Do you get angry with yourself because your to-do list is growing?

If you’re like most people, you try to come with new tricks to stay ahead of the game. However, in the end, you wind up having to neglect some things.

Your car may need an oil change, but you put it off. Or, your house could use a good cleaning, but it keeps going to the bottom of the list.

Instead of beating yourself up, consider this: You might need to hire some help. Engaging even a tiny bit of help will put some free space into your calendar.

“When my kids were little, and I worked full time, I used to hire my teenage sister to clean my house,” says a friend of ours who is now a bank executive. We’ll call her Debbie.

“I could only afford to hire her one day a month,” Debbie laughs, “but it did help. Her job was to put up clothes and toys, clean the bathrooms, and wipe out the refrigerator. I paid her fifty bucks for six hours of work.”

Another friend of ours, whom we’ll call Sarah, hires a teenage neighbor to wash her car and her dog. She also hires him to mow her yard in mowing season.

“My husband grumbled about the mowing in the beginning,” says Sarah. “He didn’t want to shell out the money, but now, he’s sold on hiring the yard mowed.”

Most people feel a sense of guilt about hiring help. We feel guilty that we can’t push a little harder, become a little more organized, or get up earlier to get things in high gear.

“The smartest person who wants to get ahead will hire help,” says a family counselor we’ll call Rita. “I have clients who are on medications because they’ve pushed themselves too hard.”

These tips can help to find the right help:

— Start small. For example, hire a cleaning person to clean your kitchen and bathrooms only. This person might come every two weeks. See how it works out. You may love this person or you may not. Choose someone recommended by your friends or someone bonded through a service.

— Give yourself time to adjust. Someone coming into your home or coming to mow your lawn will take a psychological adjustment. No one is a perfect worker, either. You’ll need to give them some guidance. But, don’t quit until you try the new routine for some time.

— Cut corners elsewhere if you need to. If money is the issue, try to trim your budget in other areas. This way, you won’t feel guilty about paying $100 or more for dedicated, predictable help in managing your life.

“I had to get over caring what my sisters thought,” says a mother we’ll call Becky. “I hired a young schoolgirl to help me with the kids and doing some cleaning on Saturday mornings. My sisters hinted that I was disorganized. But, as time went by, they started hiring some help as well. It works!”

Hiring someone to help you move junk out of the garage, take old furniture out of the basement, or organize your closets takes a leap of faith.

However, admitting that you can’t do it all is very liberating. You can make up your mind to reach out and find some real support.

That very first call to someone will be your hardest. Once you hire someone and your plan works, you’ll be hooked.

———

(Judi Light Hopson is author of the stress management book, “Cooling Stress Tips.” She is also executive director of USA Wellness Cafe at www.usawellnesscafe.org

———

©2020 Tribune News Service

Visit Tribune News Service at ©2020 Person to Person

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.