This week we're diving into a fan-favorite episode from the archives titled “Should You Do It Yourself or Outsource It?” This episode sparked tons of interest because it's all about helping you decide whether to tackle an organizing project on your own or bring in some outside help. So join us as we encourage you to make decisions that your future self will appreciate.
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In this episode we talk about:
- How to assess your resources
- How to handle the guilt of not doing it all yourself
- Smart questions that will simplify your decision-making process
Mentioned in this Episode:
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The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
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Review the Transcript:
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:00:00]:
Hi, organized and productive listeners. Welcome to another week here on the podcast. This week, we've got an oldie and goodie from about a year and a half ago, which was labeled called should you do it yourself or outsource it? This is one of our favorite episodes and most popular because this is an episode where I asked you some questions about whether you should and if it was worth your time to do a prod an organizing project yourself, or should you outsource it? So this isn't about one way or another, and I'm trying to convince you one way or another. This episode is all about asking the smart questions to make sure that doing it yourself is in fact worth it. Before I get into the replay, though, I wanted to share one question that came through since this episode originally aired. And that is, how do I deal with the guilt over not doing it myself? So as the episode continues and moves on, you'll understand that there's we talk about the resources and the 4 different types of resources that we tend to have. But what if guilt, no matter what, no matter what is decided at the end, what if there's still guilt? And my response to that is it's completely normal to have a little bit of guilt, okay, when you decide to outsource something that you think you should be doing yourself. I mean, sometimes you feel bad for several reasons, especially if you're multigenerational and or, it's inherited stuff or it's stuff that for your loved one or has to do with someone that's close to you.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:01:36]:
Right? Like, you just feel like you have to do it yourself. And this feeling often does seem to to come from a sense of responsibility or the belief that handling everything on your own is somehow it's somehow making you more capable. Like, it's almost like, Well, I should. I should be able to. But what I want you to remember is that outsourcing something isn't a sign of weakness. It's not that if you think that your loved one or whoever is kind of giving you that responsibility or if you're putting that on yourself, like, you feel like you just should. That's how I grew up. That's how it's always been.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:02:11]:
I just should. But sometimes using your time and resources wisely is just as smart. It's actually not just, sometimes even more. So just remember that, and make sure that that should is coming from a good place, that it's not just out of guilt, but that it's truly something that you believe in. So if you believe in that, then, you know, go for it. But if you're just holding on to the should, I should be doing it myself out of guilt, Make sure you explore that a little bit further so that you are making smart decisions that you actually want to want to do and sustain. So okay. Here is the episode.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:02:52]:
Enjoy. Have you ever taken on a project that you had no business doing yourself? Or maybe the exact opposite happened? You were so glad you did it yourself because it saved you money and you discovered something you were really good at? Alright. Well, in today's episode, we are discussing what you should consider and what you should be asking yourself when thinking about doing something yourself versus outsourcing it. This episode is for those of you that second guess your outsourcing and DIYing decisions. For those of you who by the time you decide, the project has gotten way bigger and more complicated, and now you kind of don't have a choice or it's just become overwhelming. Maybe you'll leave things in limbo because you can never make a decision. So let me help you simplify your decision on whether you should do it yourself or hire someone to do the task. Welcome to the Organized and Productive podcast with The Organized Flamingo.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:03:48]:
I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert. Ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you? Yeah? Well, then let's go. If you're wondering why I'm talking about this topic and if it feels out of place, it really isn't. Alright. If you're wondering if I'm trying to convince you to hire us, well, it's not quite the case. Yes. We do offer both DIY and done for you organizing services and solutions, and those are always there for you. But this episode is my way of helping you get through the complications that come with decision paralysis, which is a big obstacle in the organizing and productivity space.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:04:28]:
Also, outsourcing doesn't just mean hiring someone for your business. In our episode, we are defining outsourcing as having someone else do it that is better suited for the task. This could be a business, some other business that does the task for you, but it can also be a spouse or a friend that you're swapping resources with. I have witnessed decision paralysis with my community and clients for years when they think they can do it themselves, but in the end, they end up overwhelmed and it ends up costing them more money, frustration, and time. And as a professional organizer that focuses on giving you maximum efficiency and productivity in life so you can have more peace, my goal is to help you think through some questions that are neutral and essential and will hopefully make it easier to decide which way to go so that the decision paralysis isn't what is standing in the way of going forward with your organizing project. We have an acronym at the Organize Flamingo that helps us quickly determine if something is worth doing it yourself or if outsourcing is a better option for you. So grab a piece of paper and pen or your favorite note taking tool because you will want to write this down and take the quiz or at least write down the question so that you can ask yourself this a couple of times. The acronym is MAPS, capital m a p s.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:05:53]:
And I will explain what MAPS stands for in a second. But first, pick a project that you have been wanting to finish. So I'm sure there's something like your garage, maybe a pantry, maybe a business project that you've been wanting to organize, like your files, but you haven't done it because you don't know if you should do it yourself or outsource it or it just feels really overwhelming. Okay. So did you write it down? Alright. So put that aside for just a minute, but we will come back to this project to this question over and over, so keep it handy. So MAPS asks these 4 questions. There are it stands for 4 of the resources that are crucial in completing a task or project.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:06:37]:
