Are you guilty of taking on more than you handle? Are you involved in activities that are not the best use of your time and talents? Do you have a problem saying "No" to many of the demands thrown at you? Do you have trouble accepting help from others? Are there areas in your life that could use a helping hand? If you've ever studied temperaments and personality types, then you learned that the Melancholic personality is highly creative and often a perfectionist--being very particular about what they want and how they want it.
Well, I happen to be a melancholic personality type.
The downside of being a perfectionist is that we find it hard to delegate many of the 'balls' we juggle on a daily basis.
That perfectionism can create the notion that, if we don't do a thing, then it won't get done right.
But in trying to juggle all of the demands in your life, some things will inevitably fall to the floor and through the cracks.
We have to learn to delegate some of our responsibilities--in our careers and personal lives.
Quite often the reason people don't offer to help us is because they assume that, by our actions, we have it all under control-- we don't need any help.
It's not something that we always do consciously; it may simply be ingrained from within.
Whether you've studied the different personality types or not, no doubt you can identify with this pattern if it fits you.
Just recently I began creating a new program that my company will be offering soon, which only added to my heap of responsibilities.
Rather than reverting to my old pattern of trying to do it all, I hired a couple of professionals to handle some of the load.
I explained to each of them the concept and turned the work over to their ingenuity.
It relieved me of the stress of having to do it all and the comfort of producing a high-quality program in a limited amount of time.
Perhaps you have a penchant of trying to do it all.
If so, understand that it's a habit you'll need to make a conscious effort to overcome.
Old habits do die hard but can, and should, be done for your own well-being and effectiveness.
Here are a few keys to help break the habit of over-extending yourself: Acknowledge that you need help.
Recognize that you can't do it all.
Write down the tasks you wish to delegate.
This exercise will you help set your priorities.
Delegate.
Assign responsibilities to family, co-workers, employees and hired professionals.
Set a daily agenda to keep focus.
Writing down your activities helps in setting boundaries.
Accept help from others.
Drop the guilt and accept the good gestures extended to you.
Know your limits.
Keep yourself at the top of your priorities and everything else will fall in place.
Over-committing yourself can lead to undue stress and burnout.
It's okay to ask for help.
Learn to delegate responsibilities so that you can maintain a level of balance in your life and effectiveness in your career.
Once you experience the physical and mental liberation of delegating specific responsibilities, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!