Don't Overthink It - Anne Bogel Page 0,37

brought some major healing and joy to my life on a personal level.” She didn’t know how to edit her own audio, but it was important to her that she learn.

Starting a podcast is a big project, but the same principles apply to everyday decisions. The bakery makes perfectly good muffins, but is baking your favorite form of stress relief? The neighbor’s kid could cut the grass, but do you find the experience pleasantly meditative and the results pleasingly tangible? Your neighbor offers to return your library books, but do you enjoy stopping in to check the new-release shelf and greet your favorite librarians? Your friend adores her meal-planning service, but do you enjoy getting out your cookbooks and planning a week’s worth of better-than-basic menus and a shopping list to match? You could call the plumber, but would you rather watch a few YouTube videos and fix the leak yourself? Whether you do the work yourself to save sixty dollars or for the satisfaction of a job well done, the results could be worth it.

What do you want to do yourself? The answers to this question are variable and individual, and the reasons you do or don’t outsource may not be readily apparent to others. That’s all okay.

Would It Be Meaningful to Do It Myself?

When deciding what to have someone else do, the question is, What is important to you? A task that needs doing is not the same thing as a task that needs to be done by you.

A travel pro once told me that when you’re traveling for work, you shouldn’t waste your mental energy figuring out transportation logistics, like negotiating public transit in an unfamiliar city. Just get a taxi and be done with it—because now it’s the driver’s job to figure out where you’re going, and you can save your mental energy for your important meetings and presentations. That makes sense if you’re in town for a high-stakes meeting (a rare occasion for me). However, we’ve taken our kids to New York City a few times, and with them, public transit is part of the adventure. It takes loads of mental energy to figure it out, but that’s okay, because the process is part of the experience.

My friend Ashley is currently spending hours and hours planning a literary road trip for the coming autumn. Is she spending way more mental energy on this than necessary? Absolutely. If she wanted to save time, she could download somebody else’s sample itinerary from the internet. But for Ashley, planning is a delightful, not-to-be-missed part of the process. It’s part of the travel experience, and she loves every part of the experience.

Don’t outsource something that feels important for you to do yourself. If you draw meaning from researching every aspect of your travel experience, ordering lunch for a friend, or choosing a card for a loved one, go right ahead. It’s not overthinking if you’re giving it the amount of thought you want to.

Can I Afford to Do It?

When we talk about being able to afford things, we tend to think of money first—and when it comes to outsourcing, money is certainly a factor. We might like the sound of outsourcing Oprah-style, hiring a personal chef, trainer, housekeeper, and who knows what else. But even if we wanted to, the cost would be prohibitive for most of us. Outsourcing doesn’t always require money, but when it does, it’s an important factor to consider.

Since we’re talking about protecting our headspace, let’s also consider this question from a different angle. Ask yourself, Can I afford the mental space to handle the thing myself? Do I have room in my brain and my life to take it on? You can only do so much.

When the answer is no, it’s time to outsource.

Deciding Who to Outsource To

When it comes to getting help, sometimes the right person for the job is obvious. Sometimes it’s less so. We all have different areas of expertise, and there are people in our lives who possess skills and resources we lack.

You can lighten your mental load by getting someone else to do a certain task, but for you to relax and feel like the matter is truly off your plate, you need to trust them to do the job. Otherwise, you’ll still be thinking about it, which defeats the purpose. Here are some things to consider when you’re trying to decide who to outsource to.

Is This the Right Person for the Job?

While you don’t need to be 100