Why You Need to Stop Wasting Time and Stop Doing Sh*t You Suck At

Jun 2018

Today’s post may cost you money, sorry but it’s true. But in the long run, it is going to save you time, headache and possibly heartache.

You need to stop wasting time doing shit you suck at, bottom line, end of story!

I am speaking from personal experience.

You see, I was dating this girl a few years ago. After a few weeks, she said ‘have you ever thought of getting a maid?’ I have to admit it was a bit embarrassing. I have always been a very neat and clean guy but working a ton of hours meant less time for dusting every corner of my condo. So, admittedly it wasn’t perfect. I know what you are picturing, something like this out of Animal House:

Relax, it wasn’t that bad, it was more like this:

You can’t see the dust in the photo, but I assure you, it’s there.

The fact of the matter is that ‘Samantha’ was right. I was doing a half-assed job at something I sucked at.

*Note her feet, we will come back to them later.

In Business…

Organizations employ specialists who have specific skills or knowledge – the best organizations do a great job of making sure each worker performs duties that leverage their particular skills or knowledge. That way they have a bigger impact on the organization.

For example, let’s look at a big business in the U.S. – football. Talk about using specialists!

Players are specialized – for example, the long snapper – his sole job is snapping the ball on extra points, field goals and punts – that’s it! You also have kick returners, punters, kickoff specialists, holders, slot receiver, outside receivers etc.

Coaches – for example, you have quality control coaches, passing game coordinators, tight end coaches etc.

How This Applies to You!

Sometimes you need to know your limitations. Rather than trying to do something you suck at and wasting time, spend the money and get someone else who is an expert at it do it- especially if the costs are minimal. Your time is often worth way more than either doing it yourself, or you having to figure out how to do it. You will likely screw it up anyway, and it will have to be done over by a professional, like me and my cleaning!

Some Examples of How You Can Stop Wasting Time By Using Specialists in Your Life…

Let’s look at some examples of where you may want to stop wasting time and hire a professional to do something:

Taxes – If your taxes are not easy, you may want to spend the money and hire a professional. If you consider your time and your lack of expertise, it may be a sound investment. And who knows, they may be able to save you money which may offset the cost of hiring them or who knows, you may even come out ahead!

Ironing – You may think about taking your shirts, blouses, pants, slacks, whatever, to a dry cleaner instead of wasting time ironing if you suck at it.

Cutting the grass and gardening – Unless it is something you enjoy or something you are good at, you may want to consider hiring a gardener or lawn service. For some people it is therapy, great, keep doing it then.

Washing your car – I always leave streaks and get more water on me than the car. Yeah, car washing is not one of my strengths! The car wash always works better for me.

Fixing your computer – Just because you can take it apart doesn’t mean you can put it together. And it certainly doesn’t mean it will work. Call the Geek Squad!

Putting together furniture – Between the time it takes to read the instructions, find stuff that is missing, put it together, realize you left out a critical part and put it back together…Hire a professional.

Shoveling snow – Potentially hurting your back and freezing your ass off just isn’t worth it.

Doing research – There are companies who you can outsource it to for cheap who actually know what they are doing. Hire them.

Household repairs – Your thumb is bruised for a reason. Instead of hitting it again with a hammer, get someone else to do it.

Moving – This is a big one. Do not risk injury. Do not risk breaking furniture. And do not risk scraping the shit out of your walls. There are professionals who will do it for you.

Starting a workout plan – Instead of trying to figure out a workout plan on your own and doing a half-assed job, hire a personal trainer. They will create a workout plan for you and get you all set up in a few sessions. It will be money well spent.

What Happened with ‘Samantha’?

So, I took her advice – she was right. I hired a maid service whom I still have to this day. They do a great job, and although it costs me money, it saves me from wasting time (and embarrassment).

Things were good for a while after I hired the maid, but they kinda went sideways when I got the brilliant idea of cooking her breakfast one morning.

Pretty gross, I know!

Yup, I should have taken my own advice and left the cooking to the professionals and taken her out for breakfast. Our relationship ended up looking like this shortly thereafter:

Lesson learned!

Until next time, stop wasting time and hire a professional if you suck at something and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

P.S. Oh yeah, about ‘Samantha’s’ feet. I give her credit, she realized DIY pedicures were not her thing and started going to a salon – way to Prime Your Pump Samantha!

Use It or Lose It:

If you suck at something, hire a specialist!

When to Use It:

When you realize you are wasting time and doing things beyond your expertise or capabilities that someone else could do much better.

What Do You Think?

Where have you successfully used a specialist? Are there things that you suck at that you may consider hiring someone else to do in the future?

If you enjoyed this post, it would mean the world to us if you shared it via any of the social media platforms below!

