Do you struggle to delegate so that you can get more done and grow your business faster?… It’s almost a catch 22. If you spend time delegating, you become more overwhelmed. It can be a constant struggle of needing to delegate tasks and not wanting to.

There’s a good chance that, if you are a solopreneur or small business owner, you’ve likely encountered this same inner conflict. The good news is, there is a way to put the conflicting parts of your brain to rest – hire a virtual assistant.

Is saying that making your inner “I can do everything” demon start to scream? Are you addicted to being a DoItAllAholic? Take a moment to listen to the logical part of your brain. It is telling you how to delegate to overcome overwhelm.

Learning how to delegate effectively to a VA will allow you to focus on growth activities for your business. Let someone else focus on activities that maintain your business.

How to Overcome the Struggle to Delegate

In this article, I will walk you through the typical internal struggles of small business owners, determining tasks to delegate, and delegating to a VA.

Four Reasons Why You’re Not Delegating

There are four main reasons why solopreneurs don’t want to delegate tasks: perfectionism, being overwhelmed, distrust, and micromanagement.

“I don’t have time to find, hire, and train someone.”

Too often, small business owners use being overwhelmed as an excuse not to delegate. The idea of dedicating time to finding and training a virtual assistant only reads as wasted time to an overwhelmed owner.

“No one can do it as well as I can.”

To a certain extent, all small business owners battle with perfectionism and being controlling. It’s a mindset that slows down the entire business’ operations because the owner needs to put a final stamp of approval on every item that goes out.

“What if they mess up?”

For the most part, most of us start out with trust issues when we first start delegating tasks to a virtual assistant. We invariably consider the worst-case scenario. Enter each relationship with a VA with the intention of trust, and he/she will assuredly build that trust.

“I will spend more time checking their work than if I just did it myself.”

Entering a delegation relationship with the mindset you still need to check behind each action a VA takes will not only diminish the trust in the relationship but also defeat the purpose of hiring the VA in the first place.

Finding a Virtual Assistant

As I mentioned earlier, many business owners feel overwhelmed by the task of having to find, interview, hire, and train a virtual assistant. If you want to hire a VA on your own, check out our guide to hiring a virtual assistant.

For many others, the process of finding a VA takes too much time, so they struggle to delegate and continue on with how they’ve been managing their tasks.

To help these owners, there are virtual services companies such as Virtual A Team which identify, qualify, and hire virtual assistants to meet a variety of needs.

Determining Tasks to Delegate

You might honestly be right based on your level of acceptance. However, that mentality will keep your business stuck in one place. It is important to learn how to delegate to overcome overwhelm so you can grow your business.

Virtual assistants can do almost any task that you can. Granted, it may require a little effort on your part to get the quality up to your standards. However, it may also be an opportunity to let go of perfectionism and accept good enough.

Start by make a list of your daily tasks to determine which tasks can be delegated to a VA. Run through the list and mark which ones someone without a lot of training can do. These tasks might include scheduling appointments, data entry, travel booking, expense reporting, proofreading, and social media management.

Now go through your task list a second time and mark the ones you don’t like doing. These tasks might require some training for the VA, but you know you’d enjoy your work more if you didn’t have to do them.

Delegation Tips

To start, don’t assign all the tasks you selected right off the bat. Assign only a few tasks to see how your VA does. Starting out slowly will help you get over your dread of “what if they mess up?” but also your sense of perfectionism.

Once you’ve determined the VA is a good fit for your business, start assigning more tasks until you’ve reached the quota for the number of hours the VA works with you each week.

“I will spend more time checking their work than if I just did it myself.”

When delegating tasks, set clear expectations and goals, especially measurable ones, for each job for your VA. This will really cut down on the need to double check everything. As your relationship with a VA grows, your efforts will be dramatically reduced.

Thank your VA for taking on these tasks. It helps you overcome your sense of being overwhelmed. This solidifies the transfer of ownership of that task from you to the VA.

Go Forth and Delegate

Letting go of some tasks will be difficult. However, delegation is what it takes to get your business to the next level. Delegate to overcome overwhelm so that you are free to focus your energy on growth opportunities for your company.

If I left any questions unanswered, feel free to schedule a free consultation to learn more about how virtual assistants can help you!