There’s a reason Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rarely wears anything other than a blue or gray shirt. He’s not blind to ever evolving fashion trends or particularly fond of drab colors. Choosing nearly the same outfit each day means Zuckerberg focuses on what he considers worthwhile decisions. 

We make on average 35,000 decisions each day, and science shows as we progress through the day, we experience decision fatigue. Put simply, it’s impossible for every decision or action we make each day to be the best choice possible. So, Zuckerberg, and many other high-level executives, have a staple wardrobe. It’s one less decision to make each day.

Recognizing that we are limited in our ability to make great decisions, means it’s time to focus on decisions in the areas where you don’t want to get it wrong. In an 8-hour workday, you’ll make roughly 11,667 decisions. Advancing your career depends on you being able to determine which of those decisions you should address vs. delegating to your team.

What Is Delegation?

Some of us refuse to handoff even the smallest decisions. We think, “No one can do it as good as I can” so we do everything. The refusal to delegate, will increase the amount of time spent at work and it may even be stopping you from advancing in your career.

Benefits Of Delegation

Delegation goes far beyond simply not having to complete a task and being able to work less. When you delegate properly, you help yourself and your team. How?

• Employee engagement increases. Today’s employees need continual learning and advancement opportunities in order to stay engaged and tenured with the same organization. Delegation provides this for them.

• Leadership abilities are noticed. There is no better compliment for a leader than to be able to spotlight the skills of individual employees on their team. Can you imagine being able to say to the CEO, that the person that solved his biggest problem was on your team?

• Time to grow your career. If you are thinking about the next step in your career, you need to have time to look at things from a big picture perspective. When you delegate, you break away from the recurring minutia of the daily grind and allow yourself time to strategize growth opportunities for the company and your team.

• Work quality is better. It’s time to give up the belief that if you want something done right, you must do it yourself. You have employees on your team who excel in certain areas, take advantage of these areas.

• You save brainpower for big decisions. Your mind can only mentally handle so many decisions in a day. When you learn to delegate, you reserve the brain power you need for the major decisions.

Stretch your team. Ask your team to figure things out and then work with them on the final product. Challenge them and let them know what you are doing. You are there as support but let them fly and succeed. Then, take advantage of the extra time you have on your hands!

(If you truly think no one can do it better than you, we suggest wearing the same color shirt every day to free up some brain power)!