Outsourcing is something that has taken me awhile to start doing. While I know that in many cases it is a need, for a long time I did nearly everything myself.
However, I recently started to notice that I was working 12 hour days, nearly every single day, and that I was getting snappy whenever someone asked me something because I was SO FOCUSED on working.
Even when I wasn’t working, I was still tired and thinking about work. People aren’t kidding when they say that the self-employed really never get a day off. Even though I absolutely love what I do, thinking about your business/job 24/7 just cannot be healthy.
A break every now and then is needed.
Lately though, I feel like I have had more time than ever. I have been eating very healthy, working out more, and I have had actual days off.
And it’s all because of outsourcing!
Over the past few months, I have been outsourcing more and more in my life. While I am all about being frugal and cutting your expenses, I am also all about outsourcing tasks so that you can have more time for other areas in your life.
If you can afford (that’s the key here) to outsource tasks and it makes your life and/or business better and more successful, then why not?
Some of the things I outsource include writing on the other websites I own/run, technical blog management (thanks Grayson!) on many of my websites, virtual assistant tasks, lawn mowing, and more.
As you can tell, I outsource a decent amount in my life. My life has greatly improved ever since learning to let go and outsource more.
Below are some of the many positives of outsourcing work such as business and household tasks.
1. Outsourcing work is great because you can add more time to your life.
Who doesn’t need more time?
Outsourcing work and household tasks means that you can possibly add hours back to your week or even to your day.
The time you save can be used for better things in life, such as spending more time with your family, doing the things that you enjoy, improving your business, and more.
2. Outsourcing allows you to focus on the bigger picture.
One of the great things about outsourcing work and household tasks is that it has allowed me to have more time to focus on what’s important for my business.
My business and my blog have been growing rapidly over the past few months, and I think a lot of it has to do with outsourcing tasks that don’t need me personally so that I can focus on the bigger picture.
I can focus on creating a better plan for my business, putting more time towards this plan, and so on with all of this extra time I have found.
3. Outsourcing means you don’t have to do the things you hate.
Is there anything out there that you absolutely hate and despise doing?
Outsourcing work and household tasks may mean that you can stop doing the things you hate. This then frees up more time for the things you love.
4. Outsourcing work is great when you are not an expert at a task.
One thing I have seen far too many people do is attempting a task when they have no clue what they are doing. This can include being your own lawyer, being your own accountant, and so on. In some instances this can work out perfectly fine, but in others there should be expert help available.
We outsource household tasks if it would take us forever to do (and we know that someone else can complete the task in a lesser amount of time) or if we know that there is a possibility for a big and costly mistake.
5. Outsourcing is great when you can earn more money.
Time is money!
Before you decide to outsource your life, it is usually a good idea to calculate how much the task would cost you if you were to do it yourself.
For example, if you earn $30 an hour doing whatever you do but you can outsource a task for $15 an hour, then it may be a good idea to look into outsourcing the task so that you can earn money instead.
Also, in order for many businesses to grow, at least some outsourcing/hiring is needed. In order for you to grow your business and to grow your income, you will need to have people working for you.
If you can make more of your time available by outsourcing work and household tasks, this can mean more time to make more money at your day job, more time to grow your business, and more.
Do you outsource your life such as with work related or household tasks? Or would you rather save that money instead?
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I don’t outsource anything but I really think I need to. Like you I am working 12 hours a day at the moment (even more on some days) and I am starting to get run down.
Although working for yourself is fun, if you don’t have boundaries with the hours you work, it can end up taking over your whole life. By outsourcing some of it you can be less overrun and stressed with work, and it will probably make you more productive in the long-term.
Done right it may even make you more money as you’ll free up time to spend on increasing your income in other areas.
Yes, exactly! Outsourcing has been a lifesaver for us.
The moment I started freelancing, I hired a house cleaner. Just twice a month, but something to help us out. Truth was, we needed help even before I took on freelancing and it got worse with less time. They are SUPER expensive because of my location (rural, so I pay for the cleaning plus their trip), but it’s been worth it overall.
Sounds nice Kirsten! We have been thinking about hiring a monthly person as well.
