One of the reasons it took me so long to get started building a business is because I consumed much of my time doing jobs that I could have let others do. As a husband and father, it is easy to get so caught up in household chores that there is not a spare minute to pursue your passions.
In my previous article, I talked about how analysis paralysis can keep you at a standstill and not move forward with your dreams. For many years, I dreamed about creating a website to share insights and learn together with you about alternative, non-job ways to earn a living.
It was not until a realized that doing a little bit per day is the way to reach a goal — even if it seems insurmountable at first.
I also recently realized, that I need to delegate a lot more so that I have more spare minutes in each day to reach my goals. Here are some suggestions to free up some of your time to pursue your dream(s):
- Get someone else to mow the lawn — I mowed my own lawn for many years and it took a significant amount of time every weekend to get the job done. It was not until we moved to New England that my wife convinced me to have it done by professional landscapers. If you a frugal-minded like me, I know it “goes against the grain” to pay someone $45 or more a week to have your acreage trimmed. I used to have the thought that I could pay to buy a tractor with the money we spend on the landscapers, but you will begin to appreciate it when your lawn looks great and you don’t have to mess with it at all to make it look that way. It’s also nice not to suffer with the bugs, allergens, and various reptilian creatures you can find in your lawn during the summer months!
- If you live in the snow belt, get your driveway plowed by a professional. For the same reason as getting someone to mow your lawn, you will save a lot of time and hassle if the snow is taken care of without your intervention. We live in New England so we get a lot of snow every winter. Last winter, I purchased a snow pusher — a handy invention that is better than a snow shovel to get us through a snowy winter. But since I have a long driveway it took several hours to complete the job every time we received a significant snowfall. All that time I could have been spending doing something I enjoy instead!
- Get an accountant to do your taxes — I used to do all my own tax returns every year and spent hours and hours preparing the receipts and entering all the data into tax software. Being very detail-oriented, I also used to worry and sweat that I had done something incorrectly and pored over my return multiple times to ensure accuracy. If you have a situation that has any complexity at all — mortgage, your own business, moving expenses, etc. — do you yourself a favor and spend the money to get a good accountant to take care of it for you. You will be glad you did, it is a big time saver and will reduce your stress.
- Give your spouse more authority over the finances — For many years, I insisted on taking care of all the finances in our house because that’s how my parents and grandparents did it — the father was responsible for the money. I also wanted to maintain control since I am so detail oriented. I later realized that I had been conditioned to think that was the best arrangement for everyone involved, but that was an incorrect notion. I have since learned to let go and let my wife direct a large portion of the budget. It has worked out remarkably well and has freed up time in my day to pursue other activities.
- Turn off the TV — or at least scale back the amount of time you spend in from of the television each day. Even if you replace that time with good reading, you will be amazed at how much more you learn than in front of the tube.
I hope these insights are helpful to you. My recommendation is to examine activities that take a large portion of your time and see if you can delegate them as much as you can. It will get you that much closer to your dreams of making extra money!
