Just let me do it

An appropriate subtitle might be How to dodge delegation.

For many years I was terrible when it came to delegation, meaning I didn’t do it at all. For people who struggle to hand things off, there can be many roots. Lack of trust is a big one, which often means keeping tight reins because “no one will do it as well as I will.” Fear of failure is another root, which looks like doing everything yourself because “failure is not an option.” 

Whatever the root cause, the truth is we are doing ourselves zero favors by managing everything on our own. In fact, something I realized about my own poor delegation was that it turned into an excuse for laziness. Ouch.

Let me explain. By holding onto things I could pass off because I could do it better or faster, I eliminated the need for thinking through how to be intentional about how I could delegate well. Yep. Keeping all the things to myself was just another way of not thinking things through. It’s easier, to be honest, but it is not best. The fact is there are only 24 hours in a day, and if we are expending energy and cutting into that time doing loads of tasks that aren’t specialized— things that aren’t in our “sweet spot” —  we will never find the space to effectively and efficiently operate in our highest expression. Who cares if we can do those things better or faster when we’re really just cutting into our ability to be better and faster at things only we can do?

Don’t let a lack of intentionality disguise itself with “Just let me do it.” Sit down and take some time to think through the tasks that tend to hijack your days, the things you spend mental, emotional and physical energy on that could easily be done by someone else. Before you even say it, I want to challenge you not to think about how you can’t afford someone. You never know if you don’t do a little digging. I would tell you it can be the wisest use of resources because delegation creates margin for you to do the things you were made to do. Think of what you could accomplish, what you could dream up, what you could earn, what you could experience if you just considered a few ways to delegate in an effort to maximize your precious time? 

What are some things you find yourself doing throughout the day that could easily be handed off to someone else? Let me know in the comments.