Outsource or Overwhelm: The Invisible Cost of Doing It All

Do you know that there's a moment every August where you either reclaim your role as a leader or get swallowed by your own to-do list?

I've been seeing women straddling these two energies: control and capacity.

Which are you going to choose?

Two Competing Energies: Control vs. Capacity

Control means doing everything, covering everything, and being on top of everything, but it eventually gets overwhelming because there's just too much. In control, you still try to do it all. You're still on that treadmill, and you're still going, and you want to make everything happen.

Capacity is where you know, "I've done everything I can, and I just don't have enough hours or energy in the day." With capacity, you're starting to set some boundaries and see what you can achieve within your time frame.

In both, there's the invitation. Release control over things so you gain capacity.

I hear a lot of people say, "I just don't have the time for that. I don't have the energy for that. There aren’t enough hours in the day."

September is for Leading, Not Cleaning Up

As we enter September, it's not the time to be cleaning up. August is. September is the time to lead boldly. Think of it like Olympic track athletes getting ready for the 100-meter race. You want to be in the blocks, ready to go as soon as September hits (or at least after you've had your final long weekend in Canada).

The Real Problem with Waiting

There's a real problem with waiting to outsource or pass tasks off. Most people don't realize the weight they carry until it breaks something or someone.

When you are overwhelmed with all the different tasks, it can break your focus, creativity, and joy. It can break your spirit for what you're doing. Sadly, sometimes we reach a point where we can no longer work. I've seen this happen to several people close to me who've developed physical ailments due to overworking.

That pressure of "I'll just do it myself, it's just easier" leads to:

• Stagnation - You're stuck in the same spot because there's no space for you to do the other pieces of your business and advance.
• Missed opportunities - There just aren't enough hours in the day to say ‘yes’ to the good opportunities, to go for them and find new ones.
• Simmering resentment - "I always have to do all these tasks. I have so much to do" that can cause you to go into a downward spiral or lose motivation and inspiration.

These can also lead to breaking you financially.

The Emotional Load of Undelegated Tasks

It’s a good time to reflect on how this mindset is creeping into your life, even when you know better. I've been working with two Virtual Assistants for over four years, I have to check myself constantly and ask: "Why am I doing this? Why am I not passing this off?"

There's an emotional load that comes with undelegated tasks. When you have a list of unfinished tasks, it's like they're telling you, "Hey, you're behind. You're not good enough. Can you really do this?" You can feel guilt for not keeping up, thinking "I didn't get this thing done on time," or the guilt of "I know that's still sitting there unfinished."

It might not be just stuff in your business; it might be things in your personal life because professionally, you're eating into your personal time. If you feel that guilt and then hear the whispering of "you're behind, you'll never catch up," paired with the shame of not asking for help, this is a leadership drain of your ability to move your business forward.

It's not just time-consuming, but it's identity-eroding. It's eroding your confidence and your leadership ability, and once gone we can't always get them back in the same way, or the same strength they were before.

A Real Example: Freedom by the Pool

There was a client of mine working with one of my VAs from Virtual Assistant Made Easy, and we were actually on a trip together, and she decided that she would just sit by the pool and not bring her computer or do any work. This was the first time that she had done this because her virtual assistant was able to take things on.

She chose to delegate because there was a lot of stuff going on, and she didn't want that chaos to hit when she was trying to have a vacation, which she wasn’t able to take very often until she had this virtual assistant.

Since I’ve had support for a while, I've been so far removed from the feeling like you can't get away. It was really good for me to see that emotional relief that she had, that renewed sense of clarity on things, the confidence to unplug. It makes a big difference when you can say, "Yeah, I'm not weighed down by my business. I can actually step away and have some time freedom."

Yes, there have been a lot of tactical gains, a lot of business results, from increasing her income to the highest she's ever had, bringing on more clients than before, and many awards she's gained. But the key thing here was just the pride that she had of being like, "Wow, this is possible. I can actually take time for myself."

Can You Take Time Off?

Are you able to feel that peace that comes with knowing that you don't have to do it all yourself?

I want to reframe something for you: Delegation isn't just a trust exercise of "Can I hand this off, or not?" Delegation isn't just a to-do list. It's not necessarily about the action of handing off tasks. It's about what you get to do when your hands and mind are free.

I often joke with my new clients in Virtual Assistant Made Easy: "You're going to get these hours back, but that doesn't mean you now go and scroll Facebook." Actually use these hours in a way that's going to move you towards your goals, both personally and professionally, because what you get to do when your hands and mind are free is going to create that time freedom, work freedom, and financial freedom for you, for your business, for your loved ones, for your life.

Your Choice Point

You can ask yourself: What's it costing me holding on to things that don't need to be mine anymore? Am I reaching a point of overwhelm, or am I choosing to outsource?

If you're interested in the outsourcing route, please reach out to me. I have a team of vetted virtual assistants, all from the Philippines, with great English, lots of experience, and they can do everything from social media, content creation, video/audio editing, tech support, graphic design, content repurposing, research, inbox and calendar management, and the list goes on and on. As a coach, trainer, speaker, podcaster, and author, my VAs handle all the behind-the-scenes work, including creating and distributing the content I'm producing like this blog.

You're probably a great leader. And I know that with a few more free hours and a little more peace, you’ll be at the right capacity, which will help you lead even better.

Your Action Item

Here's my invitation to you:

• Ask yourself, what is one task that's weighing you down?
• What would change if that disappeared?
• Would you feel relief from overwhelm? I hope so.

This is your chance to choose to lead your life and your business how you wish, not just tick off the boxes on your to-do list. Reach out to me and get a VA through Virtual Assistant Made Easy, and we'll make it easy for you to gain your time freedom, work freedom, and financial freedom.

If you haven't yet, share with a friend and check out all the other summer blogs I'm doing which are short, to the point, one action item, and continue on this journey with me as we go into the fall, where I'm going to be talking more about how to have a strong Q4, how to be confident, and a ton of other topics.

If there's something that you'd like to specifically hear about or have me cover, or you want to reach out to me about having your own VA, you can reach out to me: [email protected].

Until next time, stay dynamic!