How to Finally Break Up with Busy (and Make It Stick)

You keep promising yourself you’ll slow down next week. But somehow, “next week” always looks a lot like this one – full, frantic, and leaving you feeling behind at both work and home.

Before you tell yourself it’s just a busy season, read these 10 Signs You Need to Break Up with Busy from Breaking Up with Busy: Real-Life Solutions for Overscheduled Women by Yvonne Tally.

I share these with clients all the time because they describe exactly what happens when “busy” becomes the baseline – when it quietly shifts from a short-term sprint into your default mode.

See how many feel familiar.

You frequently skip something for yourself when a loved one requests your time.
You feel like you’re doing too much and somehow still not doing enough.
“Busy” has become your normal.
You feel controlled by your schedule.
You eat at least one meal a day while standing or multitasking.
You’ve noticed weight changes, skin flare-ups, or hair loss.
You’re not getting enough sleep, and you have insomnia. Your libido is low.
Things that used to bring joy now feel like chores.
You often feel overwhelmed or anxious.
You constantly feel like you are rushing just to catch up with yourself.

If you checked off most of these, you’re not broken – you’re buried.

And here’s the part no one tells you: “Busy” isn’t caused by a lack of time. It’s caused by how work moves.

As your business grows, the to-do list doesn’t just get longer – it gets heavier. Each task seems to multiply into five more. You hire help to ease the weight, but somehow, everything still boomerangs back to you. The emails. The follow-ups. The fixes.

That’s not because you’re bad at managing time. It’s because you’re still managing too much of the work itself.

Which brings us to one of the hardest – and most freeing – skills every business owner has to master: delegation.

Why delegation feels harder than it should

You’ve hired good people. You’ve handed off projects. You’ve explained exactly what you wanted.

Then it happens:

You spend twice as long answering questions.
You review work that doesn’t meet your standards.
You explain the same thing again because everyone’s unsure what “done” really means.

When delegation doesn’t work, it costs time, trust, and energy – the very resources you’re trying to protect. And if you’re a high-achiever, that loss cuts deeper because you know you could do it faster yourself… but that’s exactly the trap.

The system that makes delegation stick

Delegation isn’t about working harder or letting go completely. It’s about having one clear process you can follow every time – a way to hand things off that actually stays off.

That’s what we build together in the Delegate Like a Pro Workshop.

Inside, you’ll use my PREP, TABLE, and REWIND frameworks to:

Pinpoint what should come off your plate first (and what can wait).
Match each task to the right level of direction.
Give your team the clarity they need to deliver work you don’t have to fix.

When you use a system that works, you stop reinventing the wheel every time someone asks, “How should I do this?”

What happens when delegation works

One of my clients told me she was redoing every project, even with a capable team. After the workshop, she used the Six Levels of Delegation to give the right amount of direction for each task.

Three weeks later, she emailed:

“For the first time in years, I didn’t have to reopen a single client file over the weekend.”

That’s not just time saved – that’s mental peace restored. Her weekends belonged to her again.

That’s what happens when delegation works – your team takes ownership, and you get your time back.

Why this matters

This isn’t just about saving time. It’s about protecting your energy so you can focus on the work that actually grows your business.

You don’t need more hours. You need better handoffs.
When your systems work, your nights and weekends return.
When your team knows what “done” looks like, you stop being the bottleneck.
When delegation sticks, “busy” finally breaks – and you remember what breathing room feels like.

Join me

If you’re ready to stop racing the clock and start leading with calm confidence, join me for the Delegate Like a Pro Workshop on November 21.

In three focused hours, we’ll build your personal delegation plan – one that gets work off your plate for good. You’ll leave with a repeatable process, clear next steps, and the breathing room you’ve been craving.

All for $247.

Because you don’t need to do more.

You just need to delegate better – and finally make “busy” optional.