Time Management Program: If You Want it Done Right You Have to Do it Yourself, Right?

Wrong, you’ll never become effective at managing your time if you think you are the only one who can do anything correctly. The ugly truth is most people can do many of the things you’re doing now better than you can. You may even recognize this, but you still don’t let them because: you feel threatened, you don’t want to take the time to show someone else how, or you don’t want to spend the money. Until you recognize the value of allowing someone else to do the things that aren’t a strength for you, you’ll remain resistant to the idea.

When you’re focused on the things you’re really good at you already effectively using your time in those areas. If a certain task or type of work isn’t a strength for you why are you doing it? Why not do the things you’re really good at, that you enjoy and obtain satisfaction and fulfillment from? If someone else did the things that are just plain tedious or that you aren’t all that good at how much time would that free up for you to focus on productivity, and how much money could you be making during that productive time? Would your increased productivity cover the cost of using someone else for the other things?

In time management you know you have to start right to end right. Take the time to provide written and oral instructions for what you want done, so the other person can do it on their own after 2-3 times. Even though it takes time to write the instructions initially there’s a big pay-off for you. These written instructions make it possible for anyone to do the task at hand, and that means you have more options for people to outsource this task to. Written instructions also increase the likelihood of the work being done correctly each and every time.

Follow-up and feedback increase your time management effectiveness. Follow-up with the person your working with to make sure they clearly understood each detail and they were able to successfully complete each step of the task. Use the feedback you get to improve and clarify your written instructions. After a couple of trials you have a reproducible procedure that others can use, and you can use in a real pinch when you have to do it yourself.

Set your ego aside and allow others to improve on your ideas. Recognize that when someone improves on your original idea it increases your opportunity to have even more time for the important things without worrying about the little things getting done. The more you can focus your time and energies on what you’re good at the more efficient you’ll become at managing your time.