Learn how to delegate tasks effectively by identifying which types of work should be offloaded, freeing up your time to focus on what truly matters for your business growth.

If you started your own business because you love what you do—whether that’s offering a service you’re passionate about or creating products you can’t stop thinking about— you might sometimes feel like you ‘accidentally’ stumbled into success but have been winging the whole ‘business thing’ ever since.

A lot of purpose-driven entrepreneurs I coach share a common thread: they’re all in when it comes to the work they love, but when it comes to organizing the chaos behind the scenes… not so much. They haven’t exactly gotten excited about figuring out how to streamline, automate, or delegate so they can scale. Instead, they just feel overwhelmed—and have no clue how to delegate tasks and get their time back in their day.

Let’s be honest, delegating can feel like handing over your baby to a stranger. You’ve built this business from the ground up, and the idea of handing parts of it over to someone else? Terrifying. Your reputation, your income, your very livelihood is on the line.

But here’s the thing: learning to delegate is the key to growing your business, having a bigger impact, making more money, and (wait for it) getting your life back. And it all starts with figuring out what to delegate.

Let me walk you through the process of how to delegate tasks so you can delegate with confidence—and finally have more time and energy for the things that matter.

How To Figure Out What To Delegate

Step 1: Write Out Your Job Description

The best way to figure out what to delegate is to get really clear on your job description. Imagine you’re hiring a CEO to run your business—what would you pay them to do? And what would you not pay them to do? Answering these questions gives you a clear picture of your role.

Through this exercise you might realize that you’re not spending enough time on high-level CEO duties (like strategic planning, reviewing financials, or setting goals) because you’re stuck in the weeds. This is your sign that it’s time to start offloading some of that extra stuff.

Depending on where you are in your business journey, you might still want to wear a few different hats. Maybe you don’t just want to be the CEO—you also want to serve clients, create products, or write blog posts. That’s totally fine. Add those roles to your job description, but recognize that they’re different from your CEO role.

Writing it all down will help you get clear on what you truly want to handle yourself and what can be handed off to someone else.

In my business, I prioritize serving clients, writing content, and creating new products. If anything else needs to be done—drafting contracts, formatting blog posts, figuring out shipping logistics—I delegate that to my virtual assistant. She gets those things done more effectively and quickly than I would, freeing up my time for what only I can do.

Top 5 Things To Delegate

I’ve worked with countless solopreneurs and small business owners to help them scale their business to the next level while freeing up time and energy for a more fulfilling life.

Here are five things I see most entrepreneurs holding onto that keep them feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck. These are the first tasks you should consider delegating to your assistant.

#1: Things That Don’t Take Much Time But Don’t Grow Your Business

Think about all those five-minute and ten-minute tasks you do—the little things that, on their own, don’t seem like much but add up to hours of lost time every week. These small tasks prevent you from dedicating focused time to the big things that actually move your business forward.

A prime example? Email management.

Think about how much time and energy your inbox eats up. If you could redirect all those hours into growing your business instead of striving for inbox zero, how much more could you accomplish?

Other examples include of things that don’t take much time but don’t grow your business either are:

Inputting expenses into bookkeeping software
Rescheduling clients
Creating invoices
Publishing posts to social media

It’s easy to tell yourself “this won’t take long” or “it will take much longer to teach someone else how to do this than to just do it myself.” But imagine how much lighter your week would feel if you focused only on the big things and let someone else handle the small stuff…

#2: Things That Take a Lot of Time or Brainpower (and may or may not contribute to growing the business)

Some things really do take a lot of time in business, but that doesn’t mean you have to handle that entire load yourself. It’s not always an all or nothing situation. You could have a team member do 80% of the research/planning/drafting and then you could do the final 20% of the editing/tweaking/approving/deciding.

For instance, you don’t need to spend your time figuring out the nitty-gritty details of launching a new product or planning your social media schedule. Your VA or online business manager (OBM) can take care of that for you.

You could say, “Here’s what I want to accomplish this month—can you map it out in ClickUp and set deadlines so we stay on track?” Instead of spending 100% of the time planning, you’ll spend 20% reviewing and tweaking what’s already been mapped out.

As the CEO, your job is to create the vision and set the direction for the business—not necessarily to handle all the logistics of how to make it happen.

Here are some other examples:

Researching information for a new product or process
Planning the launch of something
Setting up marketing funnels or automations
Organizing events or workshops
Tracking down data or analytics for reports
Setting up new systems
Creating detailed project timelines

#3: Things That Are Repetitive (and don’t require much brainpower!)

Any tasks that follow the same steps every time are prime candidates for delegation. These tasks are predictable, easy to document, and don’t require a lot of specialized knowledge—which makes them perfect for handing off to someone else. By delegating repetitive work, you can ensure that your processes are consistent while freeing yourself up to focus on higher-level strategic activities that require your expertise.

Some examples:

Setting up new clients in your system
Drafting presentations from a template
Building sales pages on your website
Creating contracts for new prospects
Publishing content to social media or your website

If a task doesn’t require much brainpower and it’s done in the same way each time, delegate it. Save your mental energy for the things that really matter.

#4: Tasks That Drain Your Energy

If something drains you, it’s probably taking you twice as long to do, and it’s probably not getting done as well as it could be. And let’s be honest—if you hate doing it, it’s likely getting procrastinated.

As the CEO, you want to focus on the things that give you energy and play to your natural strengths. If something is sucking the life out of you, delegate it.

Some examples:

Mapping out project plans in ClickUp
Setting up new systems or tech in your business
Reviewing and analyzing financials
Writing proposals
Managing day-to-day team communications
Documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Editing and proofreading content
Scheduling meetings or coordinating calendars
Handling customer support inquiries
Researching tools or software for the business

#5: Tasks That Aren’t Getting Done Consistently

If there’s something that directly contributes to growing your business but isn’t getting done regularly, it needs your attention.

Maybe, by delegating other tasks, you’ll free up time to focus on this key task. Or maybe, it’s something that someone else should take over entirely to make sure it actually gets done.

Some examples:

Lead generation and prospecting
Publishing or repurposing social media content
Following up on past conversations
Consistently sending newsletters or email campaigns
Engaging with followers on social media
Updating website content
Networking outreach to potential collaborators or partners

Growing from a solopreneur to CEO means getting really good at delegating. If you don’t build and fully leverage a team, your business will either plateau or you’ll burn out trying to juggle all the balls yourself.

But when you get clear on how to delegate tasks and trust others to take it on, you can get the support you need to keep growing your business—without working more hours.

All it takes is defining your role and deciding which tasks—whether quick, arduous, repetitive, draining, or inconsistent—can be handed off.

If you’re ready to hire your first virtual assistant, check out my complete guide to hiring a VA. It’ll walk you through everything you need to know to make this next step a success!

And if you’re an ambitious entrepreneur feeling overwhelmed by everything on your plate, and you want to grow your business while freeing up time and energy for a more fulfilling life, I’d love to coach you through it. Learn more about how we can work together and book a discovery call to see if we’re a good fit.

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