WEBVTT - When you outsource, you're still a resource

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that when you outsource, you're still a resource.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't check something entirely off your list. Even if

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<v Speaker 1>you hire someone else to do it, you still have

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<v Speaker 1>to do a little management and supervision. So it's best

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on how you are saving ninety percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the time you would have spent on a task, rather

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<v Speaker 1>than get frustrated about the ten percent that likely won't

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<v Speaker 1>go away. Longtime listeners know that I advocate outsourcing lots

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<v Speaker 1>of things. Often a manageable amount of money can free

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<v Speaker 1>up a good bit of time. Than spending your weekends

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<v Speaker 1>cleaning or running errands, you can spend them hanging out

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<v Speaker 1>with your family at work rather than handling every detail.

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<v Speaker 1>You hire a team to specialize, and you provide direction.

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<v Speaker 1>Even for folks who work for themselves, having an in

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<v Speaker 1>person or virtual assistant can be quite helpful. Here's the thing, though,

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<v Speaker 1>When you outsource a task that would otherwise fall to

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<v Speaker 1>you and that actually needs to get done, you won't

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<v Speaker 1>be able to let it go completely. You will need

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<v Speaker 1>to have some level of involvement it will just be

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<v Speaker 1>way less involvement than when you are handling the task directly.

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<v Speaker 1>People are much happier when they focus on the reduction

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<v Speaker 1>rather than the small amount of lingering mental load. So,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, you might like to imagine that having house

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<v Speaker 1>cleaners come every week means that you won't ever have

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<v Speaker 1>to spend time cleaning your house again, but that is

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<v Speaker 1>not entirely true. At the beginning, you will need to

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<v Speaker 1>show the cleaners around the house and let them know

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<v Speaker 1>how you like things. Some weeks, you might need to

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<v Speaker 1>ask for some area to get extra attention, really spiffing

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<v Speaker 1>up the guest room, for instance, because company is coming,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll probably wind up picking up things before the cleaners come,

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<v Speaker 1>so anything small and important does an inadvertently get put

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<v Speaker 1>in the wrong spot. You will need to tell the

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<v Speaker 1>cleaners when you are canceling a week because you are

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<v Speaker 1>on vacation or moving the time because you're having a

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<v Speaker 1>party at the exact moment the cleaners usually come. If

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<v Speaker 1>you get the same team every week, my guess is

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<v Speaker 1>you will want to build a relationship with these people

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<v Speaker 1>to the extent that it is possible, so they will

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<v Speaker 1>tell you if they see anything out of the ordinary.

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<v Speaker 1>Now you know about that's leak in the bathroom a

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<v Speaker 1>week earlier than you would have. And of course, if

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<v Speaker 1>the cleaners are cleaning your kitchen on Wednesday, that really

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<v Speaker 1>just doesn't do your dishes on Saturday. So even if

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<v Speaker 1>your house cleaners do almost everything, you can't check house

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<v Speaker 1>cleaning off your list completely. You will be a lot

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<v Speaker 1>less annoyed by the little things you have to do

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<v Speaker 1>when you remember that fact. Likewise, as convenient as grocery

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<v Speaker 1>delivery can be, someone still has to order and put

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<v Speaker 1>away the groceries. You might also want to check your

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<v Speaker 1>bags to ensure you received what you ordered. That means

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<v Speaker 1>fewer unpleasant surprises when it's time to cook dinner. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you're hiring a full time staff member at work,

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<v Speaker 1>you probably can't just hand this person a job description

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<v Speaker 1>and assume everything listed will get done exactly as you

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<v Speaker 1>want without you lifting a finger. If you hire a

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<v Speaker 1>direct report to support your work work and take on

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<v Speaker 1>some things you've done yourself, you still need to be

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<v Speaker 1>a resource. You may not have to perform the work

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<v Speaker 1>yourself anymore, but supervising and supporting your direct reports does

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<v Speaker 1>require time and attention. Nothing else you want to keep

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<v Speaker 1>these people happy. This concept of still needing to do

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<v Speaker 1>some work, even if you have offloaded a lot even

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<v Speaker 1>comes into play with the idea of passive income. You

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<v Speaker 1>probably can't get any category of work in your life

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<v Speaker 1>down to absolute zero. I maintain that there aren't a

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<v Speaker 1>whole lot of truly passive forms of income out there.

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<v Speaker 1>I get royalty checks from books I wrote fifteen years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>but that is because I am still out here in

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<v Speaker 1>the world talking about time management all the time. Even

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<v Speaker 1>dividends and interest require bookkeeping and making sure your accountant

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<v Speaker 1>has the right forms. Most forms of so called passive

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<v Speaker 1>income require way more work than that. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>a rental property, even if you use a property management company,

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<v Speaker 1>you will need to make sure that they get paid,

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<v Speaker 1>and you'll need to check in occasionally to see that

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<v Speaker 1>they are doing a good job. If you've got a

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<v Speaker 1>website where people can pay for virtual courses, even if

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<v Speaker 1>you've already made the courses, you'll need to check that

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<v Speaker 1>the webs diet is still working as it's supposed to,

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<v Speaker 1>And if the search engines change their algorithms, you will

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<v Speaker 1>need to update things too. So it goes If you

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<v Speaker 1>are hoping to spend one hundred percent of your hours

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<v Speaker 1>on leisure. This would all be really annoying, but when

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<v Speaker 1>you recognize that the reduction in time is large, you

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<v Speaker 1>can choose to focus on that. There is no free lunch.

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<v Speaker 1>There are very few instances in life where you can

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<v Speaker 1>get something done and have nothing required of you. So

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<v Speaker 1>when a little bit is required of you and a

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<v Speaker 1>lot is done by someone else, best not to resent

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<v Speaker 1>the little you have to do. If you have made

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<v Speaker 1>wise choices and train people well, it probably will be

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<v Speaker 1>just a little after a while, which is a lovely thing. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>what have you outsourced successfully? You can let me know

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<v Speaker 1>at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.