How to Outsource Your Chores and Get More Out of Your Life

In an ideal world, you’d be able to work or run your business, stay in shape, prepare healthy meals, keep your home clean and still spend quality time with your family.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

But for most of us, in an effort to complete all of these tasks of daily living, at least one of them is sacrificed.

There just never seems to be enough time. At the end of a busy day, you’ve probably been left wondering how to outsource some of these tasks.

Obviously, no one can get in shape for you. But a lot of everyday chores can easily be outsourced to people who have part time jobs, and could use the extra money.

So it’s a win-win.

Learn How to Outsource Those Daily Tasks

Whether you’re looking for help with a chore that takes a lot of your time, or one that you just really don’t like doing, you can always hire someone to do a task.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Meal Cooking

Have you ever dreamed of having a personal chef?

It’s not as far out of reach as you might think. Contact or drop by a local cooking school and ask the instructors if there are any talented student-chefs who are planning to go into catering.

Once you have some names, see if any of them are willing to work with you to purchase and prepare a week’s worth of healthy meals for you while staying in your weekly budget. In return, you offer them a modest stipend and testimonial.

To save money, this can also be done with a group – splitting the cost and dividing up the portions accordingly.

Or, do some research on delivery meal services. While you still do the actual cooking, the shopping and most of the prep time has been eliminated.

2. Laundry Service

If you could skip doing laundry each week, how much time would you save? For the average person, it’s a minimum of two hours. But that number is much higher if you’re doing laundry for multiple family members.

Outsourcing this task is especially easy if you live in a major city. Imagine the time you’ll save by hiring a laundry service wash, dry, fold and deliver your clothes right to your door. In the city, you may even have access to one of the newer app-based laundry services like Rinse, FlyCleaners, or DryV.

But even in a smaller community, you might be surprised by how many local dry cleaners and laundromats offer this same service – or some variation of it – at a really economical price.

3. Shopping for Produce/Groceries

If you’re passionate about providing your family with organic and locally sourced produce, your best is the local farmer’s market. But once again, it takes some time to get there, sort through the offerings and then plan to do this every week.

This is where Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is so valuable. When you invest in a CSA, you purchase shares of a local farm’s harvest. In return, you get a box of fresh, seasonal produce each week.

You can step this up a notch with grocery delivery. Many larger markets now offer a delivery option when you shop online. In some cities, this even includes beer and wine too.

4. Pet Care and Supplies

Are your four-legged friends feeling neglected?

Busy professionals who work long hours and are distracted by responsibilities when they’re home find it nearly impossible to take Fido out for a walk. That’s why pet care jobs are among the most outsourced.

You can easily find dog-walking services on the internet. And because they only hire responsible and trustworthy people, you’ll know your pup’s in good hands.

If your dog is troubled by too many hours alone, check out a local doggie daycare. They’ll be able to play with other dogs all day and come home feeling rested and calm. Some of these companies even offer pick-up and drop-off services.

To save even more time, purchase food, toys, treats, and other pet supplies on the internet. Some websites offer a large selection of products with automatic reorders and free shipping right to your door.

You’ll not only save time, but you’ll have the convenience of not having to haul around big bags of food or kitty litter any longer.

5. Coordinating Appointments and Reservations

What would it be like to have a personal assistant?

Maybe a personal assistant is out of reach. But a virtual assistant isn’t. By eliminating countless small tasks each day, you’ll be amazed at how much time you’ll save.

For example, making calls for dinner reservations may not seem like a time-consuming task. But add to that the calls for hair appointments, doctors’ appointments, car services, USPS re-delivery, or sharing information with potential new clients, the time starts adding up.

And that’s not the end of it.

Services like Fancy Hands, TaskRabbit, MyTasker and Task Bullet take care of everything from calls to data entry to transcription. For just $3 to $5 per task, you’ll be buying yourself some serious time.

You could also hire a part-time virtual assistant who can help you manage your emails, make schedules and even handle your bills.

This will be someone who’ll have access to your personal inbox, and who will read your emails, flag them for follow-up, and seven respond where appropriate. You’ll receive a digest every evening of what hasn’t yet been tackled in your email so you can handle it.

If you’re just starting out your own business, this service more than pays for itself. After all, you’re working hard to build your reputation as a reliable and organized person. It doesn’t look good if you continually fail at maintaining those relationships because you just don’t have the time.

So Where to Begin?

Part of knowing how to outsource is knowing what you need most to outsource. As we pointed out earlier, there are tasks that take up a lot of time, tasks that you really don’t like to do, and then there are those that cover both of these.

Your best bet is to start with something that’s both time-consuming AND unenjoyable.

Pick just one task to begin. If outsourcing this task still doesn’t allow you enough extra time to spend with your family or to do other things you enjoy, then outsource other tasks until you find that perfect balance.

And keep checking back to find more great tips on how to be more productive without giving up your life!