Why would you want to pay someone to do your chores? It seems like if you only worked a little harder you could get it all done, right? But why does it always have to be hard or about working harder? Why not leverage out the things that are necessary in order to spend your precious time doing the things that are important and meaningful - and doing them with the people that matter to you most.
Leverage is having an assisted advantage. Leverage is your way to make everything easier AND get it all done. When you can use your resources to create leverage in your life, you can truly focus your attention on what matters to you. If what matters to you is creating a growing a business, you can focus on that. If it's spending time with your children while they are young, you can focus on that. If it's finding time to honor yourself and do something fun and enjoyable, then you can focus on that! Life is far too short to continue to say some day. Make some day today and use these ten ways to leverage the tasks you have to do so that you can do what you want to do.
10. Use the Reminders app on your phone. - I don't know about you, but throughout the course of my day, I must think of 8 million small but important tasks that must get done, and usually while I'm not able to do them. Things like text that person, respond to that email, order that thing from that website, etc... By using the Reminders app, you can quickly record the item and set a time to be reminded. Then at that time a reminder will pop and, voila!, you will get it done.
9. Use a meal-in-a-box service. - There are many companies now that offer assistance with food preparation and meal planning by creating menus then shipping you the items needed to prepare the meal. You follow their simple instructions, and poof! You have dinner ready! I've never actually been able to try one of these services because I don't eat animal products and haven't yet found one that is vegan... But in general it sounds like a great way to take the stress out of grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking.
8. Use automatic bill pay. - I know some people are not a fan of this option, and if writing out checks on a regular schedule works for you, more power to you. I know I struggle with remembering to get things paid because of the day to day craziness of my schedule. Automatic bill pay is a way to remove that stress and headache. Enter in the dates, amounts, and information for the person/company receiving payment, and you're good to go! (I would also recommend using the Reminders app to remind yourself to check on your payments once in a while to make sure everything is going smoothly.)
7. Use the Calendar app on your phone to time block and manage your schedule. - I think its safe to say that these days, almost everyone is busy, has something to do, and somewhere to be - even little kids! By using the calendar app on your phone, you can block out time for events you need to be at, as well as for things you want to get done. When you have a set day and time, the stress of needing to find time to get it done goes away, and you are much more likely to actually get it done. For example, if you find you are always saying something like, "I would like reorganize my kitchen, I just don't have time right now." Go into your calendar, pick a day that has available time, and block out a set of hours for reorganizing your kitchen. Then, the next time you have a thought like "I wish I had time to reorganize my kitchen but I'm just too busy." You'll think "Wait! I'm going to reorganize on the 12th. Great!" And then with the 12th rolls around, you will finally get to make time to reorganize your kitchen!
6. Use a virtual assistant (especially if you're a small business owner). - If you are a small business owner, you probably have a million administrative tasks to do that are impossible to get done because you're also serving clients and trying to run your business. Or maybe you aren't a small business owner, but you have tasks like sending out wedding invitations, creating a poster or flyers, or addressing and mailing your holiday cards that you want to get done. Using a virtual assistant is a way that you can leverage any administrative task you might want done, so that you can move on to more important things, like meeting with clients or spending time with family.
5. Hire someone to help you with yard work and lawn care. - Some people enjoy gardening, and some even enjoy mowing (me...). If you are not one of those people, you can hire someone to get those things done for you. Why spend an hour or more of your weekend mowing, when someone else can do it, and you can spend your weekend relaxing and having fun with friends.
4. Hire someone to help you with cleaning. - Similar to #5, some people enjoy cleaning. Others hate it. So if you hate it or can never find the time for it, why not have someone else do it? Just like with lawn care - why spend your weekend or days off catching up on house work, essentially working more, when you could let someone else do it and enjoy your time off?
3. Use childcare. - Whether your'e a stay at home parent or a working parent, child care is an essential way to leverage caring for your children, so that you can get things done at home, run a business, have a career, volunteer in your community, etc. I know many teachers that use day care even in the summer in order to get things done that improves life for their family.
2. Find a coach. - I believe that most of the stress we feel around getting stuff done in our lives is more the mentality we have behind our goals and life choices than anything else. Finding a life coach or business coach is a way to talk through the reasons why you may not be achieving what you want to achieve. Having someone to support you, and hold you capable and accountable to doing the things you say you want to do is one of the best kinds of leverage you can choose to use in your life to move yourself forward. (Big shout out to my coach, Autumn, for always pushing me forward!)
1. Use a personal concierge! - Using a personal concierge is almost like a way to roll all ten of these suggestions into one! You can use your local, friendly personal concierge ;-) as leverage in almost all of the areas on this list! Your personal concierge can help plan, prepare, and shop for your meals; clean your house; mow your lawn; care for your child (or find you trustworthy childcare); let your dog out; schedule your time and remind you of things; address and send your holiday cards; set up and tear down your wedding decorations; help you organize rooms in your house; and so much more! Almost anything you might want to leverage out to someone else, your personal concierge can get it done. I've done all the things I've just mentioned (most of them even in this past week!) and more. I LOVE knowing that I'm helping people be less stressed by doing something that's important to them but that they don't have time to do.
Whether its simply by using apps on your phone that you never thought to use, or by hiring a personal concierge, I truly hope you consider using leverage in your life. Once you start to do so, you'll see how much more enjoyable life is when you get to choose happiness over stress.
Choose Happiness.