As you strive to build game-changing products and hit critical milestones in your business, you’re likely plagued with making major (and minor) decisions at every turn. This makes balancing a workload nearly impossible. Add in family responsibilities and the neverending push to find work-life balance and you’re left feeling stretched—and stressed—to the max.
Putting in 60+ hours per week seems like part of the job, but the increased hours and stress make balancing work and family challenging. What ends up suffering is your mental health. On top of that, your team becomes frustrated and tensions rise at home. Relief is nowhere in sight.
Why delegating will balance your workload (and improve your mental health)
After having a hand in almost everything that happens in your company it can be difficult to step back and trust the team to take over certain tasks. But it’s critical that you prioritize delegating because it’s the key to finally escaping the hamster wheel. Setting clear expectations and delegating tasks to team members allows everyone in the company to be laser-focused on their part of the overall strategy. Giving employees a chance to own specific responsibilities frees up more time, energy, and focus for you. Working on the business, rather than in it, becomes normal, as does a balanced workload and work-life balance.
Delegating the right work to the right people doesn’t just affect your day-to-day business operations. It also provides significant benefits when it comes to your mental health. When balancing work and life no longer feels impossible, stress and anxiety decrease, helping your overall mental health. As a bonus, oftentimes you’ll find that others can perform the tasks more efficiently and with better results. And when that happens you’ll realize delegating is well worth it.
6 steps to easily delegate tasks for a more balanced workload
While delegating will save you time in the long run, onboarding your employees to take over tasks can be time-consuming. If this concerns you start by delegating just one task at a time. Even moving one responsibility to a new owner can help significantly, making delegation manageable. Aim to delegate one task per week such as creating the agenda for your team meetings or preparing a weekly report. Your schedule will quickly start opening so you can prioritize higher-level opportunities that will grow the business.
- Start by listing all tasks you currently do on a daily or weekly basis.
- Identify which ones can be off-loaded (honesty with yourself is imperative).
- Determine who is the right person to delegate for each task.
- Pick the task that takes the most time out of your week. That’s the one you’ll delegate first.
- Use a screen recording technology like Loom to quickly explain the task to the appropriate employee.
- Share the recording, login information, data, or any other assets the team member needs to successfully complete the task. Set up a quick meeting if anything needs further explanation.
Repeat steps four through six each week. You’ll make progress without feeling overwhelmed by delegation responsibilities. Be sure to have conversions with team members about their own availability so you’re aware of bandwidth within the team. You’re more likely to gain buy-in from your employees when asking them to take on additional work. And always offer to answer questions or concerns as they arise so employees feel comfortable approaching you.
Balancing work and family becomes easier and problems at work and home become less frequent when delegating is standard in your business. Positive changes to your mental health not only affect you but the entire ecosystem surrounding you.