Hey, folks. I’m happy to report that I finally retired the old computer and joined the MacBook family. Now, I’m trying to figure out how I ever got anything done with a PC. Never going back! Let’s get into this week’s Monday Morning Move.
So…I’m surrendering. Waving the white flag. Calling it quits. Quitting what, you ask? Trying to get everything accomplished on my own. I’m your quintessential overworked twenty-sixer – always juggling too many projects…always behind on responding to emails and returning phone calls…always at least mildly tired. While I like to think I’m above average when it comes to productivity, I’m starting to consider how much more productive I could be if I stopped trying to do every little thing myself. So , I did what countless other business owners and corporations do this time of year – hired interns. Now, this isn’t my first go-round with this. I had an intern last summer as well, and I’ve worked with a personal assistant before. But both times felt so unnatural for me. See, I’m the kind of person who finds it exhausting to have to explain to others what I need them to do and how I want it done. I also suffer from that “nobody will do things exactly the way I would” paranoia. But, juggling a law practice, blog, and a few other passion projects has forced me to rethink my “go it alone” philosophy.
Enter the intern duo – college-aged, eager to learn, and ready to start building a professional resume. They actually came on the scene last Monday…but my brain was too fried after getting them all set up to actually write about it. Upon their arrival, I handed them a carefully detailed manual that I spent half the Sunday before crafting. It included every possible administrative task I could think of. Fast forward to the end of their first week, and I was just as, if not more tired than I usually am by Friday. What went wrong?
Here’s the issue – while I had passed off a bunch of menial duties, I didn’t turn over any of the tasks that require real thought. So in essence, my brain was still being forced into constant overdrive. This past weekend, I decided to regroup, and today I doled out projects that really mattered…that could affect my bottom line. Scary. But guess what – those projects got done. Where the results perfect? No…but they were far from bad. And For the first time in a long time, I left the office before 6:00 PM. Win.
Maybe I could get used to asking for help after all. I encourage my fellow twenty-sixers to do the same. I find that our resistance to doing so is often caused by 1. fear of our ideas, projects or businesses not being good enough to warrant anyone else’s contribution, or 2. a lack of organization that, in turn, prevents us from knowing how to articulate what it is that we want and need. Well, here are two lessons that I learned today
1. If you fully believe in yourself and your dream, it is not hard to get full dedication and buy-in from someone else; and
2. Asking for help will force you to make sense of your goals and get your ducks in a row.
So push past the fear. Get over your need to do it solo. And put a call out for whatever assistance you need to help catapult you to the next level.
