As I write this, I am thinking of all of the folks who have emailed me lately. They’re probably wondering why in the world I haven’t responded to them yet. Pleeeeease forgive me.
I know I have some incredible guest posts waiting in there and some great opportunities, as well. The problem is that I’m swamped! When I left on vacation a month or so ago, I got back with a little surprise. My inbox had reached 906 emails. And that’s with me trying like crazy, when I could, to respond during my time off.
I was able to get that down my first week back to 500, but that’s about where I’ve stayed since. But with all of the travel, speaking, podcast, and … uh … racing, I need help to get on top of it all! Actually, I currently have it knocked down to 443—for at least a few minutes.
There just isn’t enough time in the day to do all the things I need to do, AND have a life. Through the years, I have replaced a lot of tasks by hiring others to do them. I don’t change my oil or work on my car anymore, although I used to love both tasks.
I don’t mow my lawn (although I’m not missing that). I even have some help around the house. Now, I’m getting to the point where something has to give administratively if I’m going to keep this kind of pace.
While I was in Tucson, Arizona at our EntreLeadership Master Series event, I had the chance to talk to Bryan and Shannon Miles with eaHELP. They provide executive assistant help by the hour. Yes, by the hour! How cool is that!
So for someone like me, whose not quite ready for a full-time assistant or doesn’t have the time to spend weeks trying to find the right person, you’re covered.
Our time is more valuable than what it costs to have someone mow the lawn. The same idea goes for business. For a start-up, it’s a great way to get team members on-board for only the hours you actually need them.
Outsourcing your life does not mean cheapening your leadership or that you are failing. It is the opposite. You are freeing yourself up by trusting someone else to do the thing that only you can OR want to do.
Question: Would you be willing to outsource part of your work to get back more of your life?
That’s a form of delegation. And for me, if I was at that place I would want to some how reward that person with pay. I would feel bad, even if someone wanted to do it for free and I could not reward them financially.
@RicardoEquips Definitely. I’ve never been good at receiving free help. 🙂
@Chris LoCurto @RicardoEquips I’ve never been good at receiving ANY help… 😉
@Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto I think more the problem with me is a pride issue. I’ve got that, “I am the giver and no one gives to me” mentality. Personally, I think I took that verse of Jesus to the extreme where He says, “I came serve, not to be serve to.” So at the times when I KNOW I need help, I do not ask for it. I can be seriously hurting on an issue or situation and I will not call for help. lol! One of the people on my ministry team is very pushy about me receiving her help. She’s like, “Sit down, shut up. I got this!” lol! I think I also have a fear of taking advantage also. So it’s a pride and fear thing for me. But at the same time, I want to get to a place where I can help other to help others. But for that to happen, I would have to receive help. Because I cannot give away what I do not have. So it’s a catch 22 kind of thing. lol!
@RicardoEquips @Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto Recognizing it is the start- humility ties into it will help you gain traction. Sometimes you will serve by letting others showcase THEIR talents, it isn’t all about you, nor was it ever all about Jesus – he let them do what they could, met them where they were and accepted them- good, bad or ugly. So trust in yourself to know whats true in your heart and accept and give- its the same gesture, and a gift to both parties involved.
@Kathleen @Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto Amen to that. I’m learning, that’s for sure. My team members stay on me. “Here! Take this, you need it” is becoming a natural thing for me to hear from them. I give them so much and they are like, “Let us give back.” lol! One team member just paid for all the website domains and another got me a new computer screen when the other one almost burned down my desk. lol! My mom also came in with a PC screen two. Now I’m stuck with two PC screens. I gave the good one to my wife and kids to use. So I am learning to receive little by little. Thanks for the word Kat (If you don’t mind me calling you that?).
@RicardoEquips @Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto Yes, no problem with Kat- goes with my many personalities..lol!
Glad you have a good support- and they lift you up when you need them to. Now to the two screens, that’sanother blessing just so you can do twice as much when you AREN’T delegating. (typed on my right monitor while my left monitor screen has a spreadsheet open..)
@Kathleen @Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto Well I already had two computers. I have a desktop and a Macbook Pro on my desk. So I always have two screens going. And my wife has a desktop and a laptop. So now she has one for her and another for the kids. We had another PC that had no screen that we were not using and were just saving until our 2 youngest of 4 kids got old enough to use one without smashing them. lol!
