Outsource to win at work and at home

Ten top tips to buy yourself some extra time

Back in the 90s I was on one of the first big outsourcing deals as a junior consultant. Back then “outsourcing” was not a known word, but then neither were tsunami or coronavirus!

The basic premise that we now all know was “get rid of the stuff which is not your core work and that you are not very good at and give it to someone who can do it better, quicker, cheaper”. Ok, the sales pitch may have been a bit more refined than that but the concept still reigns.

So if you have not realised it by now outsourcing at home is the saviour for busy working mums. Even if you have been smart and found a cleaner or online shop, i am sure there are always things that you can optimise in your household routine. 

So here are my top 10 things to outsource when you are busy working mum:

Meal preparation

There are so many choices out there now for really good, healthy food kits delivered to your door you can always find one that suits you and your family. HelloFresh are in many countries, MyFoodBag I love in New Zealand.

Whichever it is they will save you time planning and shopping for meals and as an added benefit i found that may daughter liked helping follow the instructions so she cooked with me more and she definitely tried things should would not have done had they come from me - artichoke and ricotta cannelloni for example! 

Shopping

I mean of the groceries variety - but of course finding your new outfit online is also a time saver (we will get to that later). Seriously, the extra charge you pay for delivery is not only worth the hassle of the supermarket with the kids and the hours that can take but you will find that you save money not just picking things up along the way that you didn't really need.

Cleaning

To me this one is a no brainer. I have always hated cleaning since our childhood Saturday morning cleaning routine where we all got a room allocated to clean. I would get it done as soon as possible and bolt round to a friend’s house where they were allowed Saturday morning TV.

For me when I compared what 2 hours of my time would be charged out as when I was a management consultant to what I would pay the cleaner - seriously its basic economics to not waste my time scrubbing the shower!

Errand running

I distinctly remember in my first week as a graduate at an American consulting firm we received training on the benefits awaiting us. For a monthly fee we could sign up to the concierge fee and someone could run errands for you. As a 20 something single person I could not understand why people would use it. A couple of years in and I saw exactly why - because you worked such long hours you never saw daylight, never mind had time to wait in for the plumber or electrician!

Those kinds of services are everywhere now. Check out your local one and give them a try.

Gardening

It's up there with cleaning for me. There is a reason why I now live in a lovely house with a large deck and a beautiful view but ZERO garden!! Back in my 30s we bought a lovely suburban house with great garden, very family friendly and my god i discovered what a  time soaker weeding and mowing were! If you love gardening - good for you, go for it! If you don’t - find your local chap to do it for you.

Fitness planning

There are so many fitness apps out there nowadays that now more than ever you can plan your goals and workouts down to infinite detail. I do not have a FitBit - I have enough nagging in my head, I don't need it on my wrist thank you! My current go to is Fitness Wizard for plotting my routine. 

You don’t necessarily need to pay a personal trainer to give you a workout, you just need to set yourself up right with the right goals, the right plan and some accountability for doing it. Check out my wellbeing programme if you need any help doing that:

https://www.helenotoolecoaching.com/general-1-1

Dry cleaning pickups and shirt ironing

Now I made it my policy quite early on not to iron a bloke’s shirts. Not because i don't like it (ironing I actually find quite therapeutic) but because they tend to moan about how you do it. End result - “do it yourself!”.

But even easier most offices now have dry cleaning pickups and drops off and shirt ironing is easy to throw in. It's one of those things that i always found weirdly rewarding - walking out of the office with a stash of clean clothes over my shoulder.

School activity drop offs

Ok this may be controversial but am going to be honest, I friggin’ don't enjoy sitting through kids swim lessons. Judging by the fact most parents have their noses buried in their phones i am guessing they dont too? So it changed my week and my sanity completely when I found an after school centre that my daughter loves but who also do drop offs to after school activities. Don’t get me wrong i still manage the netball team, watch the tennis lessons and take her to surf life saving  (I actually like them and it's outdoors!) so i see my daughters development and enjoyment but i am not doing it ALL myself.

Outfit planning and clothes shopping

Now this one i have to confess is still on my bucket list. I have always thought the engaging a personal shopper/ stylist is all bloody Hollywood and not real, grungy mum life. However i know quite a few corporate mums who have done this very successfully and believe that not only do you save time shopping around for what works, you get clothes that work for you in the budget that you set, letting someone else do all the hard work. Knowing where the best deals are means that personal stylists can also save you money as well as time.

Birthday parties

I LOVE organising kids birthday parties and I have always put a huge effort into it. Last year i extended the prior year’s treasure hunt theme with an even more ambitious treasure hunt on bikes for 15 x 6-7 year olds. It was carnage but it was fun.

This year though I swore I was never doing it again! So i was all set to book my daughter a Clip n Climb indoor climbing party………..and then suddenly Covid 19 hit and we are on the road to nowhere fast. However the intent is there - I will divest myself of the hours of party prep and the bloody clean up!

So just to recap - if you like something on the list, don't outsource it! Pick the things you don't enjoy and to be honest, maybe you are not great at and hire in the help!

That’s your challenge - find yourself 3 ways that you can win yourself some time and get rid of household chores you don't like by giving it someone else

“Do what you do best, outsource the rest” Peter Drucker

If you have found this helpful then please share with other awesome and stretched working mums you know could benefit to help them stay sane. Let’s stick together:)

Take care and stay sane xx