Connie at Signatureworx.com has a good article written by one of her clients, Suzette Flemming which gave me pause this morning. I’m dashing from my office to the kitchen and back, confusing piemaking with blog posting in my mind and I realized, hmmm… I really need to stop and think about this subject!

The article’s title is “When is it Time to Hire Help?” Intended for any business owner, it has special pertinence for VA’s.

All of us small biz owners tend to have a DIY mentality. Eventually, though, when your business has really taken off, you start to feel the crunch. Not only does being too busy with tasks others could do for you make you frazzled, but it could contribute to providing less than optimal service to your clients. Read more about the downsides of taking on more than you can handle here: Carrying Capacity Part II.

Meanwhile, if the holidays AREN’T the best time of year for you to find a quiet space in which to consider how you might turn over some of the load, schedule a time to do that around the first of the year, or as part of your New Year’s Resolutions process.

As for me, I found an antidote last year that I plan to swallow happily again this year. I closed shop for a full month for R&R and to plan for the next business year. I merrily think of it as my European self coming out, as I have read that month-long holidays are the norm on that continent. So, from late December through the third week of January, I’ll be burrowing into some quality me time here, and thinking about who I might hire to handle some of my household tasks!