First off, no need to apologize, like you said, you gotta have a life!! Email can’t run it!
Second off, this reminded me of the recent podcast with Joe Scarlett and his comment about if you get good at delegation you will NEVER become a workaholic! Ricardo is exactly right. You are talking about a form of delegation!!
I would be MORE than willing to outsource part of my job…around 30 hours or so worth!! Haha. Then, like you said, I could have a little bit of my life back!
This reminds me of te book “The Power of Focus” by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, I believe. In there it talks about exactly what you were saying, what is your time worth? If you want to be successful, you’ve gotta focus on the things only YOU can do, and mowing the yard, changing your oil, scheduling appts, etc do not fall in that category! Delegate them, and do the things that you and only you can and must do to be successful!
Thanks for the reminder! Good luck with the email 😉
@Skropp It makes for a happier less stressful life!
@Chris LoCurto More happy? Less stress? Sign me up!!
@Skropp @Chris LoCurto the saying goes <“happiness is something you decide ahead of time” choose happiness as you delegate.
Chris, do you just like stepping on my toes? This is one of the things I struggle with the most as a high C. I would be much better suited to BE your assistant than to consider HAVING an assistant. It’s hard to relinquish control, but if the busyness is eating up all your time, then it’s important to let go. Life is too short to do nothing but work, and it takes away from your effectiveness as a leader if you are caught up in the minutiae. Great reminder, and good luck with that email.
@CarolDublin From one high C to another, I couldn’t agree more!
@skottydog @CarolDublin 99 C here. I GET this!
@Lily Kreitinger @skottydog Like minds!
@CarolDublin @Lily Kreitinger @skottydog I love high C’s!!! It is very difficult for a high C to let go of something, because in your mind, you ARE the person for the job. But there are only so many hours in a day, and there are WAY more people than there are hours. (That made sense in my head)
So delegating doesn’t mean you aren’t needed, it just means you can focus better and more precisely on your most important tasks.
And I KNOW y’all are about some precisions!! (said in funny tone)
@Chris LoCurto @CarolDublin @skottydog It just means you’re needed MORE to do something else. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @skottydog Yes – it’s hard to get past the thinking that no one will do it as well as (or the same as) I would – and lots of times, it doesn’t matter. And that kind of thinking keeps me from doing something else well or on time. Challenges!
Of all the things to delegate, I’d definitely pick this one.
I delegate watching TV to my DVR, reading email to my wide array of filters (thank you Google Apps!) and so on. I still enjoy mowing my own lawn, but mostly that’s because I get to drive a tractor and feel like a farmer for about an hour each week.
Recognizing your limits, and realizing where your time has the greatest value, is a mark of maturity. I struggle with this all the time. I just listened to Rabbi Daniel Lapin make this point in “Thou Shall Prosper” last week, that he needed to mow his lawn to make his wife happy, but instead he hired the neighbor kid to do it for $100 and spent his time doing a proposal for a local business that brought in $500. He paid the kid $100, netted $400 and everyone walked away happy. That made it a good deal for everyone involved. No one was taken advantage of and everyone’s time was used to good effect.
Goodonya for seeing the same thing in your own life.
@Bret I love that example from Rabbi Lapin. We could also view it as an opportunity to give people a source of income too!
@Lily Kreitinger @Bret If I could do the same, I would have that kid mowing my lawn twice a day. 😀
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Bret Haha. Can you imagine that convo: “but Mr. LoCurto, I JUST mowed it this morning” “I know son, but every time to mow it I make $400” “well then Mr. LoCurto, I’ll mow it again, but my fee just doubled!” haha capitalism…love it!!
Another great post! While I have been learning to delegate more, I am finding that the true art form involved is deciding what TRULY should be delegated. When I look at the mounting task list, or inbox, I have to ask myself a few questions. Which of these should just be passed along/ handed off? Which of these remain simply because I need to be the one to handle things but I have procrastinated because they are not enjoyable? Which of these can just simply wait or be removed from the list? Its a constantly evolving science to figure it out. It does make me feel better that someone else doesn’t have a zero inbox, sorry Chris.
