I have got to learn how to delegate. Really.
It's not that I'm a total egoist who believes that nobody can do it as well as I can because I'm pretty sure that the world is full of people who are much more capable than me. The problem is that I am Type A.
Pathologically so.
And whether it is work, home, a leaky rental roof or picking a new dentist in a new town, I get horribly uncomfortable when I am unfamiliar with every, last detail. Consequently, my daily to do list is OUT OF CONTROL. Lately, I have been waking up in the morning with a pressing sense of panic wondering how it is that I am going to get everything accomplished. What item do I pick to tackle first when there are so many things that require my attention RIGHT NOW?
I am overwhelmed. Completely.
On the home front, We've got a leaky rental house, the pending move to Florida, a new home to find, new schools to research, small improvements that need to be done like painting and carpet cleaning to make our family home ready to rent out, sorting through moving company quotes, PACKING, the beloved IRS, summer daycare for the kids and all of the other normal, everyday activities in the life of a family.
Professionally, I have had to give up some of the control. I have been forced to admit that I cannot possibly juggle all of my projects and still give 100% to each of them. And I am quite happy to shift some of the responsibility onto the shoulders of my colleagues but I am struggling with the whole fear thing because at the end of the day, the buck stops squarely at my desk. So, at 42 years of age, I am going to have to learn the art of delegation. And it is an art. There's a fine line between following up with people and micromanaging them into a nervous break down. Guess where I drift.
Um...yeah. (Head hanging shamefully)
I think I could use a few tips.
2 comments:
OMG, Beth,we are so alike that it is frightening (except I'm taller, thinner, better looking and richer, oh wait, that's you!). The only hint I have is that I actually say, "Okay, I'm going to trust that you will do (whatever it is that I feel is miniscule enough for them not to screw up too badly), by (whatever date plus three days, cuz no one's as good as me). I can trust you for that, right?
And they rattle their head at me, and then I walk away, muttering, "I can, right? I'm an idiot..." But I do the last part really quietly, so they don't hear.
Good luck with this...
Hmmm, yeah. Me too. Just yesterday, on the phone with Michael, VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS about which heavy duty stapler I wanted him to buy at Staples on his way back from a course, because the Staples on the other side of the state where I had gone that day did not have the model I wanted. VERY SPECIFIC. Yeah, he came home with the wrong one. And then people wonder why people like us just always have the feeling we have to do everything ourselves........
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