<p>You know Those People. They are just as insanely busy as you are, yet somehow they manage to accomplish more than seems humanly possible. Is it just a trick, a ruse? Are they just shoveling everything into a huge drawer and dreading the day when it all explodes?</p> <p> Possibly. That sure will be fun to watch, won't it?</p> <p> It's possible that they've simply mastered the art of delegation. You may have heard of delegation, it's that thing where you dump all your work on someone else and go get coffee.</p> <p> The funny thing is, that's what many people think of delegation and that's exactly why they're still buried. So take another look at what it means to delegate. Delegate is defined as:</p> <ol> <li><i>To authorize and send (another person) as one's representative.<br /> </i></li> <li><i>To commit or entrust to another</i></li> </ol> <p>I really like both of these definitions because it helps me imagine that I'm hiring someone to work for me. That's a big leap from dumping.</p> <p> An easy comparison from my own life is rebuilding the carburetor in my car. Sure, I can do that (weird fact #7) but do I really want to spend a whole day greasy and looking for the right socket size? Of course not, I have illustrating to do! Instead I hire someone else to do this task for me.</p> <p> See? I bet you already know how to delegate, too. Usually it's only the negative connotation that gets in the way of actually using the skill. You don't want to be perceived as domineering or &quot;bossy.&quot; That's understandable, but if you want to move ahead you have to let go of that fear.</p> <p> In my former life as director of a graphics production team, my day would have been a disaster if I hadn't passed on some of my daily tasks to our staff. As a leader, it was an essential skill for me to master. Not only was my day more manageable, it had the bonus effect of developing my junior staff to one day take over my spot. In delegating certain tasks, I was actually training my production team to function at a higher level. That had an exponential benefit in that eventually I didn't even need to delegate those tasks; they were just assumed by the junior staff. Imagine their surprise when they were shown how they had earned a promotion by taking on those functions.</p> <p> As an independent business man (yes, art is a business!), it's even more critical that I find ways to delegate tasks.</p> <p> For example, until recently I handled my own accounting. It's time consuming and monotonous data entry; just the things artists love. I've procrastinated over this long enough that I now have a stack of receipts and an empty spreadsheet. I push it off because it gets in the way of my creative work.</p> <p> I finally decided it's time to delegate. I've hired an assistant to do this work for me and now I can forget it. What a huge relief and a creative time expander for me. The only mistake I made was in not delegating sooner, which is often the case.</p> <p> What if you don't manage anyone and can't afford to hire someone? You can still delegate, but you approach it a little differently.</p> <p> For example, you may have a ton of portfolios to sift through, but you've also got to work with your existing artists to get this month's issue out. Your co-worker is in a holding pattern for a while on her project. You could ask her to do a preview of the portfolios and eliminate the ones she knows won't fly. That could save you hours of sifting and sorting.</p> <p> Of course, there's a give and take here. You also need to be open to taking on tasks for your co-worker (or friend, spouse, business partner) when necessary. There's an art to delegating with grace, and sometimes it comes down to simple personal etiquette. How about picking up the next coffee run?</p> <p> Delegation takes practice, but like anything else, the more you practice the easier it gets. You don't have to move through your day like a frog through molasses and you can get relief if you only ask for it.</p> <p> Soon you'll be one of Those People. Others will ask you how the heck you get everything done. Let them secretly hate you for a while and then you can show them the magic of delegation.</p> 2008-07-01T03:52:17Z -20.8407 954 1205 true 12 7784 how-the-heck-do-you-get-everything-done-i-hate-you 24 2008-07-02T12:48:34Z 2008-07-02T12:48:34Z

<p>You know Those People. They are just as insanely busy as you are, yet somehow they manage to accomplish more than seems humanly possible. Is it just a trick, a ruse?</p>

0 2009-02-24T09:44:56Z