Where Productivity Meets Balance
Outsource your everyday tasks
by Daniel G.
(Burlingame, CA)
don't do work. do this instead.
Outsource your everyday tasks for good time management.
I know this sounds far-fetched, but it's actually a lot easier now with so many resources out there that allow you to directly connect with someone willing to work for as little as $3/hour in other countries.
Just think about the possibilities. I've become a master of outsourcing my everyday tasks, including:
- reformatting PDFs into Word documents to clean up line breaks
- finding 30 phone numbers of sole proprietors in my area to try and sell services to
- searching every discount travel website to find the cheapest rate on a specific hotel I'm planning on staying at in Bali
- having someone call on my behalf to speak with an airline regarding their trip cancellation policy.
You can easily get 7 out of your 10 daily tasks effectively outsourced.
At $3/hour, it's worth paying $12 to go home at 4pm instead of 8pm.
I actually wrote a blog article about this at: http://blog.optask.com/2009/11/13/everyday-outsourcin/
Check it out. Get out of work and hit the beach.
Gabbie Suarez's reply: Amazing article!
I couldn't agree with you more. There's nothing wrong on hiring a "help".
This just means your courageous enough to admit that you can't do it all, especially all at the same time.
One advantage of outsourcing is that there are a lot of people who are willing to work for you and is in every bit suited for the position.
You could always be open on hiring anyone, anywhere.
If you've built a stable virtual work space most employees will be more productive than in a comparative office environment.
Simply make sure you keep everyone accountable, including yourself, by tracking your time on projects and your productivity so you don't lose your company culture.
You could also read this article for additional info on effective outsourcing:
http://www.timedoctor.com/biz3.0/why-100k-developers-are-dead/
:)