228: The Burdensome B’s—Four Red Flags Signaling it’s Time to Make The Big (Delegation) Leap

“I’m at my wit's end.” That was the conclusion of a text message that broke my heart a little bit when a friend and fellow business owner showed it to me the other day.

Their team member sent it to them, expressing exasperation at the state of unfinished tasks in the business where they were waiting on an answer or action from the owner.

Seeing it bummed me out for both of them because it was neither person’s fault per se (though we can all take responsibility, of course). As I say in Free Time, business stress is a systems problem.

Today I’m sharing the signal flares to look out for indicating that something needs to change, with ways to communicate (and delegate) to stop the stressful pile-up languishing on your desk.

🌟 Key Takeaways: The Burdensome B’s

  • Bored: You no longer enjoy the work (same goes for your team members)

  • Bottlenecked: Team members are frustrated from waiting for you; you are frustrated that there’s a growing pile at your desk.

  • Burned out: You are starting to resent the work, your team, even your clients. Every communication starts to feel like a paper cut.

  • Buried by bureaucracy: You are no longer operating in your Zone of Genius because you are so bogged down by tasks that fall into your zones of incompetence, competence, or even excellence (the zone that Hendricks’ says has most risk of lulling you to sleep).

📝 Permission

Stop doing things that you're not even good at—that you dread, that drain you, that you procrastinate on. You also have full permission to stop trying to be somebody you’re not—even if that means a “business owner who is equally brilliant at big, creative thinking and administravia.”

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next

Keep a piece of paper at your desk (or digital can work): note where you are in your zone of incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

📚 Books Mentioned

🎧 Related Episodes

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review

✍️ Check out Jenny’s personal business essays on Substack, Rolling in D🤦🏻‍♀️h

❤️ Join our private BFF community for Heart-Based Business owners

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter for access to the Free Time Toolkit

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and share with friends: https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/228

Jenny Blake

Jenny Blake is a career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people people organize their brain, move beyond burnout and create sustainable careers they love. She is the author of PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, September 2016). Jenny left her job in career development at Google in 2011 after five and a half years at the company to launch her first book, Life After College, and has since run her own consulting business in New York City. Find her on Twitter @Jenny_Blake and subscribe to the Pivot Podcast

http://PivotMethod.com
Previous
Previous

229: How (and When) to Trust Yourself and Others with Ilise Benun

Next
Next

227: 🎁 The Best Gifting Strategies and Biggest Mistakes with John Ruhlin