5 Things I’m Outsourcing To Make Every Week Run Smoother
5 Things I’m Outsourcing To Make Every Week Run Smoother.
“Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.” – Tim Ferriss.
Between balancing my demanding full time job as a General Manager of HR, managing a mindset and career coaching business, blog, podcast and other projects, it is safe to say I am busier than I’ve ever been. My days are packed from the moment I wake up at 5am, right through to the moment I go to sleep any night.
Towards the end of 2020, I was starting to feel burnt out and exhausted. The 16+ hour long days and working 6 days per week – and sometimes 7, were starting to catch up to me – and were simply not sustainable. The things that were important to me were starting to suffer, and I knew that something had to change.
Over the holidays, I took some much needed time out to destress, decompress and reconsider my priorities for 2021. I wrote out a not-to-do list – the things that I simply was not going to do or engage in. Taking this time out really helped me gain some perspective as to what I really wanted to focus on, how I wanted to spend my time and what tasks needed to continue – however needed to outsource.
I asked myself a question inspired by Tim Ferris’ book The 4-Hour Work Week:
“If I were to 10x my productivity, what would that look like?”
I also asked myself a series of questions including:
“What must I stop, start and continue?”
What are the things that I absolutely must do myself?
What are the tasks and activities I need to have done, but that others could do for me?”
Asking these questions helped me to determine how I could be utilising my time more effectively. They also helped me to determine what I should be outsourcing.
1. CLEANING
I have considered outsourcing cleaning for some time now, however have been reluctant as I like everything to be done a certain way. I finally caved and decided to have the Fantastic Services Group conduct a 3 hour spring clean in my home. Since then, all my hesitations on outsourcing cleaning have dissipated. The Fantastic Services Group did a phenomenal job, were incredibly thorough and were lovely and professional to deal with.
During the 3 hour clean I spent my time enjoying a nice, leisurely breakfast at home with my husband. I then powered through my to-do list, caught up on emails and had a session with a coaching client. I recognised the value of those 3 hours, and that it was worth the investment of hiring a cleaner to conduct those weekly tasks.
The cleaning service was gifted to me, and the wonderful team at Fantastic Services have provided me with the discount code Lara20 for my wonderful community to take $20 off their next clean. Click here to redeem your discount – Enjoy!
2. WASHING THE CAR
Similarly to cleaning my home, washing my car is simply not a good use of time. I own a black car, which despite being garaged, collects lots of dirt, dust and needs to be washed on a fortnightly or sometimes weekly basis. I used to take my car to a car wash however I have recently discovered an at-home car wash service. This service means that a professional car washer will come to my home. They wash and vacuum my car and without me having to move my car or drive anywhere.
Whilst this service is a little more costly, it is a premium service and I am very happy with the time, attention and care that is given to cleaning my car. This service saves me a lot of time and means that I can continue to work from home and complete other tasks simultaneously.
3. GROCERY SHOPPING
Whilst I love the idea of going to a farmers market or grocery store each week, it is simply not a good use of my time. I was previously reluctant to purchase groceries online as I liked the idea of being able to choose my own products, particularly when it comes to fruit and vegetables.
Despite this challenge, I have found that there are many reputable, high quality delivery services which allow you to maintain high quality, organic produce. I use a service for fresh produce, and place a Woolworths delivery for general household products etc.
Moving my grocery shopping from in person to online has been a real game-changer for me, and allows me to focus on other tasks in the day.
4. PODCAST RESEARCH & EDITING
Whilst I absolutely love hosting my own podcast, the time it takes to research, prepare and conduct post-production activities are both stressful and time-consuming. Towards the end of 2020, I began to outsource these activities to two professionals – one for podcast research and preparation, and the other for podcast editing.
Since outsourcing these tasks, a huge weight has been lifted on my shoulders. I am saving hours each week on these activities, allowing myself to spend the time on the things that only I can do. For example, I cannot outsource my podcast interviews (nor do I want to)! however , I can outsource the pre and post-production activities.
4. ACCOUNTING & ADMIN
Accounting and admin are two tasks in my business which are important yet time-consuming. Upon conducting a review, I recognised the need to outsource certain accounting and administration tasks to free up my time and focus on the bigger, needle-moving activities instead. This has enabled me to be significantly more productive, and has been a worthwhile investment.
OUTSOURCING
What are some activities or tasks you outsource or would like to consider outsourcing? I would love to hear your thoughts
