Outsourcing Your Life

Help Wanted? (Photo credit: brizzle born and bred)

I’ve written a lot about how important it is to remember that you are just one person.  Give yourself a break sometimes! It’s not always possible to get everything done on your own, which is why sometimes, you have to ask for help.  I finally took my own advice and enlisted the help of some interns — wow has my life gotten better.  It’s really amazing what giving up a little control can do.

I haven’t always found it easy to let someone else help me out, but when I went to the BlogHer ’13 convention in Chicago, I sat in on a session, run by Meagan Francis, about outsourcing and why you should do it…and I’m so glad I did.  There are major benefits that come from having an extra set of hands:

• Keep track of your ideas:  Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant thought and write it down, but then forget that you wrote it down or lose the piece of paper?  When you have help, you have someone to capture all of your “crazy ideas” and help to manage the things you forget.  A simple, “Hey! You wanted to do this, how would you like to proceed?” from a helping hand will keep you focused and on track.
• More time:  Maybe you have a great idea, but no time to implement it.  An extra set of hands to do research, or reach out to a contact will allow you to multitask and get more done.  If there’s too much on your plate, get an extra fork!
• Make more money:  You might be more successful if you have someone to keep track of your ideas and help manage your workload.  Maybe you’ll finally get to pursue a new idea because you’ll have the means and proper assistance to get it done.
• Less stress:  Having too much on your to-do list prevents you from really focusing on the task at hand and may diminish the quality of your work.  Delegate some of what needs to get done and as a result you’ll be less stressed and produce better work.
• Camaraderie:  It’s always good to be able to rely on someone who has your best interests and goals in mind.  Hiring help will keep you balanced.  You’ll be able to relieve some of your brain power and trust an intern or an assistant to maintain your tasks and schedule.  You’ll have someone you can run ideas by, who will also make sure you’re taking a break for lunch if you’ve got a particularly hectic day planned.

Ok, now the part you’ve been waiting for — how much will this cost me?  Well, what is it worth to you to have help?  I believe that if you can do just one more project per month, with a little assistance, the investment is well worth it.

If you’re still hesitant to recruit some to help you, ask yourself the following questions:

• What big ideas would you launch if someone else could manage the details?
• What have you been meaning to do that keeps getting put on the back burner?

Have I convinced you?  Let me help you find good help:

• Who “gets” you?:  The thought of having to “reteach” someone to help you might be overwhelming, but if you turn to people who are already interested in and understand what you do, you minimize the training period.
• Use websites that specialize in finding individuals who are eager to help out!
  
  • Elance: Build an online workforce.
  • Fancy Hands: Assistants for everyone.  I use this service regularly and it’s been a huge help.  They will do any virtual task as long as it takes about 20 minutes to complete.  They will make reservations and do research quickly and efficiently.
  • Task Rabbit: Your deliveries and errands, done. A Task Rabbit will help you cross off to-do’s like food shopping, buying a gift for your friend and even delivering a singing telegram!
  • Guru: Find freelancers for hire and get your work done.