Ask any business owner, and they’ll tell you that the stress of running your own business is very real. And, that the stress of running your own business can take over your entire life if you’re not careful.
From juggling a laundry list of to-dos to setting and maintaining boundaries, countless decisions must be made EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Before you know it, you’re drowning in tasks, questions, and decisions as you serve clients and build your business.
This often leads to serious decision fatigue, and as the stress adds up, it can become overwhelming trying to get through the day-to-day.
If this has you nodding along, please know you’re not alone.
When I start working with a new client, they often tell me that one of the most significant sources of business overwhelm is handling all the necessities that go into operations. They thrive on serving their clients or customers and creating valuable content but need help managing all the details as their business grows.
Feeling this type of business overwhelm is a critical indicator that you’ve crossed a threshold in your business and now require additional support. There simply becomes a time when you can’t and shouldn’t try to do it all alone.
So the question becomes: How do you take the day-to-day operations off your plate and put them on someone else’s? How do you relieve the stress of running your own business in a way that creates meaningful change and doesn’t turn into a hiring horror story?
Here are three ways to figure out what you can delegate so you can focus on doing what you do best.
#1. Assign Your Tasks a Value
When someone hires me to be their online business manager, we first discuss how to relieve the stress of running your own business.
A great place to start is by looking at where you’re spending your time. Most business owners underestimate how much time they spend on tasks and do not see any hard data on where the hours go each day.
Once you have a better picture of where your time is going, you can use the $10, $100, and $1,000 task matrix. This works by assigning a tangible value to each task, which helps you drive future decisions and determine which tasks can be outsourced.
When I do this exercise with clients, we quickly find that they’re spending far too much time on the $10 and even $100 tasks that could be done by someone else. All those little tasks like email management, setting up blog posts, social media posting, and appointment scheduling can quickly make you feel overwhelmed.
For example, while posting on social media may be necessary to keep your audience engaged, is it essential for you to be the one actually scheduling the posts? Probably not!
You can outsource the labor required for a $10 task; the relationship nurturing and building that follows is of a much higher value to your business, so your energy could be focused on that instead.
The point of this exercise is for you to see the time leaks in your business, aka the areas you’re spending time on that could potentially be outsourced, so you’re not dealing with them every day – because it is often the combination of the time spent on the tasks and the room they take up in your brain that tip you over the edge of overwhelm.
#2. Make Your “I Hate This” List
The stress of running your own business doesn’t just come from the number of tasks you have at any given time. In many cases, some overwhelming feelings can come from having to do things you hate doing.
So, I also recommend making your “I Hate This” list.
This is usually an activity the business owners I work with love doing because they get to dig in and figure out all the things in the business that they hate doing and would prefer to have someone do.
This exercise starts with a brain dump. For about 20 minutes, my client will list whatever pops into their heads. Once that initial list is complete, I have them add to it over 30 to 60 days as things crop up.
The point of this is to identify and acknowledge that there are things in any business that aren’t just drains on our time — they’re drains on our mental energy. Even if a task is quick or easy, it can lead to avoidance, annoyance and aggravation if you hate doing it.
Personally, I find bookkeeping incredibly draining. Yes, I am more than capable of reconciling receipts and invoices for tax purposes, but I hate doing it so much that I’ll avoid it for as long as humanly possible, so it makes perfect sense for me to outsource this. Bookkeeping is worth every cent because it means I don’t have to worry about it, and I don’t have to spend time trying to convince myself to get it done every month.
The truth is that just because you have the skills to do something, that doesn’t automatically mean you should be the one doing it. The energy it takes to do these hated tasks often has a runoff effect because after we do the thing, we’re drained and don’t have the brain power to refocus and do other tasks. That one task that “only” takes an hour may cost you a whole afternoon.
Creating your “I Hate This” list and identifying tasks that drain your time and energy is a great way to determine what to outsource.
#3. Build Processes and Systems for Recurring Tasks
Now that you know which tasks are a money leak and which ones drain your energy, you can look for overlap between the two, particularly anything that involves recurring and repeatable tasks.
Usually, things will pop up in both categories, so starting with those can be a quick way to help relieve the stress of running your business.
By documenting systems and processes for task completion, you can start delegating these responsibilities to team members or outsourcing them to contractors.
Even if the people you’re outsourcing the tasks to know how to do them, you should still document processes for consistency. As your business grows, so may your team, so having all these processes in place will make transitions for new employees or contractors much more manageable.
Remember, process and systems documentation don’t need to be done simultaneously. Start with the tasks you plan on outsourcing first and then work forward.
Don’t Let the Stress of Running Your Own Business Overwhelm You
While the stress of running your own business will likely occur in peaks and valleys, proactively identifying the sources of your overwhelm is the first step towards making things more manageable.
By determining which tasks can be delegated, especially those that drain your energy or are not the best use of your time, you free yourself to focus on your business’s strategic and creative aspects.
Remember, the goal is to create a balanced approach that allows you to enjoy running your business. With some planning and the right strategies, you can relieve stress and position your business for continued growth.
Are you looking for operations support in your business?
Working with an online business manager may be precisely what you need!