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A post shared by Michael J Mehlberg (@michael.mehlberg) on Aug 21, 2018 at 7:22pm PDT

You hear a lot about multitasking.

Namely, how you shouldn’t be doing it.

You know it doesn’t work. You know it stresses you out. You know you’re not as effective while performing more than one task at a time.

But it feels as if there’s no other way.

So you jump on the phone, fire up email, and try to work, all at the same time. You keep on multitasking because, though the experts tell you to stop, life demands you don’t.

Let me suggest another way: delegate.

If a task is so trivial that it can be done whilst working on something else, delegate it. It’s not worth your time. You should be working on more important shit.

If a task is so easy to do that you can do it while doing other things, delegate it. An admin or virtual assistant could do it for you. Probably better.

If you need to get more done, double-down on the jobs you are uniquely good at. Don’t take away from those tasks by distracting yourself with trivialities. Delegate it, and outsource the rest.

By the way, this doesn’t apply to only business leaders and managers. I’ve been delegating tasks to a virtual assistant for years. Tasks like:

📚 Internet research
📅 Scheduling personal appointments
📝 Transcribing notes, thoughts, ideas
💻 Programming
🎁 Finding and buying gifts
✉️ Answering emails

Previously, I would have done all of these tasks myself... while doing something else.

And while I would have gotten them all done, the reality is they would have distracted me from focusing all my effort into quality, unique work; work that only I can do.

What’s more, while multi-tasking is operating at an extreme level that leaves you feeling exhausted at the end of the day, delegating lets you get twice as much done AND have a healthy work/life balance.

Don’t multi-task. Not because the experts tell you not to, but because there’s a much better alternative.

Delegate, get twice as much done, decrease mistakes, increase quality, stay focused on what’s important, and still have the energy to spend with friends and family when the workday is over.