The m stands for money. The a stands for availability. The p stands for passion. The s stands for specialty. So when you're asking yourself, should I do this or should I do it myself? You're going to ask it in this way. Do you have the money, the m, to complete the task yourself? A, do you have do I so this is actually the question is towards you. Do I have the availability or the time to complete this task, this project? P, do I have the passion to even complete this task? Meaning, do I even like to do this? And then s is for specialty, which is do you have do I have the specialty to complete this task? Am I good at this? Am I specialized in this area for me in order for me to complete this task? So the way that you measure it is in this way. If you answered yes, I have 3 or 4 of the resources in the maps acronym, then DIY ing could be worth it.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:07:39]:
So if you have 3 of the 4, so the money, the availability, the passion, the specialty, if you have 3 or 4 of them, then it could be worth it because you have enough resources to make it worth your effort and time. But if you answered yes to only 1 or 2 of the resources outlined in the MAPS acronym, then it may not be enough to make it worth it. So doing it yourself and outsourcing could save you money in the long run. Let me give you an example of how to apply this. Let's say you are wondering if it's worth doing your own grocery shopping or maybe you should out or should you be outsourcing it? You know, those digital apps now that you can order your groceries from and they'll either deliver it to your doorstep or you can go pick it up. So you will ask yourself the following questions. Do I have the money to do it on my own? So take into account money means do I have the money for gas? Do I have a money for a car? For for those of you who live in bigger cities and maybe don't have a car of your own because you're constantly taxing or Ubering or whatever it may be, car sharing, those types of questions are important to you. Not everybody has a vehicle, right, to go get the groceries, for example.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:08:52]:
So do I have the money to do this on my own? Do I have the money to go grocery shopping on my own? The second is, do I have the availability, the a, or the time to do it? Do I even have the time to do it? Are you always traveling? Are you constantly on the go? Do you even have the time to do it? The third is, do I have the passion to do it? Do you even like to do it yourself? I'll give you a great example. I am not a big fan of shopping for groceries. I don't mind going to the grocery store, but I don't particularly love going grocery shopping. So those that that's the passion. Do you even like to do it? And then the s under maps is do I have the specialty? Like, am I good at it? When I do do this task, when I go grocery shopping, am I even good at it? Some of you may be thinking that you like doing it, but when you're there, you don't even have a shopping list or you spend a lot more time or money. You go in thinking you're going to spend, you know, $5 and you come out with a $105 because you had no plan and now it's just back fired on you. So that's the specialty. Are you even good at it? For my business folks and community that is listening to this, an example for you could be, should I create and do my own website? Should I be doing this myself? And so you will ask yourself the same questions and that's the order.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:10:11]:
Do I have the money to do it on my own? Because doing it on your own by yourself means that you have to buy the hosting, you know, then the software and, you know, etcetera, etcetera. You can go down the list of that. Do I have the time to do it? Okay. Great. You have all the money in the world to do it, but do you have the time? Do I have the passion to do it? Do I even like to do this? Am I do I get excited when I do my own website? Not really. Well, then that's that is an example of of do I even like to do it myself? Are you good at it? You can like something. You can like to do something, but that doesn't mean you're good at it. And for the specialty, the s and the m s, it it means are you good at it by nature? Like, naturally, you were just gifted with that special skill that is especially true for creatives and artists, but it could also be by trade or by education.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:11:02]:
So are you good at it because you went to school for this? Or maybe you're good at it because you have learned you have learned through the years to be good at this task, But eventually, you became good at it. Right? So those are all falling under the specialty. Like these examples, there are many more, and this episode could go on forever with examples. So instead, ask yourself the questions and tag us so we can cheer you on and help you move forward in an efficient and productive manner. And we're more than happy to help you with asking the right questions so that you can come out with the results that will be helpful to you in the long run. So just remember, Max, do you have the money, availability, passion, and specialty to do this on your own? These resources are precious. These four resources are super precious to you. So why do things you could be getting help to complete with less stress and maybe even better done than if you would have tried to do it yourself? But how awesome also on the opposite of that, how awesome is it to confirm that you made the right decision of doing something yourself? Like, when you go through these steps and you ask yourself these 4 questions, how awesome is it going to be when you realize that, wait, I actually really like to do this and it is worth the time.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:12:21]:
Even if I don't have one of those 4 resources, I have 3 others and that will make it worth it and will hopefully give you the reassurance you need to move forward to do it yourself. And as you get your results and you're finalizing whether to do it yourself or have someone else do it for you, feel free to download our free 7 steps to organizing almost anything that is in our podcast page. It is full of information that will guide you through your organizing journey whether you decide to outsource or do it yourself. We are here to help and help your organizing journey. So we are signing off for now. I am signing off for now. And remember to do something today that your future self will take you for. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Productive podcast with The Organized Flamingo.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:13:09]:
If you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources, head on over to the organized flamingo.com/podcast. Happy organizing.