@Domerskee Good points about what is on the task list or inbox because I’ve procrastinated. And on the flip side, I sometimes find myself diving into routine busywork (and if I’m being honest), it’s to avoid more complicated thought work. Helpful to have the whole scope of your tasks updated so you can make good assessments on what to do and what to hand off.
@Domerskee So, so true!! Thanks for bringing that up!! I hadn’t thought of that aspect. But you’re right. Delegating the WRONG tasks will have the opposite effect. It will cause more stress and more work long term! Thanks for the reminder!! Burnt Rice Alert!!
@Domerskee I think the thing is, I have to delegate what’s keeping from growing. If I spend my time in the menial tasks, it holds me back from the bigger money making tasks. If I can get rid of the menial, hello growth!!
I’m sure you have all seen this already, but Michael Hyatt has a great blog post about managing email. https://michaelhyatt.com/yes-you-can-stay-on-top-of-email/
I wish my current situation aloud for me to delegate tasks. I am currently working 3 jobs about 75 hours a week to keep my families head above water. With that said, I hope you can follow this analogy…. Like squeezing a tube of toothpaste to make sure it is truly toothpaste inside, God squeezes those of us who appear to be Christians to see what comes out. Every day while I am being squeezed, I strive to make sure my faith grows in the right direction and that God sees that; he promises twice the blessingf for my troubles, and I am excited to see what he has in mind. Congratulations on your success Chris, you do great work and encourage us all day to day. This is a great opportunity to bless someone else with work! I think Dave Ramsey was having the same problem when he started hiring guys like you to take ownership of divisions of his business. I guess that means you are following his footsteps.
@TroyD Man Troy, I feel for ya! When those hours get long, remember you’re not alone! I work 65-75 every week too, only in one job. So you’re not the only one!! I have tons of respect for you doing what you gotta do for your family! It ain’t easy!! And you’ve got a great attitude about it, ashamed to say, a lot better than mine often times!! Thanks for being a great example!!
Thanks Skropp! I didn’t mean to bring the mood down with my story, just trying to help other keep fighting the good fight.
@TroyD Naw, you didn’t bring the mood down!! You’re a great example. I’m glad to know when I’m reaching hour 70 every week there’s a CLoBlog pal there with me!!
@TroyD I hope the 75 hour deal is not a long-term situation. God bless your hard work!!!
Thanks for the note @Lily Kreitinger its all in Gods time, I
know he is pushing dirt around in my life preparing a foundation for something great. I will work long hours has long as He needs me to. Once the doctors clear my wife to work again (car accident) we are GOOD TO GO. We have a new approach to life after this, our faith has grown immensely and we can’t wait to bless others and change lives.
@TroyD We’ll keep you in our prayers.
@Lily Kreitinger @TroyD Absolutely praying!! The great thing is, God has had a plan for thousands of years. The tough thing is, we don’t know His timing. But it’s always right.
Thats why they call it faith! Thanks Chris!
Chris- may all your blessings be so bountiful!
It’s a good time to insert grace into the service of delegating. No one wants to be handed a task in the tone of, “do this, because it’s beneath me to do it” . True appreciation should ring through each task to make every moment matter.
@Kathleen Absolutely Kathleen!! It’s should be the attitude of “you will do it faster, cheaper and better quality than I could, so please do this task for me?” there is a lot to be said for delegating tasks to don’t like or are not good at doing. It’s not that they’re beneath you, it’s that doing those tasks you hate or are difficult for you sucks ALOT of energy from you!! Great point! Thanks
@Kathleen AAAAAMEN!!! I always teach that delegating is so you can duplicate yourself. Not so you don’t have to do what you don’t want to. You have to be willing to do exactly what you ask of your team members.
And I’ll TAKE those blessings!!!
@Chris LoCurto and true to you, you will share them and they will multiple. 🙂
@Chris LoCurto @Kathleen Delegating = duplicating. I love that.
@Kathleen Love this Kathleen – it’s so true. My bro in law helps me delivering invoices and other documents around the city. His job may be considered ‘less important’ but for me…he frees me up SOO MUCH. Every time he completes his delivery route, I dump heartfelt thanks and appreciation all over him. He is one of my most valued team members.