References

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2016/12/20/5-reasons-modern-businesses-are-turning-to-specialization/#6f8ecdaa4a29

https://operations.nfl.com/the-players/evolution-of-the-nfl-player/

Well said Rick. In reality, this concept should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual bystander. There are certain tasks that I will not even think of attempting – plumbing for one. However, electrical work I can easily handle. It may have something to do with the fact that water can leak and create a giant mess while electricity does not. I have replaced switches, outlets, sockets, installed an overhead ceiling light, and wired the garage for a door opener but I let the pros install the door itself.

My wife has the natural in-born talent for painting – not a masterpiece to hang on the wall of the Louvre, but rather walls and ceilings. She’s almost a professional, while I will just create a complete fiasco complete with spills and missed areas. Hmm – I think I’m seeing a trend here – I need to avoid anything involving household liquids. She also fired me from doing the laundry because I was not doing it “the right way”.

In my younger days I performed all maintenance on the cars, both routine and major. But now since I’m old, crotchety, and decrepit, I take the cars to the best mechanic in town, who works independently and not for a dealership. My days of crawling on my back underneath a car to change the oil and filter are long over with. In my lifetime, I have changed a fuel pump (as you already know), water pump, thermostat, installed a coil and a headlight assembly, and performed a complete brake job on my (long since gone) GTO.

And then there’s cooking. I have mastered using the toaster and pouring milk onto my cereal. And I can open a bag of pretzels and a can of beer. But anything else culinary – can you say disaster waiting to happen? That’s one reason I got married. So let me relate the time that I forgot how Boyle’s Law works. My wife had left me precise instructions (or so she thought) to start making dinner while she went out shopping. She said “I will not be long and will finish when I come back”. So here I am in the kitchen, unfamiliar territory, turning on the oven at the proper time, selecting the designated temperature, setting the timer – then later placing the bag of frozen peas in the microwave and setting its timer. She returned from her shopping trip and asked about how the preparations had gone. I said fine, that “I followed the instructions, and best of all, the peas had not exploded”. Ten seconds later, we heard a loud BOOM, and yes, the peas did explode in the microwave. She did not write down in the instructions to pop a hole in the bag, and I overlooked the related effects of volume, temperature and pressure inside the bag. Boyle’s Law wins again.

Simply summed up – if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it.

2 Replies to “Why You Need to Stop Wasting Time and Stop Doing Sh*t You Suck At”

Dave Savadge says:

June 11, 2018 at 12:51 pm

Well said Rick. In reality, this concept should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual bystander. There are certain tasks that I will not even think of attempting – plumbing for one. However, electrical work I can easily handle. It may have something to do with the fact that water can leak and create a giant mess while electricity does not. I have replaced switches, outlets, sockets, installed an overhead ceiling light, and wired the garage for a door opener but I let the pros install the door itself.

My wife has the natural in-born talent for painting – not a masterpiece to hang on the wall of the Louvre, but rather walls and ceilings. She’s almost a professional, while I will just create a complete fiasco complete with spills and missed areas. Hmm – I think I’m seeing a trend here – I need to avoid anything involving household liquids. She also fired me from doing the laundry because I was not doing it “the right way”.

In my younger days I performed all maintenance on the cars, both routine and major. But now since I’m old, crotchety, and decrepit, I take the cars to the best mechanic in town, who works independently and not for a dealership. My days of crawling on my back underneath a car to change the oil and filter are long over with. In my lifetime, I have changed a fuel pump (as you already know), water pump, thermostat, installed a coil and a headlight assembly, and performed a complete brake job on my (long since gone) GTO.

And then there’s cooking. I have mastered using the toaster and pouring milk onto my cereal. And I can open a bag of pretzels and a can of beer. But anything else culinary – can you say disaster waiting to happen? That’s one reason I got married. So let me relate the time that I forgot how Boyle’s Law works. My wife had left me precise instructions (or so she thought) to start making dinner while she went out shopping. She said “I will not be long and will finish when I come back”. So here I am in the kitchen, unfamiliar territory, turning on the oven at the proper time, selecting the designated temperature, setting the timer – then later placing the bag of frozen peas in the microwave and setting its timer. She returned from her shopping trip and asked about how the preparations had gone. I said fine, that “I followed the instructions, and best of all, the peas had not exploded”. Ten seconds later, we heard a loud BOOM, and yes, the peas did explode in the microwave. She did not write down in the instructions to pop a hole in the bag, and I overlooked the related effects of volume, temperature and pressure inside the bag. Boyle’s Law wins again.

Simply summed up – if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it.

1. Rick, Bri and Howie says:
  
  June 11, 2018 at 3:16 pm
  
  Once again, Dave, you made me laugh out loud, thanks for the smile. That’s impressive you can do electrical. My Dad is a dentist yet somehow he can do electrical, plumbing, carpentry, fix cars – you name it. Yours truly, none of the above! At least like you, I know my limitations! Be good! Rick