I think outsourcing is smart. I also use Grayson to do all of the web things I don’t have the capacity to do (or desire to learn); he rocks!
Graphic design isn’t my strong suit, so that’s another area that I outsource for work.
As far as home, my SAHD husband picks up a lot of the slack, which I’m very grateful for:-).
Yes, Wes helps out a lot in my life. I am so very grateful!
I’m okay with outsourcing some things at this point in my life. For example, I hired someone to clean my house once per month earlier this year….and it has been great! She cleans once per month and I keep up in between. She even does a better job than I do, which is something I never thought I would say!
Awesome! I am a horrible cleaner and Wes usually just has me stop LOL
Haha yup!
I’m more of an insourcer myself, but I totally see the value of outsourcing for other folks. For us, we’re so focused on saving as much as possible in preparation for early retirement that it’s a priority for us to do everything we can ourselves. But, I’m not opposed to outsourcing when it makes sense, which in your case, sounds like it really does!
I definitely used to be more of an insourcer. However, with my business it was holding me back and I was actually saving less money because of it.
For anyone serious about making money online outsourcing has to be a part of their overall routine. You can’t do everything yourself; you’ll burn out trying. I just outsourced 16 articles for one of my websites to 2 freelancers. I can tell you that’s well worth the money!
Awesome!
I’m definitely an outsourcer at heart. I pay someone $50/month to do my laundry and it is totally worth it. I also plan to have someone come by and clean our apartment. If I had the money to outsource other aspects of my life I find tedious, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Sounds great!
I love outsourcing. One of the best examples is oil changes. I have the know-how to do them myself, but our mechanic charges $18. That’s actually cheaper than what it would cost for me to buy the oil and the filter myself. Plus, the mechanic will throw in a tire rotation and let me know if he sees any other issues. It’s just so much cheaper, faster, and easier to just drop it off at the shop.
Yes, same here! We do the same after realizing that buying the oil we need would actually be double or triple the cost.
I am single right now so I feel like I have the time to do most of what I’m doing. The minute I had a family I will be seriously looking at what to outsource. Probably cleaning!
Yes, outsourcing cleaning would be nice!
Absolutely outsource. I wish I would have started doing it earlier in life. When I think of all the time I wasted doing tasks that I didn’t need to do, I cringe.
Same here!
When I started one of my new blogs, I outsourced the content creation because I had no time to work for it.
After a while, I realized that I need to enter the game because my blog had no success this way.
Since I write about 50% of the content and the other half is outsourced I can say that the website works much better.
Sounds like a good plan for your situation 🙂
Outsourcing is a HUGE goal of mine in 2015. I have had interns in the past and I always lament that I spend more time training someone than if I just did it myself, but I need to get better about identifying the tasks that are not that important to me and accept someone else doing it. A key is finding a great resource to outsource to and I am currently in the search for that person.
Good luck Shannon! I hope you have good luck with it. I’ve outsourced a lot so far, and I can say that it has helped tremendously.
I have slowly started outsourcing a few things for my niche website. It’s a huge timesaver and well worth the cost. It frees up my time so I can focus on my main blog and life in general. I was working ALL the time! Now I am much happier and can have a life again!
Great job Kristin!
Outsourcing is also a goal of mine in 2015! It has been on the “To Do” list for quite some time. Thank you for making me think about all the benefits this would add to my life and business. -Ellen
Welcome! What do you plan on outsourcing?
A portion of my blog articles that are not very complicated. Do you have any recommendations for excellent financial blog writers? Thanks in advance.
Hey!
Yes, I know of many 🙂 Please send me an email if you are interested with the budget you have for a writer, and I can send some writers your way 🙂
You make a lot great points about the value of outsourcing. Because we’re focused on paying down debt, we don’t do a lot of it right now, but we do pay someone to do our taxes, car maintenance, etc. When I finally pull the trigger on redesigning my blog, I’ll definitely be looking for someone to help me do that. I would love to pay someone to plow our driveway in the winter, but it’s not in the budget at the moment.
Yeah, there are a lot of factors that go into whether you should outsource. Sounds like you have a good plan.