“I’m at my wit's end.” That was the conclusion of a text message that broke my heart a little bit. when a friend and fellow business owner showed it to me the other day.
Their team member sent it to them, expressing exasperation at the state of unfinished tasks in the business where they were waiting on an answer or action from the owner.
Seeing it bummed me out for both of them because it was neither person’s fault per se (though we can all take responsibility, of course). As I say in Free Time, business stress is a systems problem.
Today I’m sharing the signal flares to look out for indicating that something needs to change, with ways to communicate (and delegate) to stop the stressful pile-up languishing on your desk.
🌟 Key Takeaways: The Burdensome B’s
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Bored: You no longer enjoy the work (same goes for your team members)
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Bottlenecked: Team members are frustrated from waiting for you; you are frustrated that there’s a growing pile at your desk.
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Burned out: You are starting to resent the work, your team, even your clients. Every communication starts to feel like a paper cut.
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Buried by bureaucracy: You are no longer operating in your Zone of Genius because you are so bogged down by tasks that fall into your zones of incompetence, competence, or even excellence (the zone that Hendricks’ says has most risk of lulling you to sleep).
📝 Permission
Stop doing things that you're not even good at—that you dread, that drain you, that you procrastinate on. You also have full permission to stop trying to be somebody you’re not—even if that means a “business owner who is equally brilliant at big, creative thinking and administravia.”
✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next
Keep a piece of paper at your desk (or digital can work): note where you are in your zone of incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius.
🔗 Resources Mentioned
📚 Books Mentioned
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Free Time with Jenny Blake