How Much Does It Cost When You’re Too Overwhelmed to Delegate?

In this series of articles we are taking a look at the costs of being overwhelmed, including the ramifications of being too overwhelmed to delegate.?

When someone is overwhelmed, although it may seem counterintuitive, they are less able to delegate.?Either they can’t think through their projects and tasks clearly enough to enlist someone else’s assistance or they are running down-to-the-wire such that it is too late for them to delegate (e.g., collating documents for a board meeting; requesting letters of support for a grant that is due; finishing up class materials at midnight for an 8:00 a.m. class the next morning that have to be photocopied [remember that!?] at Fed Ex/Kinko’s…not that I know anything about this from my days as a professor).?

Think about it…When an organization has someone with your education, expertise, and experience making his/her own photocopies, uploading materials to Canvas, tracking down lost files in the dean’s office, making sure receipts are properly filed, verifying references in an article or a proposal, checking to make sure something has been received, following up on various and sundry administrative requests…then your institution should have invested in an admin assistant, not an MSW, MBA, MFA, or a PhD.

If you need to think about this further, here are four ways to consider whether something is worth your time, energy, and attention.?

1. Some people recommend that if you can pay someone to do something at a lower rate than your "hourly" wage, then do so (e.g., running errands such as picking up groceries, dropping off items at the cleaners, exchanging an item at the office supply store).?
2. Filter where you focus your time, attention, and energy on whether the activity is something that only you can do (e.g., reading to your child at night, working closely with graduate students to frame their research questions, writing a keynote speech you have been asked to give, learning a new coding software you will be applying to research you are doing).?
3. Consider the ROI (Return on Investment) and the ROE (Return on Energy) and make a decision based on that "calculation" (e.g., hiring an editor - developmental or otherwise - to help you get your manuscript out the door; bringing on a project manager for your lab, your company, or your group to get you out of the PM role and back to your special work). ?
4. As you advance your skills, talents, expertise, and education - because you have not "lost" the skills, talents, expertise, and education you had before - it is easy to hold on to the activities you did previously (and for others to assume that you will do so).?However, as the metaphor goes, you can't climb a ladder without letting go of a rung to take hold of the next one.

What is something that you currently could be delegating if you weren’t so overwhelmed??How much is it costing you and your organization(s) (which includes your family, by the way) for you to be too overwhelmed to think through what could be delegated and get that system set up??Consider investing in coaching at fraction of the cost of what it’s currently costing you NOT to have this resolved.

I have a publication series (available to you at no cost) about how to acknowledge your value when you’re asking someone to pay for the coaching support you’re requesting.?Feel free to take a look here and see if one of these publications would be helpful to you.?https://meggin.com/coaching/#makingtheask ?

About Meggin McIntosh

Helping people reframe their limiting beliefs is a big part of the joyful work I do as a coach. Sometimes I offer group coaching in addition to working with individual clients. It's amazing to watch people generate reframes for a belief that has held them back in the past.

I am thankful every day.