The Art of Delegation

When to ask for help, and realizing what your most efficient work is


We live in a time that is very focused on being DIY, especially if you’re an artist. You hear about how to be successful you need to be able and willing to do it yourself, but what if by doing everything you’re actually wasting your time? What if you could make more money, get more done, or be more efficient by simply outsourcing or delegating a few tasks?


I was reading an email from John Steen yesterday, where he was talking about the point of doing it yourself is that hopefully you will progress enough so that you don’t need to do it yourself.

There are simply things that you won’t want to do, might not be good at doing, or that just aren’t an efficient use of your time.

Finding your most efficient task
If you’re a songwriter and you make your money writing music, whether that’s for you to record yourself, other people to record, or to license your recording for use in film, then that is your most efficient task. That’s what you make the most money on.

If you had to spend your own time exploiting your song (in terms of publishing exploiting simply means trying to get others to license the copyright or recording) that’s not a very effective use of time. This is why songwriters sign with publishers, or find websites that accomplish a similar task.

Another example would be if you’re a musician who makes a majority of your money playing live, you need to get booked, but you may not want to spend all of your time during the day contacting venues when you could be practicing and making your live show better.

When should you ask for help?
There are a few signs that you should be asking for help and delegating tasks. This list is by no means an all-encompassing list and is in no particular order, but nonetheless should help you decide when to cut a task loose.

  1. Your inefficient tasks are sucking up all of your time.
  2. You are completing tasks at a significantly lower standard than someone else would.
  3. You have the ability to barter (trade services) with someone who can do it better.
  4. You are losing money by doing your inefficient tasks.

Conclusion
Don’t do everything yourself, do it together. Ask for help when you need it, and focus on your most efficient tasks. I promise you that there is someone out there who would love to do your inefficient tasks. If you do all of these things you will start to get more work done, and you will start to see your career progress.