If I could just do what I’m good at I could make more money, be more productive, improve morale around me and be on the road to saying YIPPEE about what I do!!
Are you in a career you love, but getting pulled into STUFF that tires you out, makes you grumpy and uses up your time and talent? Do “they” seem to have one of your legs shackled so you can’t move forward?
I understand. Dealing with technology problems or needing to hunt down old files makes me cranky.
Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Julia. Julia is a really talented Internal Medicine doctor. Her patients love her and she loves them. Most of them have seen countless other doctors before coming to her and when they find her, they are so relieved. Julia listens. She’s curious. She asks questions, develops hypotheses, tests and tries every option. She makes sure her patients get what they need, even if it means working late. But yesterday, she was saying how drained and frustrated she was. “Not because of my patients,” she told me. “I love my patients, but I’m trying to get my office into EMR (electronic medical records), and it’s totally hopeless,” she said. “I have no time for it, and I hate doing it…”
Sound familiar? Project managers get hampered by office politics, musicians have to sell their work, entrepreneurs have to clean their home offices….
So, what’s a body to do?
It’s important to be clear on what part of your work gives you energy. What you love. What the YIPPEE! is in your career. You need to know the value that you, working in your highest/best capacity, bring to your business, career or organization.
In order to be able to do that work and not get sidetracked by the “stuff”, it’s important to ask yourself the following questions:
What is the “stuff” that drains you? Make a list.
Who is the best person to do this stuff? Would someone else be able to do it? (If the answer is NO, you might need a Yippee Consult or webinar to move you into a new place in your career). I love Julia and I can say this about her because she knows it about herself: she’s a tiny bit controlling. Because she’s so talented and brilliant, because she wants to add a personal touch to what she does, she tends to do everything in her office. That’s so not YIPPEE! and there might be a much better person to get her office into EMR. Someone who might be a temp who has worked for other medical offices doing just this.
How Much will this really cost you? For people who work at home, this might be a cleaning person once a week at 25 bucks an hour, or it might be a social media whiz at slightly more. A college intern from your local university might be able to do some of your busy work for nothing at all. Calculate the true cost of that resource versus the cost of not having your time and talent focused on its highest/best use. (NOTE we are NOT throwing in your fatigue and frustration, which also have a cost.) If you have a boss, prepare yourself for a cost/benefit conversation. Remember to start with what’s important to her or to him. If YOU are your boss, remember to go back to your list of what you love.
Whyare you having trouble delegating? This is a big one. Delegating often taps into our fear of letting go, whether it is letting go of control (like my dear friend Julia!), letting go of the money (the cost/benefit analysis above will help with that), letting go of the idea that your business is supposed to be “small” and can’t expand to include another employee, or letting go of your belief that you are supposed to “do it all” in order to be of value. Once you know that “why”, the letting go tends to be a lot easier.
Whenare you going to let yourself off the hook and delegate? Make a plan so you don’t put it off for too too long…
Wherecould this lead you in terms of your YIPPEE! journey? Would you feel much more yippee about your day if this “stuff” were taken off your plate? If the answer is YES, then start today.
Let me know what your “stuff” is. Knowing what you are going to delegate will inspire other readers to move forward on their YIPPEE! journey.
Until next Tuesday. YIPPEE!
Elizabeth