“Just delegate,” they say when I raise my hand to say I have too much on my plate. “Just delegate to the paralegal or to the junior associate.”
Am I the only one who has trouble doing this? Sometimes I feel like even if it is a “less important” task that technically could be delegated, I still want to do it. Why? Here are my reasons:
- I have about 10 e-mails on the subject and so I need to make sure that each one of the e-mails is read, understood, and incorporated into the task at hand;
- Doing it myself will teach me the process so that maybe next time, I can actually explain it to a paralegal or junior associate;
- There are still some open questions I need to figure out the answers to, and doing it myself will help me facilitate that process.
Whenever I evaluate that calculus, I end up doing the work myself. “I’m too OCD,” I tell myself. “I need to do it on my own so I make sure everything gets covered.”
I’m also probably too concerned with other people’s workloads. “That paralegal is already so slammed,” I tell myself. “I don’t want to overburden her,” I think.
I know I need to eventually “let go,” otherwise I won’t be able to keep up. But does anyone else struggle with this? What helps you release control and delegate?