Project: Dabble

Struggling to find time for lifelong learning and personal growth? These practical delegation strategies can help you regain control of your to-do list and maximize your full potential.

Think about a goal you’ve been struggling to achieve. Maybe you want to enroll in a degree program to make a career change, pick up a new hobby or skill, or finally write that book. What’s holding you back?

For many of us, it’s time. There are simply too many things on our to-do lists and not enough hours in the day.

That lack of time can make lifelong learning seem out of reach. Researchers use the term time famine to describe the feeling of having more tasks than time to complete them. That constant sense of being rushed can take a toll on both productivity and well-being.

But your to-do list doesn’t have to dictate your hopes and dreams. If you want to make lifelong learning and growth a priority, you need to be more intentional about what deserves your attention and what doesn’t. One of the most effective ways to do that is through delegation.

Done well, delegation can free up time and energy for your most important goals. In Free to Focus, productivity expert Michael Hyatt shares effective delegation strategies, including how to decide what to take off your plate, who should handle it and how much responsibility to hand over. His approach can help you focus more fully on the pursuits that bring a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Why Delegation Is So Hard

While most of us recognize that delegation can be an effective way to free up time, actually handing work over to someone else can be difficult. Hyatt notes that high achievers in particular may struggle to trust someone else with the work. You might worry, “If I don’t do it, no one will,” or “It’s too much responsibility.” You may even tell yourself, “It’s faster if I do it myself.”

That last objection can feel especially convincing because, at first, it may actually be true. Delegation often requires you to slow down long enough to train someone, bring them up to speed and provide feedback. But that short-term investment can save you significant time in the long run. And while responsibility for the final outcome may still rest with you, that doesn’t mean you have to handle every step of the execution yourself.

Cost can be another barrier. But instead of looking only at what delegation costs, consider what you gain in return. If paying someone to handle a lower-value task frees you to spend your time on work, learning or goals that are more valuable to you, the expense may be worthwhile. The question isn’t simply whether you can do the task yourself. It’s whether doing it yourself is the best use of your time and energy.

“You can’t buy happiness,” writes Hyatt, “but you can buy back your time by offloading tasks you deem stressful or unlikeable – and that amounts to the same thing.”

But before you start figuring out how to find the resources to delegate, it helps to get clear on a more fundamental question: What should you delegate in the first place? Once you know the what, you can begin working out the how.

Strategies for Effective Delegation

Hand off a task, explain what needs to be done and move on. Sounds easy enough. But delegation can unravel quickly when responsibilities, expectations or authority aren’t clear. Before long, you may find yourself frustrated, stepping back in and wondering why you delegated in the first place. Hyatt’s seven-step approach can help you avoid those pitfalls and hand off work more effectively.

Step 1: Decide what to delegate

Start by looking at the tasks you consider essential and ask yourself: Does the person doing this have to be me?

“Often the answer is no,” writes Hyatt.

Hyatt recommends thinking about delegation as a hierarchy, starting with the tasks that are easiest to let go of. At the bottom are tasks that feel like drudgery, such as errands, laundry, cleaning or other routine responsibilities you simply don’t enjoy. These are often good candidates for delegation.

Many people feel guilty about handing off this kind of work, but just because you dislike a task doesn’t mean everyone else will. People have different preferences and tolerances for routine work, and something that feels tedious to you may feel satisfying or easy to someone else.

The next level includes tasks you don’t necessarily dislike but that hold little interest for you and tend to drain your energy. In business, that might include accounting or web design. In your personal life, it could be travel planning or organizing holiday cards. You may be perfectly capable of doing these tasks, but that doesn’t mean they are the best use of your attention.

From there, consider tasks you enjoy but aren’t especially good at. For example, you may enjoy promoting your business on social media but lack the skills to do it at the level your business requires. Ask yourself whether becoming more proficient is truly worth the time and effort. If not, delegation may be the better choice.

Finally, look at tasks you both enjoy and do well. These can be the hardest to give up, but even here, you may have more work than you can reasonably handle. In that case, consider delegating parts of the task so you can stay focused on your most important priorities. 

Step 2: Select the best person

Everyone has different strengths, interests and areas of expertise. Effective delegation means matching the task to the person who is best equipped, and ideally most interested, in handling it.

Think about the people around you. Who enjoys this kind of work? Who has the expertise to do it well? Who might even find the task energizing rather than draining? Sometimes that person may be someone in your household or workplace. Other times, it makes more sense to outsource the task to a professional.

When you tap into someone else’s strengths and enthusiasm, you may end up with a better result than you could have achieved on your own.

Step 3: Communicate the workflow

Delegation requires time and patience. Show the person how to complete the task and give them a chance to ask questions. You may need to write out the steps, provide a video or visuals they can refer to later, or walk them through the process once or twice. Be sure to clearly state your expectations for the results you’d like to see. 

If you’re delegating a task in an area where you don’t have much expertise, be clear about your goals and desired outcomes. Listen to the expert’s advice and feedback as well so you can make sure you’re both on the same page.

Step 4: Provide the resources

Make sure the person has everything they need to carry out the task successfully. This could include physical resources such as tools, equipment or a training manual. It could also include access to software, login information or other materials.

In the workplace, you might need to email other team members or departments to let them know the person will be taking over that responsibility. These small details can be easy to overlook, but they can derail delegation if they aren’t addressed. Take the time to think through the process and ask the person what they need to carry out the responsibility successfully.

Step 5: Specify the delegation level

Before handing over a project or task, be clear about how much authority you are giving the other person. Hyatt describes delegation as a spectrum, ranging from closely directed work to complete ownership.

At the lowest level, the person follows your instructions exactly. From there, you might ask them to research an issue and report back so you can make the decision, or to research the options and make a recommendation for your approval.

At higher levels, you give the person more independence. They may evaluate the options, make and carry out the decision, and update you afterward. At the highest level, you hand over complete responsibility for the task or project, including the authority to make decisions on their own.

The key is to make the level of authority explicit from the beginning. That way, both of you understand where the boundaries are and who is responsible for making the final call.

Step 6: Give them room to operate

Once the person understands what they need to accomplish, has the necessary resources and knows how much authority they have, it’s time to step back and let them get to work.

This is often where delegation breaks down. It can be difficult to let someone else take over, which can lead to hovering or micromanaging. But if you’ve chosen a capable person and prepared them well, give them space to take ownership and trust them to deliver.

Step 7: Check in and provide feedback

Giving someone room to operate doesn’t mean disappearing completely. You are still responsible for the outcome, so check in periodically to make sure the work is moving in the right direction and provide feedback when needed. The goal is to support without taking over. 

“Give your team the dignity of doing the job you hired them to do,” writes Hyatt. “Just keep an eye on them while they do it until you’re sure they have things under control.”

As people grow more confident and capable, Hyatt says, you can gradually give them more authority to act on your behalf. That’s when delegation begins to create even more time and space for you to focus on your highest priorities.

The Delegation Payoff 

Delegation may require more time and effort upfront, but the investment can pay off significantly in the long run. When you give people the opportunity to take ownership of a task, they may bring ideas, expertise and enthusiasm that elevate the work beyond what you could have done alone.

You may not be able to buy happiness, but you can buy back some of your time. And when you have more time and energy, you can truly learn, grow and reach your full potential.