When I first started my business, I did what most new entrepreneurs do. I read every self-help book I could get my hands on.

And I swear to you, all of them gave the same piece of advice:

Delegate everything. Don’t cook. Don’t clean. Don’t run errands.
Don’t do anything that someone else could theoretically do for you!

The idea was that you should spend every possible moment focused on your business, your growth, your strategy, your “high-value work.”

Well, ok, that sounds great. Maybe a few quick questions though…

First: with what money? I’m starting a business from $0 here, where is this mythical disposable income coming from to hire all these people?

And secondly - If I’m doing high value work all the time, when will my brain rest?

Before we go further, I should mention something about me.

I have a very big head, and a very high sense of self worth. My helmet size is a men’s extra large. My head is large (physically) and as I get older and also funnier, it is in serious danger of getting even larger (metaphorically.)

So every once in a while, it’s probably good for me to clean a toilet. Anyways, back to the article.

When I’m doing deep work, especially the kind of work where I’m trying to solve a tricky problem or think through a complicated system, there comes a point where my brain simply stops cooperating.

I can stare at the screen, read the same paragraph ten times, ChatGPT for 30 minutes in a spiral, pretending I’m still being productive.

Or I can go clean the bathroom, wipe down the kitchen counter, empty the dishwasher, tidy up a room. (Ideally, I get outside for a walk, but that’s not always the case.)

Whatever I do, I notice that my brain keeps working quietly in the background, and my problems seem a little easier to tackle when I sit back down at my desk.

But more importantly, those small physical tasks ground me. They pull me out of my head and back into my surroundings.

I, of all people, need to remember that not everything has to be optimized.

A lot of entrepreneurial advice assumes that your brain can operate at peak performance for ten or twelve hours straight if you just remove enough obstacles.

With the increased use of AI, you probably are already removing obstacles and having something else solve the simpler, easier tasks and problems for you. You are, effectively, ‘delegating’ to the AI.

Now, to be clear, I do think delegation can be incredibly helpful.

If you have kids, pets, a demanding schedule, or a household that is simply too much to manage on your own, getting help can be a huge relief.

The question I find more useful is not “Can someone else do this?”

The question is: What gives me energy, and what drains it?

For example:

Some people hate cleaning and feel instant relief when someone else handles it.
Some people love cooking and find it relaxing after a long day.
Some people enjoy yard work because it gets them outside and away from a screen.

Energy matters.

If something consistently drains you and prevents you from doing the work that matters most to you, delegating it can be a great decision.

But if a task gives your brain a break, helps you reset, or simply reminds you that you are a human being with a house and a life and a body that moves around the world, it might be worth keeping.

I’m assuming that none of us can truly delegate everything we would ever want to, but it’s a good exercise to see where your energy is going, and if that’s something that you enjoy, or something you would happily never do again.

If you can delegate it - great! If not - can you maybe… stop doing it? Lower your expectations around it? What could you remove from your day to take it from good to better?

The answers are different for everyone.

But for me, sometimes the best thing for my business is to step away from it for ten minutes and clean a bathroom. It keeps my head just the right size.