@Aaron Nelson and in your appreciation he is moved to do his job with joy and able to spread his gratitude around!!! Its what they mean by God wanting us to be obsessively concerned with the needs of others to make work that matters- I am sure he will be willing to go the extra mile for you as well!!!!
You made my heart happy hearing your warmth and appreciation for him- thanks!!!
@Kathleen I just read ‘Who’s Packing Your Parachute, and it drives it all home: https://darrenhardy.success.com/2012/07/whos-packing-your-parachute/ — Enjoy.
@Aaron Nelson thanks- will check it out!
@Aaron Nelson @Kathleen Wow – powerful story – I’m off to find my “parachute packers” to say thank you right now!
We are on Baby Step 3, and every so often I feel funny about having someone cut our grass–especially when I’m home! But then I break it down like this: He charges 85$/month. That’s $21.25/week. He does it in 20 minutes. It would take me 3 hours, between edging, cutting, and using the blower to clean up. Not only does it take away from something else I can do during an afternoon, but I would have to make less than $7/hour to make it feasible to do it myself. Fortunately for our family, that is not the case!
Whenever I take on a project at home, assuming I CAN do it myself, I think of how many hours it will take me versus how much I make per hour at work. If the numbers aren’t worth it, or the project is tricky I will hire someone for the job!
At work, I am the opposite! I try to take on all projects and difficult tasks myself. Like Carol said earlier, being a “high C”, we try to do it all—as long as it doesn’t require gasoline, power tools, or ladders, that is!
@skottydog Just try to pry my mower out of my hands and see what happens! 🙂 That is the most relaxing 2 hours of my week!
@tbric1 @skottydog Too bad we weren’t neighbors! We could have worked out a great little arrangement! 🙂
@skottydog I’m with you Scott!! He could mow mine too!!!
@Skropp @skottydog I don’t know what you guys do to wind down, but headphones with some great tunes and NO CELL PHONE, NO EMAIL, NO ANYTHING is the most relaxing thing ever!
@tbric1 @skottydog You’re welcome to come relax at our house and you get to drive a John Deere compact utility tractor with a lawn mower attachment. It takes about 2 hours to mow 7 acres 😉
@Lily Kreitinger @tbric1 @skottydog @Skropp
Big T, if that’s what helps you relax, you’re doing the right thing!! If that worked for me, I would as well. Instead, I get crazy sinus issues. So I choose less allergen related options. 🙂
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @tbric1 @skottydog Less allergen related options…circa 140mph? 😉
@Skropp @Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @tbric1 @skottydog I could be swayed to do the 140mph thing if it didn’t cost so much to get started!
@Skropp @Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @tbric1 @skottydog Gas fumes are better for allergies than pollen… they really clear your sinuses
@Lily Kreitinger I used to love my ride on mower. It wasn’t just a mower – it was a fighter plane. I had my best thinking times on that thing….
@Aaron Nelson I know some ladies like to mow, but it seems to be mostly a guy thing… Us girls process info over a cup of latte with the gals.
@Lily Kreitinger @Skropp @tbric1 @skottydog That’s what I keep telling myself. 🙂
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Skropp @tbric1 It’s the rotating 720 degrees in the air at 160mph that REALLY keeps the sinuses clear. Or, at least helps you to forget about your sinus congestion for the time being! ;^}
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Skropp @tbric1 That post was the first time I read your site Chris. I thought, man this guy is COOL! Works side by side with Dave Ramsey, dusts of car wrecks like most of us pull out a splinter, and then writes a great blog post about it tied to Entreleadership! That’s going all out for blog content! You had a reader for life after than post.
(but seriously, there’s got to be an easier way to clear your sinuses!)
FOR ANYONE WHO MISSED IT: https://chrislocurto.com/2012/02/09/5-ways-to-get-strongersmarterbetter-after-a-high-speed-crash/
@skottydog @Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Skropp @tbric1 That was your first post you read Scott? I think it was mine too!! Crazy!
May’ve Chris should wreck more…boost his readership 😉 no no. Don’t do that Chris!!
