It has been quite a while since my last official blog post to Organizer Mom. I am very excited to be back and sharing tips with all of my followers. My son is about to turn three and we are expecting a baby girl in May 2016, so life has been busy. Even with my best organizing skills, pregnancy fatigue, morning sickness and the holidays have added up to a real challenge in keeping up, even for a professional.
With all of the changes going on in our house (and my obsessive nesting) I realized how much I needed a team to help, as many of my clients do. It is hard to admit you can’t do it all yourself. I know that many parents struggle with the same juggling act. What we once had time to do ourselves is nearly impossible with a demanding toddler or baby. I would be lying to you if being organized alone is the key to keeping the balance. We all need a team to keep up with our busy lives today. The increased interruptions from our ringing gadgets, the new Pinterest worthy standards placed on homemakers and party preparation activities, and the societal pressure to prepare your kids with unending extracurricular activities force families to meet impossible standards that were not as abundant years ago. Sure I could do it all myself, but the cost would be far greater than saving money…it takes a physical and mental toll as well. Getting through a transitional time takes more than just organization, it requires thoughtful delegation.
Here is how I saved myself time and energy the last five months by delegating some of life’s projects:
- In the last three months we have had to outsource home improvement projects to contractors and painters that my husband and I would have once taken on ourselves (pre-kids). It saved us so much time and energy so we could spend more with our family or making money doing what we are good at…running our businesses.
- I hired a friend who is an interior designer to help me talk through rearranging our rooms for a second child, help choose paint colors and edit our furniture. It took two hours and saved me weeks of agonizing over visual decisions that don’t come naturally to me. People are often afraid of the cost of an interior designer, but it is less than you think. They can use your own furniture and accessories to re-design entire spaces, give you simple checklists for additional affordable items to complete the rooms and help you find the right shades to match your current room’s decor. In two-short hours I had a plan that helped me relocate my home office, create a new nursery, guest bedroom and update my living room and dining room. This nesting mom had no more sleepless nights thinking about the perfect nursery color or where the most affordable place to buy five sets of curtains would be. She simplified the process much like I do when I help people declutter.
- We relented in the last year to hiring an affordable house cleaner and that changed our weekend lives. No longer did I have to stress about when the last time I dusted or changed our sheets was. Weekends became more about family time and activities than worrying about getting the vacuum out or if I should bleach the tub. During the holidays she helped me get all of the guest bedrooms prepped for our thirteen plus overnight guests and will do extra requests when needed. I realized that I could work one hour to pay for her three hours at my home. It was a no brainer.
- Lastly, in my business I finally relented and had a professional web developer tackle my website instead of creating it myself. For 10 years I have been designing and updating my own site and it was far from professional. Investing in a proper platform that organized all of my social media and newsletter lists into one place has changed my professional life. Getting a message posted on all of my social media has been cut by hours! Again, it shows how doing it yourself doesn’t always pay and the bonus return is an increase in my business income.
I know you might be thinking that delegation would cost too much money, but in our household we realized that taking time off from work to complete projects was actually costing us more than paying someone. In addition, you would be surprised how many friends and business colleagues would be willing to barter their talents for one of yours. Sometimes getting a service you need is only a matter of trading time doing something you love more than they do.
To help all of my readers think about what they could delegate in their own household, I am giving away my printable Daily Task List that helps you outline your work and home tasks all in one place. Be one of the first 10 people to share this post and I will send you the PDF file to print and re-use as often as you like! For more printable productivity, task lists and planner pages visit our Etsy store Life’s Lists: Life’s Lists Store
