Learning to delegate and learning to walk away

Well guys, as you probably know, this week has been all over the place for myself and my husband.  Colin was taken into hospital on Monday morning where originally they thought he’d had a mild stroke (he’s only 38, normally fit and healthy), well 5 days later and several tests etc. we are almost at a diagnosis of why his heart rate dropped so low and made him (and is still making him) feel ill.  The good news is that he is back home.

My clients and friends have been amazing, literally amazing.   Everyone pitched in, all work has been done and on time and it has made me reflect on the future and how I want to work.  Especially as my friend and colleague Claire Burdett has written this article recently for budding ‘Empire Builders’ about the importance of getting  the work/life balance right.

I love my job, there is no denying it, I am passionate about all things techy, but this week has made me realise that no matter how much you love your job and are committed to it, which I am, sometimes you need to pass over the reigns so you can concentrate on what is really important, i.e. your family.

I am extremely lucky to know the network of people that I do.  My business just couldn’t stop because my husband was in hospital, it had to continue because I have to work financially (and let’s face it, I’m love my work too and wouldn’t want it to stop), but who was going to answer my calls?  Who was going to make sure my clients were updated?  Who would sort out my invoices for me whilst I was out and about in various hospitals?   I called in the dream team and delegated.

All my calls were handled (and I have to say, perfectly) by Call Team.   I cannot thank them enough for how quickly it was all set up,  if you are in business, you need them, no matter whether you need them on a emergency basis or all of the time.  I would not be without them now.

My wonderful VA, Charlotte Burford, took care of my admin and updating people.  Charlotte has just made it to the final 3 nominees for the UK Outstanding VA Awards (hosted this weekend) and you can see why.   Charlotte even offered to keep an eye on my kids for me too, now that is beyond the call of duty, but made me feel so comforted knowing that she was there if I needed her.

So I learnt to delegate and use a larger network of service providers, and this will remain in place now as it works so well for my business, now I can concentrate on doing the bit of the job I really love, the geeky stuff.  All my admin and calls are taken care of now.  Fantastic!

Susan Odev on Skype and the phone was there for the support when I needed a virtual hug, as was Emma Warren, Sarah Bradley, Lyndsey McKendry and The Funky Girls.    Loads of other people were emailing me asking if there was anything they could do, not just friends but also clients.  How wonderful is that?  When your clients actually turn around and say to you, hang on, what can WE do for YOU?  Just proves what lovely clients we have and how well we get on.

The second point is about learning to walk away.  Going back to Claire’s article she makes 3 really good points which I have seriously been thinking about this week:  “Don’t try and do too much at once”, “Keep your friends and your health” and “Pace yourself”.

Last week I was offered an amazing opportunity with a leading marketing agency, it would have meant regular work with a regular income.  Yesterday I was offered another role in another agency which would have been almost triple the amount of money I am on now.  I turned both down wthout making it public knowledge, and the reason (no I am not mad!) is because I want to concentrate on what I do best:  working with small businesses and being a good mum.  I don’t want to be chained to my laptop for 12 hours a day, what parent does?  Nor do I want to be racing around half of London, doing large corporate meetings, full time 6 days a week, I want to be the very best I can be but on my own, and my clients, terms.

So, I need to take the advice from my family and friends (and Claire’s article) and walk away from some of the other, bigger projects I have been working on.   A hard decision, yes, but one that will make my life, and ultimately my own clients lives, much brighter.  I don’t have to work all the hours under the sun or in a way that I am not happy with, just to prove to the world that I can.   The only thing I need to do is to do my best for my clients and my family, and that is something I have always done here at Media Labs and that will continue.

Here’s to finding the balance, and to doing it right.  (Hurrah!)