A few years ago, a work colleague was lucky to be alive after he fell from his roof where he was doing some work. Today, he still suffers side effects from the fall. Last year one of my friends spent every second of his spare time during the summer, painting his house. With the job still incomplete, he started painting again this summer, but as fate would have it, he fell and broke his arm. He is now shopping around for a painter to complete the job.
OK, so like me, you have two left hands and would not be caught doing house repairs or painting to save your life. Nonetheless, aren’t we all doing “stuff” that we either don’t like to do, don’t do well or could avoid doing? Last weekend I watched my mother slave over an iron board all day, ironing, among other things . . . polo shirts! This is fine by me; it’s her time, and she can do what she pleases with it. However, as the weekend drew to a close, she started complaining that she was tired and had not had time to rest all weekend. Sounds familiar?
Here’s another example: one of my clients used to drive 2 hours one-way, every week, to do grocery shopping for his mother, a senior with Alzheimer’s; and the worst part was, when he visited, she was usually upset with him, because he never spent any time with her. Now that we are caring for his mother, he can spend quality time with her when he visits and is not rushing to beat the traffic back home.
Why do we choose to clutter our lives with so many “things to do”? I know: someone has to do it, but does that someone have to be you? Is it really cheaper to do it yourself? Did you factor in the cost of your time, injury or stress-related illness – time not spent with your family and friends?
Think for a moment about what important or critical things you could accomplish, if your entire day wasn’t cluttered with the many trivial tasks to be completed.
Large companies are getting back to their core operation while outsourcing supporting tasks; small business entrepreneurs are learning that they can’t do it all – they must outsource so they can spend their time growing their business. As individuals are we any different? Personal success guru, Brian Tracy, applies this to the 80 / 20 rule. Most people spend 80% of their time preoccupied with tasks and activities that are not ultimately the most important – for your life or your business.
Those who have become iconic in their success, devote 80% (or more) of their time to the 20% of activities that produces the most value or income. The remaining 80% of activities are handed off to someone else, so they can focus (like a laser) on the most important and crucial elements of life or business.
Shouldn’t we be managing our time efficiently by outsourcing tasks that we don’t do well or can’t do efficiently, leaving us with time to do the things we really enjoy doing – time to relax and de-stress, time to make more money doing the things we do best?
Athletes do well because they have a core of people supporting them, leaving them to focus on their sport; during the recent US election, President Obama got a myriad of people from all walks of life to assist him in any way they could. Being successful does not mean doing everything for ourselves, it means knowing when to get help. We all have 24 hours in a day; no more, no less than anyone . . . let’s make the best use of it.