4 Ways Successful People Use Task Allocation To Boost Productivity And Achieve Work-Life Balance

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Ignore the work-life balance skeptics; you can be successful, happy and nurture healthy relationships. Yes you can. Ask most of the people on the Forbes list and they’ll tell you stories. They’ll tell you tales of burnouts. They’ll talk about days of toil, unproductivity and suffocated relationships. But most of them will also tell you how they eventually achieved work-life balance and how this helped them to boost their productivity.

Of course, these successful people literally transform their lives through a wide range of strategies. While some adopt meditation practices, others venture into philanthropy. Think Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey. But one thing all successful people have in common is this: They are proponents of the art of delegation of authority.

“If there is anything I have learned,” said Oprah Winfrey in an interview, “It’s that I should stay on my lane.”

Staying on one’s lane means focusing on accomplishing tasks that are within your areas of strengths. It also means delegating authority to others and automating as many aspects of your work as you can.  Budgeting, finance management, content creation, video editing, design, and planning may look simple, but they can be time-consuming and energy draining.  There’ll be an inevitable decline in your level of productivity and creativity.

At this point, you probably want more research proven reasons why you should delegate more. Here, we shall explore the life-changing benefits of task allocation and delegation of authority. You’ll also learn how to delegate ; and you'll learn about the best task allocation software for automating tasks.

Boosts Organization And Efficiency

One popular tech founder shared a story about how delegation of authority transformed his life. When he established his company, he handled every aspect of the business. He covered leadership, budgeting, marketing, sales and even customer care support. Before long, he was exhausted, burned out, depleted. His wife left him because she felt neglected. He became less efficient in every aspect of his work. He even lost 30% of his clients.

“Things took a dramatic turn when I began assigning duties to team members,” said this tech startup mogul. “I noticed a big increase in my level of creativity and productivity.”

If like this man, you’re struggling under the weight of your responsibilities, hire a team of capable hands. Not only will this boost your level of efficiency, it will help you free up time in your work life. In addition, you can delegate to software tools such as Asana, Time Doctor, Slack, Callendy, Trello and so on. These tools can boost your efficiency in the following ways:

·         Helping you to plan your work day especially if you're reliant on the gig economy and if you work remotely.

·         Motivating you to meet your deadlines and to track your goals.

·         Helps you to stay focused on important tasks

·         Streamlines work timelines

·         And more.

To increase efficiency at work, delegate discretionary tasks to team members and automate as many aspects of your work as you can.

Improves The Quality Of Products and Services

Every business grows through providing excellent information, goods and/or services. Sometimes, a business owner will have to provide all three of these. This means more work for enterpreneurs, particularly for remote workers. To be honest, it is impossible to do everything by oneself. And it’s certainly not possible to produce excellent results if the business owner is juggling too many balls all at once.

Take actress, MJ, for instance. To further her career, she set up a vibrant Instagram account she hoped to monetize. Due to popular demand, she had to set up a Youtube channel for her workout routines, and later, a cooking show. There was also a cookbook on the burner; and four wet and dripping babies crying for attention. She tried her best to juggle all these balls and to manage every gig on her own, but failed miserably. Her Youtube videos were of a low quality and her interactions with her Instagram followers left little to be desired. What’s more, the acting gigs and brand endorsements stopped coming because she was always exhausted, always running on stress hormones. The movie producers didn’t want an actress who was perpetually tired during shoots. And the worst of all? Her children hated her.

As she hit rock bottom, she admitted that she had to delegate more. With time, she assembled a team of experts to handle the various aspects of her work and life. She integrated AI-powered tools to handle most of her customer care responsibilities (AI became her reliable virtual assistants). Customers and audience were satisfied with the the self-service options on her site.  She didn't have to work so hard any more.

After a while, her health improved and so did the quality of her work. Her earnings improved and the awards started pouring in from all over the globe. Her family was happy with her. She was spending more time with them.

This also applies to other business owners, particularly those in the gig economy. If you want to produce high quality work, allocate tasks to team members and automate your work processes.

It Improves Productivity

All successful people know about the 80/20 rule. They apply it in their relationships, and in their businesses as well. For those who are wondering, What’s the 80/20 rule? I’ll explain.

Also known as, the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule is a sort of prediction scale. According to this rule, twenty percent of an activity yields 80 percent of the overall results. This means that you’re better off focusing your creative energies on tasks that you’re exceptional at. Delegate discretionary tasks that aren’t within your areas of strength.

The Harvard Business Review published a study on task delegation. The research finding showed that executives were more likely to achieve better results if they delegated duties to team members. This is particularly true for anyone who makes a living from working remotely. Picture a strong team of experts all focusing on tasks they are good at. Your business is likely to grow and yield huge profits. What’s more, you’re likely to be more creative, productive and happy. In addition, you’ll have more time to build and nurture your relationships.

Motivates Employees To Deliver Excellent Results

Many people don’t realize it; but there’s actually a correlation between delegation and boosting moral. Business experts have revealed this in journals, interviews and conferences. Sadly, many are yet to heed this call to embrace delegation of authority. Why? It’s the ego, or what the experts call the self-enhancement bias.

What’s the self-enhancement bias?

It’s the erroneous conviction that nobody—absolutely no one on earth—can handle a task better than you. If we are all honest with ourselves, we will admit that we have a bit of this in us. But as the saying goes, a problem identified is half-solved. So if you’re hesitant about delegating tasks to your employees or to tools, remember the self-enhancement bias. Do your best to overcome this bias. Learn to delegate often.

Delegation goes beyond shoring up your productivity and efficiency; it also motivates your employees. When you assign a task to a team member, you’re indirectly saying, ‘I trust you. I believe in your creative abilities.’ And there’s no better way to motivate people besides assigning important tasks to them.

Jettison your toxic management style, give your employees the opportunity to flourish and contribute to your business’ growth. Shore up your employee confidence.

Final thoughts

There are many reasons why every business owner should delegate authority. Clearly, it can boost your productivity, improve your efficiency and increase the quality of your work. The best part is that you’ll have enough time to bond with family and friends. Start delegating today.