I am of the strong belief that life is too short not to be doing the things that bring us joy and satisfaction but many of us get caught in a rut of trying to juggle every aspect of our lives. The problem with this is that, if we try to juggle too much, we end up dropping the balls and, unfortunately, the ones we drop first are often the ones that bring the most happiness. One way of preventing this from happening is to outsource and, where this word was once only really used in business, the concept can be transferred to our personal lives too. If you don’t enjoy it, outsource! If it eats up too much of your time, outsource! If it is taking you away from your family and friends, outsource! If someone else could get better results, outsource! You get the picture!
Nowadays, there are so many things that can be outsourced in your business and personal life and there will always be someone else that will enjoy the jobs you hate. So, here are a few ideas of things you can outsource within your life to allow you the time to focus on what you love and are really good at.
- Cleaning – This may seem really obvious but how many of us moan about having to do it and how we would rather be doing anything else?! Whether you need someone to clean your house, office space or your car, there are many businesses that can take it off your hands. Imagine how satisfying it would be to come home from work to a sparkling, fresh smelling home at the end of a busy working day and putting your feet up in the knowledge that you don’t have to spend large chunks of your free time doing house work. Bliss!
- Ironing – If you’re ironing pile could rival Everest then it is time to offload that mountain on to someone else. Many domestic cleaning companies will offer an ironing service, taking away that Sunday night panic when you realise that you haven’t ironed the kids school clothes or the shirt you were planning to wear for tomorrow’s meeting.
- Dog Walking – Hopefully, if you have a dog you actually enjoy the walks but there are times when allowing the time to take the dog out can add more stress, defeating the object entirely. Investing in a dog walker will not only save you time in the morning (hello snooze button!!) but, if timed well, will help break up the dog’s day if they are usually on their own while you are at working.
- Booking a holiday – Personally, I love booking a holiday but I know many people that find the whole process tedious. Companies such as Travel Counsellors will do all the research and booking for you to ensure that you get the exact holiday experience that you are looking for. Their expertise will help to create a package that you may not have even thought possible and I hear they even fill out your luggage tags for you!! They also deal with any problems you may have while you are away such as cancelled flights or excursions.
- Admin – I couldn’t write this article without a little shout out to my fellow Virtual Assistants! Basically, what us VAs do is keep the day to day admin ticking over so you can focus on the parts of your business that you do best, saving you money, space and time in the process. Virtual Assistants are great for businesses that don’t need a full time administrator (or aren’t in a position to take one on at that moment in time) but still need help keeping their admin in check.
Nearly everything in life and business can be outsourced these days and in order to remain productive in our work lives and sane in our personal lives, it is well worth considering passing a few of the mundane, time consuming tasks on to someone else. Remember, outsourcing is an investment that buys back your time!