D is for Delegate

Join me on a journey towards a simple, sustainable and meaningful life. Throughout November we will be exploring each category of the A-Z guide to a simple, sustainable and meaningful life. Today we’re looking at D… Delegate.

This guide has been written from the point of view of someone living with chronic illness but the topics and concepts discussed are relevant to everyone and anyone.

D is for Delegate

Our simple, sustainable and meaningful life can only be achieved if we focus on what is important to us and find ways to simplify the rest of it.

Earlier in the series we talked about budgeting, and how we need to budget not only our money but our time and energy expenditure as well. One way of ensuring we stick within our limitations, and achieve our target budgets, is to delegate tasks to others within our community.

It can be hard to delegate tasks when you feel it is your responsibility to do something but it’s important to look after our own health and not push ourselves too hard.

Some of the things I’ve already delegated to others include:

  • Cleaning (we have a cleaner come in fortnightly)
  • Driving when out late or going a long distance
  • Bringing in enough money to cover the bills (this one isn’t really by choice but I do rely on my husband as I’m unable to work enough hours)

Other things that I would consider delegating in the future now that I’ve started working again:

  • Attendance at meetings where my direct input isn’t required (I can read the minutes after to work out what has been covered)
  • Work tasks that can be handled by others

Delegating frees up your time to focus on activities and tasks that are important to you and that align with your values and goals for the future. Without delegation, our time could be filled completely with tasks that are important to do but don’t necessarily align with our true selves.

What activities and tasks do you delegate to others? Are there any other tasks you can consider delegating to free up your time for more important things?