Are you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted when trying to keep up with everything that needs to happen in a single day? Are you feeling like you can’t trust anyone to do things as well as you can, so why even try? You’re not alone. In fact, most small business owners I talk to are in such a DIY mode that they can’t imagine delegating anything… even if it means gaining back an extra half hour in their week. When was the last time you ate lunch away from your desk… how many hobbies have you abandoned over the years? (Don’t worry blank canvas and new paint brushes from 2014 – I’m coming back for you!)

Guess what, there is a better way!

As a small business owner, you have a superpower that no one else has. You have a go-get-‘em attitude that is nearly impossible to replicate. But you also have that laundry list of tedious tasks that absolutely need to get done and you’re not sure if you can trust/afford to pay someone else to do them for you.

If this resonates with you, here’s an exercise I want you to try. And while I wish I could take full credit, I cannot. This is an exercise I’ve had amazing luck with and has gotten rave reviews from other entrepreneurs who say it made a world of difference in their productivity levels and in turn, their profits. So here we go. You’ll need to set aside 10-20 minutes, but it will be completely worth it, I promise.

Time to make a list

First, write down every task that needs to be done in your business this week. Don’t be stingy – include everything from bathroom maintenance in your shop/studio to employee appreciation lunches. Dusting, social media scheduling, teaching classes, website updates/maintenance… It’ll probably be a long list, but don’t be scared.

Now take a blank piece of paper and make three columns.

• On the top of the first column, write “$10/hour”
• On the top of the second column, write “$100/hour”
• On the top of the third column, write “$1000/hour.”

Now take that page (pages?) of tasks and put each in the corresponding column. Can you pay someone else $10/hour or less to clean your bathrooms? To take care of data entry? To answer phones or refill the clean towel bin? Great! Those tasks all go into the first $10/hour column.

The next column is a little tougher because this is where most of us start to think we are the only one in the world who can write web copy or take photos or teach classes… Sorry, you’re wrong. It’s time to get seriously honest with yourself and put these tasks into the $100/hour column.

Anything that you can pay someone $100/hour or less to do goes in this second column. Intro-level freelance writers, marketers, and web developers fall into this category. (more advanced freelancers might cost you a bit more but will totally worth it if your budget allows.)

Superpower time

Now move on to the third column. The $1000/hour task list should be the shortest but is by far the most important for your business growth. These tasks include anything that a CEO, visionary, or business owner should be doing (That’s you, right?) Your passion, drive, and corporate vision are priceless. This is where your talents are needed. These are the tasks you should be spending the most time on.

It’s time to start thinking like a visionary and start trusting others – others who can be trained and share a similar passion – to work on your business.

Now that you have your columns, it’s time for action! Find a person or two to carry out the $10/hour and $100/hour tasks as you can afford.

Still not sure if you can let go? It’s time to accept mediocrity. (Here comes the tough love.)

Perfection is a terrible concept that keeps so many of us from accomplishing our biggest goals. I know there are few (very few?) people in this world who can do things to your standards. I get it. Better to do it yourself than redo it later… I call BS. It’s WAY better to find someone amazing, train them well, and be able to hand off a few of those time-consuming tasks that are slowing you down! (and then go on vacation)

When you let others in, you open up an entirely new world of accomplishment. With two or more of you on a team – even if this other person only shows up on a project by project basis – it’s amazing how quickly you’ll start to move forward. Not only will it be a weight off your task list, it’s a weight off your emotional and mental state.

What you create with enough time and a rested mind is substantially better than the alternative.

What are you going to delegate first?