Need more time at home? Learn how to delegate. You’ll save time and your sanity.
Moms are famous for doing way too much. We work, take care of the home, cook, coordinate doctor appointments, do laundry, make sure homework is done, shuttle everyone to their activities and hunt down a missing sock, important paper, library book or necklace. Is it no wonder that we are so overwhelmed?
The Master Delegator
I think it part that we do this to ourselves. One lesson I have learned comes courtesy of my sister in law. She is raising a family, works as a substitute teacher and has a second job as the wife of a youth pastor. Yet, her house is always spotless and everything always gets done. Here secret, which you have probably already guessed, is that she is a master delegator.
Learn How to Let Go
The biggest obstacle to delegating, and therefore saving time and effort is learning how to let go. Most of the time, women feel that they have to do it all themselves, either because we want to make sure that the job gets done the exact way that we want it to get done, or we want the pride of having gotten it done all by ourselves.
But there is a decision to be made here. Do you want it done at all? Sometimes delegating the job to someone else may not be ideal, but it may still accomplish the goal. On nights that I am working late, my husband is in charge of getting the kids dinner. They may wind up eating hours late and with no vegetable, but I know that they won’t go to bed hungry.
Family
At home, family is your most likely source of helpers to whom you can delegate. One smart way to do this is to assign routine tasks or chores to the kids. Be prepared to check on the work and invest in lots of visual aids and reminders. It will be a little work up front that will save you time later.
Children as young as three can be taught to bring their dinner dishes to the sink or counter, throw garbage into the bin or fetch clothing from a drawer.
Professionals
Sometimes it just makes sense to hire a profession. For a recent insulating job at our home, we knew that my husband had enough skill to do the job. We also knew that hiring someone professional would mean that the job would be completed by the non negotiable deadline. Delegating this job freed us up from sleepless nights.