Your Formula for Bliss: Outsourcing Personal Life

 

When I hear the word outsourcing I think of the somewhat controversial practice of shipping jobs (or work) overseas to save on costs or taxes. In business school I learned a cost/benefit formula to determine whether a job was better outsourced or kept in house. Now I won’t bore you with that, but I will share how I use this principle in my personal life.

We already outsource aspects of our personal lives! The definition I use for this type of outsourcing is basically delegating a task off your mind/off your plate to an expert in that field. One of the easiest examples for females is hair. Majority of women seek out a professional to cut, color and style their hair. This is because the cost of a haircut is worth the benefits of feeling like you look great. The cost(s) of not outsourcing a haircut to a professional would be 1) time to learn how to cut your own hair 2) expense of supplies 3) embarrassment (during the learning curve), etc. Make sense?

So much like a business, we do a cost/benefit analysis of daily outsourcing possibilities. Make a smoothie or stop at Jamba Juice? Learn how to change my car’s oil or go to Jiffy Lube? Grow my own food or go to the grocery store? A lot of decisions boil down to these questions- do I do it myself or outsource? Each of us has different preferences, but there is a common theme- we outsource those things for which we don’t have time and/or expertise.

I’ve recently had the pleasure of picking the brains of more than 25 lifestyle experts: from organizational professionals to time management specialists, positivity and self-love experts to fertility and sleep doctors! Each interview gave me a new insight into just how different my life could be if I re-evaluated what I outsource. In a session about productivity I realized that we were never actually taught how to manage our time in school or in jobs, it’s just something we are magically supposed to know. What if I had the opportunity to work with someone who was an expert in managing competing priorities to ensure I was as productive as possible? How different would my life be? What if someone had enlightened me years ago that productivity wasn’t actually about getting a LOT done, but really about getting the RIGHT stuff done?! Enlightening right? You can sign up to see my interview with Amita, our productivity expert here (it’s free :))

 

Well the answer is my life would be very different, with less stress eating, less feelings of overwhelm, and less time spent working (and re-working) which means more time to enjoy the enjoyable things in life! This epiphany led me to hone in on my own Formula for Bliss when it comes to keeping tasks in house or outsourcing. I keep the following in mind:

1. TIME– do I even have time for the activity in question? My old roommate had an amazing quote on our refrigerator: You can do anything but you can’t do everything!
2. MONEY – this is an interesting aspect. There are some things that are out of budget, but it’s also amazing to discover what you can afford when you prioritize accordingly!
3. EASE– outsourcing is supposed to make your life easier + more enjoyable! Would having a positivity expert on speed dial improve your life and happiness? (Well the answer is DUH, click here and don’t miss our interview with positivity expert Dani)!

Next time you run up against something and think “I wish someone else would do this for me,” take a deep breath and actually entertain the idea! Think about the time and money investment and what ease or happiness would you gain? Looking for inspiration? Register for the Done with Diets summit here, it’s free and you’ll get access to all 25+ interviews so you can decide if your next big task is worth keeping in-house or outsourcing to an expert!

 

Let us know your Formula for Bliss in the comments below. What is one thing that you decided to outsource that has changed your life?!

 

Live your WHOLE life,

Shannon + Meg