@tbric1 @skottydog Amen, brother. Peace comes on a mower, with the engine running, you can’t hear anyone yelling at you to do something else. 🙂
@Bret @tbric1 @skottydog Ugh! That is soooo not me. I’d give up yard work TODAY if I could!!! Relaxing to me is hunting “poor innocent animals” as Lily calls them :). Same principle, no phone, emails, etc. but also no people, cars and the challenge of sneaking up on or calling in various animals 🙂
@Skropp @Bret @tbric1 @skottydog Come on over, baby. You can take out all the moles you can find while I wrap up this guest post submission for @Chris LoCurto , now that he’s got his email inbox back under control…. 😉
@Bret @Skropp @tbric1 @Chris LoCurto I think I found my problem…I need more property, and a ride-on mower!
@skottydog @Bret @Skropp @tbric1 @Chris LoCurto Oh, we don’t call it a ride-on mower. We call it a “lawn tractor.” Much more manly.
@Bret @skottydog @Skropp @Chris LoCurto I have 3 types. Lawn: 54″ wide JD Zero Turn; Hay field: 12′ wide cut at 6mph Brush: 10′ wide, cut down trees and all! You want it mowed, I’ve got you covered!
@tbric1 @skottydog @Skropp @Chris LoCurto JD X320, 48″ mulching deck. If I had your rig, I’d be done in about 10 minutes. I’d never get it past the kids’ swingset, but….
@Bret @tbric1 @skottydog @Chris LoCurto hmmm I’ve never hunted moles, kinda small and insignificant for my taste…could give it a try though 🙂
@tbric1 @Bret @skottydog @Skropp I feel like Tim “The Tool-man Taylor” should be making an appearance any minute now.
@Chris LoCurto @Bret @skottydog @Skropp All I can say to that is: BAHAAA!
@Chris LoCurto @tbric1 @skottydog @Skropp Tomorrow’s post, brought to you by Binford Tools.
@Chris LoCurto @tbric1 @Bret @skottydog Well if we’re gonna talk to Tim, maybe we should walk over to the fence and ask Wilson what he thinks about Balance in Life. He’s sure to have a quote from a book or an ancient Chinese proverb to share with us!!! Haha
@Bret Makers of the Binford 8000, the only power tool strong enough to chew up the cookies Al’s mom packed in his lunch!
@Chris LoCurto @tbric1 @Bret @skottydog @Skropp
That’s the next post “Peace comes on a mower”…
People ask me how I do it all: have a full-time job, two young kids and a big yard with a house attached to it. On top of that, my blog, some extra projects I’ve signed up for at work and we’re helping with Financial Peace University in the fall.
My husband is the DIY king. He truly is talented at many things, like gardening, home repairs, vehicle work. Growing up in a farm taught him to be self-sufficient and great at any mechanical task. Gardening is his hobby. He has planted 500 tomato plants, so you will all be invited to a canning party come harvest time. On top of that, he has a huge yard to mow and firewood to cut to heat our house.
I grew up having people do everything for me. He grew up doing it all himself. We haven’t found the happy medium yet. I think if we let someone else do those things, we would be able to spend more time doing fun things as a family and making memories with our children, which is something no one else can do.
Good luck with cleaning the inbox!!!
@Lily Kreitinger Good luck with finding your happy medium! Pulling your kids in to the tasks as you teach them to handle some of the family chores highlights another aspect to delegating- how it can tie to mentoring. Not only will you be equipping your children to be the adults you want them to be, but the time together (silly, spontaneous moments doing the most mundane of tasks) is forging memories, ones they will relive as they pass those skills and traditions to their families! ENJOY!!!
@Kathleen Thanks Kathleen! My kids are 4 and 2 and they already enjoy our family time in the garden. My daughter likes helping with laundry and my little guy likes to help with the vacuum cleaner. I think what they enjoy the most is the precious 3 hrs or so we spend together every night. As exhausting as it is sometimes, we’re teaching them the value of work and of serving one another as a family.
@Lily Kreitinger That’s a beautiful thing! Stay the course and enjoy the rewards as they mature. It goes too fast.
@Lily Kreitinger @Kathleen It’s crazy how they respond when you make it fun. I think so many people are so tired and stressed out from work, that when they get home, they treat their chores as just that, chores. The kiddos see you’re not happy with it, so they become unhappy with it.
You’re obviously showing them the opposite Lily. Well done!!
@Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Kathleen CHRIS!! Stop spying on me!!! Haha. It’s so true. I have to be VERY intentional when doing yard work or helping my wife with household stuff to have he right attitude! The times I don’t it usually is repeated either in my 3yo’s actions or words later that day…
@Skropp we’ve recruited our 4 year old into FPU, Jr. (willingly, I might add) and now our 2 year old is trying to help him with chores, so he can get in on some commission! When you make it fun, it doesn’t seem like work.
@skottydog @Skropp I LOVE stories like that!!! You’ve taught them work ethic at THAT AGE!!!
@Chris LoCurto @skottydog Haha I’m TRYING to teach B…often I feel like I do a better job at teaching what NOT to do!
@Skropp @Chris LoCurto @Lily Kreitinger @Kathleen Everytime!! I think that is God’s way of reminding us. 🙂
I think someone named Chris LoCurto (no relation to you) wrote a post last year about cleaning out your office and organizing your inbox etc. I paired that with Michael Hyatts email sorting techniques and man what difference. I am way more productive and business is growing. I am in the process of hiring an assistant on a part time basis to take some of the tasks off my plate.
If that goes well, it will leave me more time for my personal life and That will make my wife and kids VERY happy!
@tbric1 SAWEET!! That’s what it’s all about!! At the end of the day, what’s more important?
Yesterday, I was watching “The Karate Kid” (the one from the ’80’s) and tweeted a quote from Mr.Miyagi: “Balance is good. Balance good, karate good.” After seeing and tweeting that, I thought to myself that it would make a good blog post. I guess you must have heard my thoughts and beat me to it 🙂
Having a balanced life a key to being successful. If we concentrate in one area too much, then we will have areas of our life that go undone. I think of the wheel illustration: all the spokes need to be balanced for it to work right.
Thanks, Chris for all you do. And good luck with your e-mail!
@JoshuaWRivers The post I did on Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life almost always makes it into my top 10 post every month. And that’s from May of 2011. That kind of balance changes your life.
@Chris LoCurto @JoshuaWRivers Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life is one of the best reads on proper balance.
@JoshuaWRivers What a coincidence! My wife & I just watched the original “The Karate Kid” with our 12 year old son this past Saturday night! What great memories from my youth! Wax on, wax off!!
I’ve been struggling with this as well. Recently, I started letting someone else cut my grass at home. I don’t really like yard work but I don’t like spending half my off day in my yard either! I’m working through this on my job as well. The good news is that I have an admin assistant who is usually two steps ahead of me! I’ve accomplished almost twice as much this year because I finally got the right person on the bus with me!
@eric WOW what a difference that makes!!! I miss @Marybeth Fortner like CRAZY!!! I’m happy she married that @Joel Fortner guy, and is pregnant and all, but what about me?!?! 😀
@Chris LoCurto Haha. Ya, our sympathies for being stuck with that @Joel Fortner guy..hHaha
@Chris LoCurto @Marybeth @Joel Some people are just inconsiderate 😉
@Lily Kreitinger @Chris LoCurto @Marybeth @Joel Yeah, talk about dedication to teamwork! They went out and started making their own team! lol!
@skottydog @Lily Kreitinger @Marybeth @Joel @Chris LoCurto Jumping from one team to another all willy nilly like….
Chris … thanks so much for the mention of our company in this post. Grateful! Your comments are dead on. We talk w/ so many leaders each day … that are on the ledge of task-meltdown. Your words in this post should be the permission they need to think differently about how people help them. Trust in another person is a key element. Good job! Thanks again for the mention!
@Bryan Miles Bah!!! I never think about it like being on the ledge, but that dang sure is how I feel!! 🙂
I’ve heard a lot of great things about eaHelp. While I’m nowhere near that point in my life, I would gladly piece out the tasks that drain my time and give me little to no energy in return.
@JosephLalonde That’s a great way of looking at it Joseph – “piece out the tasks that drain my time and give me little to no energy in return”
@JosephLalonde Thanks Joe!
I, first of all, love how you opened your inbox woes to us. It’s important for people in leadership to show their followers that they don’t have it (whatever that may be) all working like clock work.
What I’m learning to do on the home front, is what needs to happen in my business front. (And I think it’s safe to say, that what’s happening on the homefront – in one way, shape or form, is also happening in the business front – so I need to pay attention!) Anyway…I’m getting distracted.
