People asking me for time management tips, always cringe when I use the ‘D' word.
"Oh, I can't do that."
"I don't have anyone to do that with."
It's one excuse after another and when it comes to time management, it's those excuses that hold most of us back.
The ‘D' word seems to only be something "other people" can do. Everyone does it though and everyone should learn how to.
What is the ‘D' word?
It's delegate.
What was your first thought when you read that word? Many people will think of an office setting where a manager has employees to delegate tasks to. That is certainly a common example, but that's not the only source of help.
What does delegation really mean? It's just about asking for help.
Don't worry, asking for help is a good thing.
The more we get behind, in work and at home, and try to master ourselves by seeking the holy grail of time management, the more we try to do all those things on our own. Delegation is not about taking advantage of others. We all need help from time to time. Asking for it may be the most important time management tip you can ever master.
Before you ask another person for help, it's important you know what you're trying to achieve and what you want help doing. All time management starts with setting a clear goal. Once you have a goal, look at things which need to come together to make it happen. Those "chunks" may be candidates for delegation.
For example, if you are an archer, and your goal is to hit the bull's-eye 100 times, you might need a supply of arrows. Asking someone to pick up arrows at the store for you might be exactly the task you need to delegate while you work on another task to move you towards your goal.
But you're still thinking you don't have any employees, right?
Do you have friends? Do you have a mother? Do you have a temp agency in the Yellow Pages? How about the thousands of people offering their services on freelance websites like guru.com? Ordering pizza is a way of delegating your responsibility to gather food for yourself and your family. Is it worth your time to have someone deliver healthier groceries?
Excuse the cliché, but get out of your box and think what is possible instead of fixating on what you think isn't. Opportunities for delegation are everywhere and you are making use of them every day, often without realizing it.
Asking for help is much easier when you know why you're trying to accomplish your goal. Others are far more willing to help when they know what you're trying to accomplish than if you just asked them to help you by doing some seemingly random task.
And even if you pay your help, always say thank you.
Delegate is not a dirty word. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. In order to delegate effectively you need to have set better goals and thought through things better than about 90% of the people you'll ever meet. Through the appropriate use of delegation, you can achieve more than you ever thought possible because you are thinking more broadly than you have before.
Dave Saunders is a national speaker and published author on personal performance. Make more money, spend more time with your family and have time for yourself too. You can have it all when you learn how to master your time at
http://www.the-time-management-guy.com.
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