10 Ways To Outsource Your Household Tasks

Do you have more to do than time to do it?

I’m a wife, mother and business owner. Over the last 20 years, I’ve juggled those three commitments in various ways. What I’ve come to understand is that no one person can do everything.

In order to grow my business I have always hired help. Sometimes in the form of help with my business. However, more and more I find that the tasks I need to outsource the most are household related.

Based on my own personal experiences, and my experience as a professional organizer helping many super busy, career-oriented woman, I have devised a list of 10 ways to outsource your household tasks.

#1 Dry Cleaning & Laundry

Many people know that you can outsource dry cleaning - you can even have someone come pick it up from your house. But did you know that you can also outsource your laundry? I love to do our laundry, and it really is a therapeutic chore for me… as crazy as that sounds. But it does take up a lot of time – I actually timed how long it takes.

#2 House cleaning

There have been various seasons over the years where I’ve had someone clean my house regularly, and it is so awesome! I am not a fastidious cleaner; I prefer things to be straightened and organized. So, having someone really deep clean my house every other week is a luxury that our whole family enjoys. Plus, it allows me to not worry or stress out when messes happen in between cleanings.

#3 School Transportation

Both of my children attend schools that are 30 minutes from our house… in opposite directions from one another. For one of those schools, the parents were able to go together and get a private bus chartered for the students. That saves me five hours of driving a week!

Last year, I also ran into the problem where both children needed to be picked up at the same time. My solution was to hire a local high school student to pick up my daughter who was dropped off at the bus stop close to home, get her a snack, take her to the library, get her homework done and bring her back one hour later.

Not only did I solve my transportation problem, but I also had a child who had a snack and her homework done by the time I saw her. Worth every penny.

#4 Lawn Maintenance

There are a number of repetitive, yard-related tasks that a homeowner needs to accomplish. Just like getting a house cleaner for your home, having lawn maintenance done can save a lot of time.

Three services that would help with lawn care are snow removal, fertilizing your yard and grass cutting.

#5 Outsourcing Shopping

Years ago, I was a personal shopper for one of our clients. But now Amazon does the same job for no fee and offers superior service. Instead of putting something on a list to buy later, I just open up my Amazon app, order it right away and it’s delivered to my doorstep within two days. You can’t beat that.

#6 Projects

I LOVE to do projects. But as I am aging and the demands on my time – especially driving time – increase, I have less and less time to do household projects.

I have a repair list for my handyman and call him when I have a whole day’s worth of work for him.

I love the feeling of checking a big project off my list and always wonder why I didn’t do it sooner.

#7 Meals

I hate to cook, but we must eat. So I take ONE day a month and make 10 freezer meals in 2 hours. Bulk food prep saves me TONS of time. You can completely outsource this task to someone else or to a service like Dream Dinners.

#8 Online Grocery Shopping

Many grocery stores offer online shopping which is amazing. I add items to my grocery list as I think of them and then review the list and order them before I close out my workday on Friday. Then Saturday morning I save an hour or more by just driving to pick up my groceries.

#9 Bookkeeping – Bill Paying – Paper Filing

Did you know you’re your family’s CEO? Well, you are! And if you are short on time, you might just want to hire a bookkeeper for your family finances, bill payments and monthly filing. Seems decadent, I know, but definitely a possibility.

#10 Hiring a Personal Assistant

Keep reading… it’s not as scary or ostentatious as you think.

Have you ever wanted to clone yourself? I think you know where I am going here. The role of home owner today is NOT the same as even 10 years ago. We need out of the box thinking to arrange our days so that they meet OUR needs and we are not just cramming everything that “needs” to get done into the day until we collapse into a coma at night.

Stop. Think.

What can you outsource? What is your budget? What do you HATE doing? What do you want to do more of?

This won’t happen overnight, but you can slowly start replacing one disliked or time consuming task with another high value time investment.

This post originally appeared on the Organize 365 blog and on podcast #65 of the Organize 365 Podcast