The concept of outsourcing is a phrase and term borrowed from the business world. Much like a contractor who will step in to do a business task (whenever the business might need additional support), outsourcing on a personal level to outsource daily tasks is becoming more popular. The famous book ‘A Housekeeper is Cheaper than Divorce‘ sums up the outsourcing point perfectly.
Personal outsourcing for your family life and needs is an extremely valuable thing to do. It frees up your time to focus on other more valuable or important tasks. So how does personal outsourcing work? What can you actually outsource in order to get more of your precious time back?
What Are You Worth?
Priceless, I’m sure, but what is your time worth? Do you have a way to calculate how much an hour of your time is worth?
What is your time worth? Do you have a way to calculate how much an hour of your time is worth? Share on XLet’s show you an easy example for this calculation. Let’s take an income of £40,000, with an average working week of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 52 weeks. This means you work 260 days or 2080 working hours per year. £40,000 divided by 2080 is £19.23 per hour. Of course, there are varying factors within this, but once you’ve figured out what your time is worth, you’ll understand how better to manage it.
Common Outsourcing Needs
Now consider a list of areas where personal outsourcing might help. Which areas would you like to outsource daily tasks? The below is a selection of some of the most common requests:
- Household Cleaning and Housekeeping
- Gardening
- Admin, book-keeping, diary management and assisting
- Cooking
- Driving
Household Cleaning
As an example, let’s say it takes you an average of 5 hours each week to clean your house from top to bottom. 5 hours of your time equates to £96.15 (5 x £19.23). A part time housekeeper will typically charge around £11 per hour, so if you hire a housekeeper to come during the week (when you are at work), after those five hours, you’ll still be left with £41.15. You’ve also gained an extra five hours for your weekend (when you normally do the housework). Now you can spend this precious time with your children, partner, pet, or just reading your favourite book.
Admin/Personal Assistant
An outsourcing area which private individuals often overlook is the amount of time spent filing paperwork, paying bills, booking contractors and returning unwanted deliveries etc. The average person will spend between 5-10 hours a week on personal admin.
Let’s round this to an average of 7 hours. 7 hours of your time equates to £134.61 (7 x £19.23). A part time personal assistant will typically charge between £15-17 depending on whether they are remote working or working from your property. Let’s take an average of £15 an hour. So after those 7 hours of work, you’ll still be left with £29.61, and you’ve gained an extra 7 hours in your week to do whatever you want.
Local vs Remote
With outsourcing, you don’t have to always have the person in your home, a personal assistant could work remotely and still be extremely efficient at reducing your workload. A personal chef can prepare meals and simply drop them off at your property. A housekeeper can work when you are at the office. So it’s not a case that your home will be filled with random people, far from it.
With busier and more hectic lifestyles, we are always looking for ways to optimise and claw back our time. Being efficient and choosing to outsource daily tasks which can be completed by someone else is a smart choice to make.
We’d love to help you outsource daily tasks and discuss your needs. From personal assistants and housekeepers through to chefs and beyond, why not drop us a line today and we can discuss how outsourcing can improve your life.