Delegation is a process.
What if getting the help you need didn’t cost anything?
The primary reason we don’t seek help when we are overloaded is we don’t want to spend the time or the money. However, I’ve found, paying for a service or training someone is the last step in getting the help we need.
A few years ago, I was exhausted from working full time but couldn’t find a way to pay for any help. This is when I discovered a simple process for delegation. Soon after, I turned this into my ‘tiers of delegation‘ model.
The four tiers:
1) Routines to consolidate daily or weekly tasks (an example of this is my Set it up Sunday)
2) Documenting systems out of these daily routines – do this as you are doing your daily tasks, and put them into a folder labeled “systems.”
3) Getting free or low-cost services (Acuity for client appointments is one of my favorites).
4) Hiring or outsourcing to another person.
This simple process helped move tasks off the plate without creating more work or expense. The bottom three tiers have nothing to do with paying someone, and only after we’ve completed them, might we consider that as an option. This also helps us “let go” of tasks that we often feel we must take back. Often, we end up taking tasks back we give away prematurely because people don’t do it “our way.”
We don’t have to wait to get help until we can “afford” it or spend extra time. Instead, we can recognize that offloading the overload is a process, rather than a destination, which will help us honor our wellbeing as we achieve our accomplishments.
What is one task you feel you could “move up the ladder” either into a routine, system, or free/low-cost service? I like to use the tiers of delegation visual model to brainstorm. Feel free to share the takeaways below.