How to Create More Space in Every Day with Ruthless Delegation - October 7, 2024

This month, I’m celebrating the nine year anniversary of my business. I have now officially been my own boss for nine months longer than I’ve held any job. It’s a big milestone, especially when I consider that next year will be my ten year anniversary, and I’ll have a kid headed off to college.

Whew! Time flies.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my nine years as a solopreneur is how important it is that I only take on the tasks and activities that I alone can do. The rest needs to be delegated.

In my business, my expertise is as a coach and facilitator. I am not a bookkeeper, tax professional, blog writer, newsletter creator, or anything else. For those roles, I know that someone else can do and likely will do the job better than I can, and one of the ways I create more space in my day is to make sure that I’m outsourcing these tasks as best I can.

How to Create More Space in Every Day

A common topic that comes up among my clients is the challenge of creating more space in the week. Nobody seems to have any time. I don’t even like to say that, because we all have the same seven days a week, 24 hours a day. But when I talk to my clients, a common challenge is in trying to find some room. They’re wondering, “How can I get more space to breathe? To eat lunch, to get some distraction-free time?”

This is often about being able to find the time to concentrate, which can be difficult these days with all the distractions built into our lives through technology.

I sympathize deeply with this plight. When I started my business, I soon found myself working nights and weekends, which is the opposite of what I wanted when I set out on my own. When I tried to take on my own bookkeeping, I quickly found myself months behind in reconciling because I disliked the task so much that I completely avoided it. My books became a mess — a sure sign that I needed to delegate.

When I’m working with people who want more time in the day, I invite them to look at their calendar through the lens of the question, “What are the things that only I can do?” Most people haven’t considered that question.

In my business, I know that my strengths are in coaching and facilitating. This is why I have a virtual assistant, a bookkeeper, an accountant, a business coach, a blog editor, a tech support person (my 18-year-old son/computer whiz), sometimes a therapist and mind/body coach, and a large community of other coaches/consultants/facilitators with whom I can brainstorm and problem solve.

The “solo” in solopreneur is a misnomer. I can’t do this alone — I should not do this alone — but the idea of outsourcing work to create more space isn’t exclusive to solopreneurs. It applies to employees and leaders at companies big and small, and my clients are proof of this.

Recently I was working with a client who wanted to find more focus time in her schedule. I asked her, “What are the things that only you can do, and no one else?” It was Friday and we were looking forward at the next week. She said, “Oh! I just found three hours.” That’s a lot of time! It turned out that she and a staff member were going to attend several meetings together, and she realized that really, only one person needed to be at each meeting. Voila! She had three unscheduled hours just like that.

What is Truly Your Expertise? Your Purpose, Your Role?

Digging in a bit deeper, consider what your role is within your organization. This applies whether you are working for yourself or for someone else. What is your expertise? And what, specifically, were you hired to do that no one else can do at the company?

Years ago I had a job where, as the head of HR, I reported to the COO. She was a very early riser, and would arrive at the office around 6:30 am, hours before my 9 am start time. By the time I got to the office, she had already responded to any email sent to me on which she was CC’d. I started to wonder, “Why is the COO doing my job?” I found out that she was doing the same thing with a lot of people on our team. I thought, “When is she doing her job?”

One thing that people, especially leaders, often forget is that when they do the work for other people, they’re taking away the experience from someone else. The growth opportunity vanishes, and they’re robbing the team member of their authority. In my case, I was the leader of the function and she was undermining me. It wasn’t even that we disagreed, but it caused people to start emailing her instead of me for questions that I should have been answering, creating even more of a work load for her!

This is something I have seen more than once: Leaders doing things that aren’t really theirs to do. In my situation, I was being more than micromanaged. She wasn’t just overseeing, she was actually doing. (As a side note, I did eventually go in and talk to her about it and the behavior changed.)

Whether you’re in a leadership position or not, we all want team members to get clarity about what they can and should do, and what others need to do. Let go of the meetings that other people can handle. Allow people to respond to emails before jumping in on something that isn’t your area of expertise. Free up time for yourself by focusing on your specific domain.

You are the Only Spouse/Child/Parent/Friend/Etc.

Another important aspect of this idea is that each of us have important roles that only we can play outside of the workplace. You are the only person who can mother/father your children, or be the loving supportive spouse for your partner, or show up as a devoted child to a parent.

Part of the sandwich generation, I am challenged with supporting my mother from four states away as she transitions into assisted living… all while continuing to raise my son, who is still in high school. I know I can’t do everything on my own, so I hired a social worker who specializes in geriatrics as well as movers who specialize in moves for seniors. For my teenage son, I hired a college essay writing coach and an executive functioning coach to support his neurodiversity.

I am one person. I can do a lot. But I am far from Superwoman (I’ve tried and it’s a sure path to burn out!) And while I am fiercely independent, I would not have the successful outcomes I have had in my business and my life without significantly relying on the community of people that I have to support me. Delegation, in fact, is the only way I have seen such success over the course of nine years.

Do you want support in helping to clear space on your calendar by identifying the things that only you can do? We’ll pinpoint what to do with everything else and make a plan to move forward confidently. Connect with me here.