busy people, from business owners to stay at home Moms.  While you many not identify with all of them, they will inspire you to think creatively about what you can (and should) delegate.

7 TIME DRAINING TASKS TO DELEGATE NOW

1. Clerical tasks. Do not do this yourself.  From answering phones to coping with your correspondence, employ an assistant or a service to handle these.

2. Research. Is it sometimes necessary to find market data, a new software application, or an analysis of a particular issue?  Do not spend scarce time doing it yourself.  There are online researchers, virtual assistants, and even college students who have access to great analysis databases and tools.

3. Correspondence. This is a wonderful activity to delegate.  You can make it even easier by recording your thoughts and then passing a copy of the recording to an administrative assistant for processing.  Word processing assistance is specifically helpful if you’re producing large volumes of books, workbooks, or other word-intensive products as a part of your business.

4. Grocery shopping. It is becoming easier by the day to shop for basic grocery items online and have it delivered to your door. It is also surprisingly inexpensive. Think about how much value you could create in your life by eliminating the time to drive to and from the store and wandering the isles.

5. Personal and Business Bookkeeping. Accounting, budgeting, balancing statements, etc… is possibly one of the most exasperating tasks in any business of family.  If your finances are not so complex as to need a professional, use the free tools supplied by your bank and credit card companies to minimize your time with these activities.  At a minimum, keep your documentation organized in folders so as to they can simply be transported to and managed by your accountant.

6. Web design and maintenance. If your online presence is an important part of your business, and specifically if it is more complicated than most (using shopping carts or interactive databases), ask somebody with technical expertise to assist you.  While it’s a good idea to know about all the parts of your business, even how to deal with your website, recruiting a helper is the best solution in terms of productivity.

7. Personal errands. As a busy person, hiring somebody to do your personal errands will free you up to work on the important things.  It also gives you that much needed break when you just want to relax at home.  Having somebody to do personal errands like renewing subscriptions, addressing snail mail, dry cleaning, or meeting deliveries and repair people at home can free up time that may be spent doing things more purposeful.

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7 MORE TASKS TO DELEGATE

Household fixes – plumbing, painting, fixing the gutters, appliance repairs

Car fixes – brakes, oil change, spark plugs, that “funny sound” that shouldn’t be there

(These things are kinds of projects that are just big enough to have someone who is experience focus on this issue.)

Cleaning – Vacuuming, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen, windows

Yard Care – Mowing lawns, weeding, landscaping, watering gardens

Home Maintenance – Laundry, dishes, meal preparing, grocery shopping, cooking

Pet Care – Dog walker, doggie day care

Lifestyle – Travel preparing, party preparing, gift shopping, errand running

(some of these are courtesy of http://www.chosencourse.com/)

If there just aren’t enough hours in the day for you, start looking at how you spend those hours.  Get creative.  What can you release that is draining your time away?  Start delegating those things today!