To Learn or To Delegate? How to Know When It’s Time to Bring in a Pro

Sure, you could do it yourself but should you? Learning to identify when it’s best to bring in an expert will free up valuable time and energy and help you achieve work-life balance.

We’re all enrolled in the school of life. It seems like every day we’re given learning opportunities by getting thrown into new terrain. Whether it’s bookkeeping, social media management, or planting a garden, we’re all exposed to unfamiliar tasks on a regular basis. Each time we’re faced with one of these novel tasks we’re faced with 2 options: acquire a new skill or delegate it to a pro.

There are lots of reasons we might choose to take on the tasks ourselves:

– It’s an opportunity to learn something new and expanding skills is awesome!

– Doing it yourself will help you save some money.

– You think you can do it faster so it saves time.

– You’re not sure who can do it for you. Finding that person sounds like a lot of effort.

– You have trust issues and don’t think someone else can do it right.

– It comes down to pure stubbornness. You refuse to let someone else help you out.

– Your ego has chimed in and is feeling threatened by the idea of someone else doing it for you.

But when you think about it, you realize there are some good reasons to bring in some mindful delegation™:

– Having someone else who knows what they’re doing saves you time. It would take way longer if you did it.

– You might screw it up, costing you more money in the long run.

– You want it done right so bringing in an expert is the way to go.

– You have absolutely no motivation to learn how to do this thing. It’s best to leave it to someone who loves doing it.

– The law requires the input of a professional.

– Utter laziness. You just don’t feel like doing it and that’s okay.

– You’d really rather do something else instead.

Sometimes it’s glaringly obvious its time to bring out the expert like when you need to remove your wisdom teeth (please don’t do this yourself, even if you’re a trained dentist). Other times, it’s a little less obvious. In these cases, it’s best to do a little self-reflection to explore whether you want to do it yourself.

Here are a few questions you can pose to yourself to determine whether it’s worthwhile to take on the task yourself out delegate it to someone you trust.

– Is it worth learning?

– Do I want to learn how to do it?

– Does it save time or money?

– How could I better use my time?

– Could someone else do it faster?

– Does learning how to do this thing enhance my life in new ways?

Honestly, truly, not every task can or should be done by you. Trying to do it all yourself is what leads to a sense of overwhelm, mistakes that could be avoided, and wasting valuable time on something that could more easily be done by someone else. And, of course, we’re here to help you delegate the tasks that you’re ready to let go of. Become a member if you’re ready to start delegating like a boss.