International Virtual Assistants Day - and the power of a delegation framework

Delegation is a skill. One that most of us don’t get taught - we just stumble through it, clutching our overloaded to-do lists and wondering why it all feels so hard.

That’s where a good framework can help.

On International Virtual Assistants Day, I want to celebrate not just the VAs quietly keeping businesses running, but the idea that you don’t have to figure everything out on your own.

One of my favourite tools for getting unstuck is the 6 Ts of delegation (from the Harvard Business Review):

• Tiny – quick jobs that interrupt your flow

• Tedious – repetitive and boring

• Time-consuming – take too long for the value they bring

• Teachable – could be shown to someone else

• Time-sensitive – need doing at a specific moment, not necessarily by you

• Terrible – for you, anyway! You dread them, avoid them, or feel drained afterwards

It’s a deceptively simple filter for spotting the work that’s holding you back, and a starting point for creating space.

That fiddly admin task that eats up your morning? Probably Tiny and Tedious.

The emails piling up before your course launch? Definitely Time-sensitive.

That thing you keep putting off because it makes you want to cry? That’s your Terrible

It’s not about offloading everything. It’s about making space for the work only you can do and building systems that support your flow, not fight it.

If you’re not sure what to delegate, start with the Ts.

International Virtual Assistants Day takes place every year on the 3rd Friday of May. If you're not sure how a VA could help you in your dog business, check out my blog post below.