How to Drop It or Delegate It

Episode #2 of the course How to overcome procrastination by Jurgen Wolff

 

In the 1st lesson, we looked at 3 of the main reasons people procrastinate. In this lesson, we’ll take a closer look at how you can drop or delegate some of the tasks you put off, especially those you really don’t enjoy doing.

 

Does It Need to Be Done?

There are certain things we do out of habit or because it’s expected of us, and sometimes we don’t stop to ask, “Do I really need to be doing this?”

One example: A friend who didn’t like gardening but wanted his yard to have a neat appearance ended up replacing his lawn with Astroturf.

So, consider what you really want. A good question is, “Is this activity something that actually needs to be done, or are there other ways to get the result I really want?”

If you isolate the part of the result that’s really important, you may find a much easier path. Some years ago, my house in Los Angeles burned down. I rented a guest house that was behind a big main house, with a large swimming pool and a beautiful garden separating the 2. One day, I was floating on an air mattress in the pool, enjoying a cool drink, and I had the thought, “I’d better work super hard so I can buy a house with a pool and garden like this so I can enjoy floating in a pool.”

Then it occurred to me: I AM enjoying floating in a pool already—and without having to pay the pool man and the gardeners and all the other bills. Most of the time, I had the entire grounds to myself because the people who owned the main house worked 12 or more hours a day to pay for it all.

Taking the time to examine what’s really important may reveal tasks you don’t need to do.

 

Does It Need to Be Done by YOU?

Even if you can’t eliminate the activity, are you the one who has to do it?

Of course, 1 alternative is to hire somebody to do it; my friend could have hired gardeners to take care of his lawn. The obvious problem is that it costs money. However, you often can find students or retired people who want to pick up a bit of extra money without having a full-time job, and their rates tend to be very reasonable.

These days, it’s also possible to hire a virtual assistant in another country where the going rates of pay are much lower. If you google “virtual assistant,” you’ll find a wealth of companies offering that service.

A service I used for help with research for one of my books was HireMyMom.com, where the workers are women who want to stay home with their young children but can provide services like copywriting, research, and much more.

For many tasks like graphic design, website help, video production and editing, and many others, check out Fiverr.com. You’ll find an impressive number of people offering their services for $5 (although more complex tasks will cost more).

An option that costs nothing is to swap tasks with a friend who likes doing what you hate to do and vice versa.

In this lesson, you’ve discovered several ways that may help you cut down on the number of things you have to do yourself, which will reduce the pressure on your time. For the things you do need to do, having a manager who guides you can be a great help. In the next lesson, you’ll find out how to be that manager.

Best regards,

Jurgen Wolff

 

Recommended book

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

 

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