But what @Lily Kreitinger points out – getting all family members involved in the day to day chores around the house is vital to survival – and vital for relationship building.
What I am still learning: how to let go and bring in others. I can do everything myself…eventually. But I shouldn’t be. Real leadership is bringing on, training, mentoring and releasing others to help you. The more help you have effectively helping…the more you, the leader, can get accomplished.
Learn how to let others help you….serious burnt rice.
@Aaron Nelson @Lily Kreitinger SERIOUS burnt rice brother!!!
@Chris LoCurto @Aaron Nelson @Lily Kreitinger All I can add to that is to say, that was delicious!
@Skropp @Chris LoCurto @Aaron @Lily Kreitinger How about instead of burning the rice we make a wild rice, red rice, brown rice, bean and corn casserole? Hmmm I think I know what we’re eating tomorrow night 🙂
I was wondering why @Chris LoCurto didn’t claim the $100,000 email voucher I sent him in exchange for a 4 inch by 6 inch sticker on his Formula car. This post clearly explains it all.
I enjoy outsourcing what I can where I can. But I also think that it is important to have a focus on your goals so that you can say NO to making time commitments that do not contribute to reaching those goals. I’m not saying that you absolutely have to refuse every single thing that has nothing to do with your dreams. You just need to be intentional, and not let “really good opportunities” to help others turn in to “really good opportunities to derail you focus.”
@Jon Henry NO…WAIT…SEND IT AGAIN!!!!
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m one of those guys who has a hard time turning down stuff that helps. Next thing you know, I’m behind on everything else. I have to pick one or the other.
Yes I would!!! The old saying is you can only do 3-5 things well, so when you have more than that to do- time gets tight! Only do, what only you can do!!
@joelgrizzle Preach it Joel! I find the older I get, the less I can REALLY do. 🙂
Thanks for the mention Chris. At eaHELP, we speak to help solve the exact situation you are in … we believe that all great leaders need more margin in their day to do what ONLY they can do. By removing some of the daily administration that bogs them down… we allow these great leaders to BE great!
Responding to eM can literally consume an entire day!
@triciawelte And this from one of the best!!!
@Chris LoCurto The idea of my inbox having more than 10 eMails at any given time drives me nutty! Inbox to 0 every night!
@triciawelte @Chris LoCurto THAT is impressive!
Michael Hyatt has a good podcast episode regarding managing emails.
I’m with you Chris, I’ve had a VA for 6 years now. She has worked with me at 3 different companies.
I simply cannot imagine work without her. I think it would otherwise be known as torture. I hate anything involving spreadsheets or other mundane work. What she can do in an hour would take me two because I lose focus. She does the work, gives me the nitty gritty and I do what I do best.
She lives in India but speaks and types nearly flawless English and has a BS in economics (meaning she is a lot smarter than me).
She also works by the hour. At one point I basically had her full time (40 hours/week). Now I don’t need that much.
I highly recommend her and (shameless plug for her) would be happy to put anyone in touch with her. Hiring her was the best decision I ever made.
What a great post! I have actually been trying to do this for several years – with varied results. I have hired a landscaping company for several years to mow my lawn and take care of the fertilizing and care of my landscaping. It saves me at least 3 hours every week! However, for some insane reason, though, I thought I could do plumbing and tried to fix our toilet. Well, 4 hours and $100 later, I decided it just wasn’t worth the hassle and hired a professional plumber. Now, it cost me almost $400 for the toilet repair (in part, thanks to the additional damage I inflicted on the toilet), but I learned an important lesson-there are professionals for everything. How do we value our time, particularly that which we have allocated for our families? Very important lesson for me I really try to determine if a task can better be handled by someone else and, if so, I’m beginning to let go of trying to do everything myself and use that time to enjoy the blessings God has given to me!
@jaredlatigo yoga!
@jaredlatigo yoga!
Chris – Just about the time I think I have it all together and my life is coming into balance – something happens and WHOA – I’m tilted again. Which is why I have been MIA from your blog – once again. The mortgage business is crazier and tougher than ever. BUT what an opportunity there is to help people during these times.
I have just hired a virtual assistant in the last couple of months – to help with some of my Social Media.
BUT there are some things you can’t outsource……you CAN’T outsource reading and commenting on blogs which help you to grow as a person and leader!