I saw a post on social media recently talking about the idea of the ‘invisible workload’ – the weight and responsibility of doing all of the thinking and planning for your daily life. This is referred to as the invisible workload, because even if you’re not the one doing everything, you might be the one THINKING about all the things and making all the decisions. I’m a mum of two boys, a wife and I have my parents living with us. We also have an elderly dog. So, my plate is pretty full in this department. If you’re also a mum you might have heard this referred to as ‘Mothers’ Load’.

 

What are we having for dinner? We need to get for the birthday party this weekend? The kids need new school shoes soon. Has everyone got clean socks for the week?

 

The list is endless.

 

And even if we share the household tasks with a spouse, partner or kids – we are often still the ones having to ASK family members to do things, sometimes more than once (anyone else with little people in the house? If so, you’ll recognise this is massive understatement!).

 

As I read this post it occurred to me – this happens in businesses as well!

 

How much of what you ‘do’ each day falls into the invisible workload category? Things that aren’t obvious and can’t necessarily be checked off a to-do list, but that can take up a surprising amount of time & energy.

 

Things like:

 

• Thinking about what needs to be done – when, how and by who
• Delegating what needs to be done – we may not be doing the work but having to ‘pass it along’ to someone else still takes time
• Following up on tasks – checking in with folks re: “what is the status of this?” is work, in particular when things aren’t getting done or are falling behind
• Making decisions – be it big or small decisions, there is energy required to think through everything so we can decide (and decision fatigue is a very real thing).

 

Now to some degree the invisible workload is just part of the gig. For business owners there will always be thinking & decision making to be done, and that may be what lights you up at first.

 

But as your business grows you simply might not have the capacity – or the desire – to keep all of this invisible workload on your plate. It can start to show over time through exhaustion, frustration or a lack of progress as things sit waiting for your input & decisions.

 

Here is my advice on what you can do when you find the invisible workload is becoming too much:

 

• Work with a DOO or OBM to take some of it off your shoulders – once you hit the early to mid 6-figure range there is simply too much going on to keep it all going on your own. An OBM’s expertise is taking your vision/goals and turning those into actionable plans, getting the right teams in place and ensuring that the work is getting done correctly and on time. A DOO goes a step further to help you strategise, break down your actions and build a team to support you. Skip to the end if this is for you!
• Lead your team to take more ownership of their role – where is your team relying on you to make decisions or tell them what to do? Work together to clarify their role and lay out expectations of where they can take more ownership and make decisions on their own.
• Look to simplify where possible – are you trying to do too many things at once? As an entrepreneur myself I can easily fall into the trap of “let’s do all these things and do them now!!” which of course means more thinking, decisions, and delegation. Instead of trying to do three things this month, what if you focused on doing only one and do it really well.

I’m curious to know where or how you feel the invisible workload showing up in your business? Leave a comment below and let’s see if there’s common areas we share with this.

 

So, what would be possible if you had someone in your business to take more of these things off your plate? Imagine having a trusted partner whose gift was to handle all of the invisible load and act like your second brain?

 

The exciting news for business owners is that these people do exist!

I am one of many highly skilled and certified professionals working in the role of Online Business Manager (OBM) or Director of Operations (DOO), getting results for their clients and helping drive their business forward by streamlining, strategising, planning and implementing their businesses processes in a way that reduces the invisible workload and sets them up for growth.

 

In case you’re wondering, here’s how the two roles differ:

 

 

If your workload, invisible or otherwise, is feeling like it’s too much, lets connect. I can’t help you with deciding what’s for dinner tonight but I can help you lift the load in your business.

 

You can book in for a coffee chat here.

 

In the meantime, you might find my fantastic guide ‘Delegating for Success’ useful. It’s available in my online store NOW!

 

See you next time!