Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Have To

I keep buying activewear. Recently, I had to clear out half the drawer just so I could neatly put my washing away each week. Out went old race shirts and trisuits that had faded or no longer fitted. Meanwhile, there’s a box of paper spilling over in my office waiting for “the right day for a bonfire”. My inbox has its own collection: emails promising the pathway to ruling my own empire that in a moment of weakness at 2am sounded promising, and let’s be honest I’ll never find time to read these.

Apparently, I have a few things waiting to be cleared out. In my activewear cleanse, it got me thinking: what else am I holding onto simply because I haven’t stopped to question it?

As we begin Cleaning Haus, it’s worth looking at our workloads, too. The admin squeezed into Sunday evening eating at your personal time. The task we’ve done since day one. The things we’re capable of doing, but struggle to find time for.

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it.

I’m Christina Hull, founder of The Outsource Boutique and one of your RAYE Power Partners. Growing from a solo business into a team has meant learning to share responsibilities and making time to show someone else how things work. I understand the temptation to say, “It’s quicker if I just do it.” Sometimes, today, it is. But what about every week after that?

This fortnight, try a small spring clean of your workload:

• Notice: Which recurring task keeps spilling into your personal time?

• Question: Does it need your expertise, or clear instructions and a reliable pair of hands?

• Choose: What would it take to hand over that one task?

Start small. Explain what a good result looks like, allow time for questions and give the handover a chance to work. Then decide what you’d like that space back for. A client conversation? Connecting with someone in the Haus? An evening without opening the laptop again?

My activewear drawer is easier to live with now. There’s room for what I actually use.

What’s one thing you could let go of this fortnight to make room for what matters now?