1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: tip is that when you outsource, you're still a resource. 4 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: You can't check something entirely off your list. Even if 5 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: you hire someone else to do it, you still have 6 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: to do a little management and supervision. So it's best 7 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: to focus on how you are saving ninety percent of 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: the time you would have spent on a task, rather 9 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: than get frustrated about the ten percent that likely won't 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: go away. Longtime listeners know that I advocate outsourcing lots 11 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: of things. Often a manageable amount of money can free 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: up a good bit of time. Than spending your weekends 13 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: cleaning or running errands, you can spend them hanging out 14 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: with your family at work rather than handling every detail. 15 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: You hire a team to specialize, and you provide direction. 16 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: Even for folks who work for themselves, having an in 17 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: person or virtual assistant can be quite helpful. Here's the thing, though, 18 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: When you outsource a task that would otherwise fall to 19 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: you and that actually needs to get done, you won't 20 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: be able to let it go completely. You will need 21 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: to have some level of involvement it will just be 22 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: way less involvement than when you are handling the task directly. 23 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: People are much happier when they focus on the reduction 24 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: rather than the small amount of lingering mental load. So, 25 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: for instance, you might like to imagine that having house 26 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: cleaners come every week means that you won't ever have 27 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: to spend time cleaning your house again, but that is 28 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: not entirely true. At the beginning, you will need to 29 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: show the cleaners around the house and let them know 30 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: how you like things. Some weeks, you might need to 31 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: ask for some area to get extra attention, really spiffing 32 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: up the guest room, for instance, because company is coming, 33 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: you'll probably wind up picking up things before the cleaners come, 34 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: so anything small and important does an inadvertently get put 35 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: in the wrong spot. You will need to tell the 36 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: cleaners when you are canceling a week because you are 37 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: on vacation or moving the time because you're having a 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: party at the exact moment the cleaners usually come. If 39 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: you get the same team every week, my guess is 40 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: you will want to build a relationship with these people 41 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,519 Speaker 1: to the extent that it is possible, so they will 42 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: tell you if they see anything out of the ordinary. 43 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: Now you know about that's leak in the bathroom a 44 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: week earlier than you would have. And of course, if 45 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: the cleaners are cleaning your kitchen on Wednesday, that really 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: just doesn't do your dishes on Saturday. So even if 47 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: your house cleaners do almost everything, you can't check house 48 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: cleaning off your list completely. You will be a lot 49 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: less annoyed by the little things you have to do 50 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: when you remember that fact. Likewise, as convenient as grocery 51 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: delivery can be, someone still has to order and put 52 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: away the groceries. You might also want to check your 53 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: bags to ensure you received what you ordered. That means 54 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: fewer unpleasant surprises when it's time to cook dinner. And 55 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: if you're hiring a full time staff member at work, 56 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: you probably can't just hand this person a job description 57 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: and assume everything listed will get done exactly as you 58 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: want without you lifting a finger. If you hire a 59 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: direct report to support your work work and take on 60 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: some things you've done yourself, you still need to be 61 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: a resource. You may not have to perform the work 62 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: yourself anymore, but supervising and supporting your direct reports does 63 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: require time and attention. Nothing else you want to keep 64 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: these people happy. This concept of still needing to do 65 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: some work, even if you have offloaded a lot even 66 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: comes into play with the idea of passive income. You 67 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: probably can't get any category of work in your life 68 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: down to absolute zero. I maintain that there aren't a 69 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: whole lot of truly passive forms of income out there. 70 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: I get royalty checks from books I wrote fifteen years ago, 71 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: but that is because I am still out here in 72 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: the world talking about time management all the time. Even 73 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: dividends and interest require bookkeeping and making sure your accountant 74 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: has the right forms. Most forms of so called passive 75 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: income require way more work than that. If you have 76 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: a rental property, even if you use a property management company, 77 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: you will need to make sure that they get paid, 78 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: and you'll need to check in occasionally to see that 79 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: they are doing a good job. If you've got a 80 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: website where people can pay for virtual courses, even if 81 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: you've already made the courses, you'll need to check that 82 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,840 Speaker 1: the webs diet is still working as it's supposed to, 83 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: And if the search engines change their algorithms, you will 84 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: need to update things too. So it goes If you 85 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: are hoping to spend one hundred percent of your hours 86 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: on leisure. This would all be really annoying, but when 87 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: you recognize that the reduction in time is large, you 88 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: can choose to focus on that. There is no free lunch. 89 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: There are very few instances in life where you can 90 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: get something done and have nothing required of you. So 91 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: when a little bit is required of you and a 92 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: lot is done by someone else, best not to resent 93 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: the little you have to do. If you have made 94 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: wise choices and train people well, it probably will be 95 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: just a little after a while, which is a lovely thing. Indeed, 96 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: what have you outsourced successfully? You can let me know 97 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, 98 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 99 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 100 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 101 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 102 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 103 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 104 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.