I’ve worked with hundreds of women who have trouble rationalizing outsourcing—and it doesn’t matter how much they earn. If you crunch the numbers, however, you’ll have objective figures that prove it makes sense to free up your time for what really counts. Ask around and find yourself a good cleaning person, a part-time or full-time executive assistant, a computer whiz, and other support people that can complete tasks for a fraction of the time or money it would take you to do it yourself.
Stop wasting time thinking, “I need another me” and spend the money for a “mini-me”. You’ll end up a lot richer—at home, and at work.
Book a Haircut, Highlight, and Facial Today. And Get Some New Clothes
Let me guess. Your hair is unruly. Your roots are retro. Your skin is suffering. And you burn up at least half an hour each morning ruminating on, “I don’t have an f___g thing to wear”—and that’s thirty minutes that you could be working out rather than feeling like a twenty or thirty or forty-something matronly frump preparing to lumber into the office each day.
Plus, the number one reason I hear women site for why they don’t go out, for fun, is, “I don’t have anything to wear.” And, honestly, they’re telling the truth—because they put having a functional, easy wardrobe at the bottom of their priorities pile.
My new assistant of five months, Vanella, not only organizes my business life—everything from bills, calendar, press clippings, filing and organizing, scheduling appointments, bank deposits, monitoring deadlines, to building and stocking new bookshelves—she is also a fashion design student in NYC. Lucky me. Over the months, she’s professionally coerced me into purging my closet and then shopping for pieces, one by one, that have built into a cohesive, easy (every piece works with the others), hip, professional wardrobe. Believe me—my life is so much easier now that I can pull together an outfit in under five minutes and be on my way, to see a client or to deliver a keynote, looking and feeling pulled together and relaxed.
Spruce up. Use the free personal shoppers at major department stores—they’ll do all the work for you, alert you to sales, even deliver clothing to you that you can try on in the comfort of your own apartment and return, no obligations, if those pants make your butt look big, etc.
Clean out your closet. Invest in your self-esteem, in your image. Doing so will invigorate you and render you more open to life outside of the office.
