You Can Do It…But Should You?

Last Sunday, I temporarily lost my mind. About noon, my daughter (in baleful tones) informed me that the clothes dryer was making a horrible screeching sound. It was Sunday and no repair shops were open, so I opened the machine to take a look. Soon, I found myself spiraling down a progressive series of YouTube tutorial rabbit holes.

Around 3:30 pm, I found myself poised to order the replacement parts I determined would be necessary to fix the machine. Then I paused, stepped back, and literally shouted out loud, “What am I doing?!”

A quick glance at my schedule revealed not one minute of free time between 6 am and 9 pm Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were not looking much better. So even if I received the needed parts, I would have no time to install them any time soon. Thank goodness, sane thinking (inasmuch as is possible with me) slowly crept back into my world.

Is It Worth Your Time?

How often have you found yourself jumping in to do something because you have the knowledge, skills, or know-how to get it done even though you don’t have available time? We justify these knee-jerk actions with phrases like, “It will be quicker if I do it,” “No one can do it the way I can,” or the classic fallback, “It will be way less expensive if I do it.”

I’m calling out myself and anyone else who’s ever said some version of one of the above statements. I’m especially calling out business owners and executives who are already stretched to the max. It’s time to either call for help or delegate.

Have you ever calculated what your time is worth? The dollar figure would likely astound you. Yet smart people continually fall into the “I can do it“ trap all day long. The next time you catch yourself falling into this snare, take a deep cleansing breath, hit pause for 30 seconds, and then ask yourself a few of these questions:

• Do I like doing this?
• Am I the best person to be doing this?
• What is not getting done if I do this?
• What might the hard dollar cost be of having someone else do this?
• Why do I feel compelled to do this?
• What will it take for me to feel good about having someone else do this?

I should have followed my own advice a bit earlier. I might have gained back three hours of my Sunday afternoon. Regardless, I eventually came to my senses, and the repair person will be here tomorrow. I will gladly pay their fee. As the old saying goes, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.“

Need someone to ask you some tough questions or reel you back in from the brink? Drop me a line. I’ve been there and know what you’re going through.