On the final day of the challenge, I want to talk about delegation. I’m not very good at it– I am a one-woman business after all– and the idea of letting someone be in charge of something that could directly impact my career is not only alien to me, it’s threatening. What if they mess it up? What if there’s something they’ve missed? What if, what if, what if?

I won’t lie– I’ve thought about expanding this one-woman business into a one woman plus one business. That is, hiring a wannabe journalist as an assistant, teaching him or her the tricks of the trade, and getting help while this person finds the way to freelancedom. I’ve had a few people write to me and volunteer as well, but so far, it’s been a if-I-can-come-across-the-right-person thing, rather than a proactive let-me-find-this-right-person thing.

Anyhow, Christine’s got me thinking about delegation. “Make a list of the top ten things you know someone else could do,” she says. “Call it your list of won’t dos. Think of people in your circle who might help you complete these tasks because they’re better at them than you. It is a misperception to think you have to do everything yourself.”

I have been trying to simplify. I gave up using credit cards because keeping a tab on the monthly expenses, billing, etc, became too tiresome, and I was (and have always been) happy just spending what I have in my pocket. My accounting unit has been outsourced to my mother, who loves playing with numbers and doesn’t mind checking on my financial health regularly. And I speak to my dad and my husband regularly about stories, because I know they’re better informed than I am about the current affairs in the country and the world, and tapping into the vast reservoir of knowledge that they both share can only help me.

So I’m not beyond asking for help, but maybe in the day-to-day, I could ask for it more often. Not because I don’t have the time, because there are some things others can do better than I. And that’s the hardest lesson to learn for a perfectionist like me.

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I’m working with The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save time in Our 24/7 World by Christine Louise Hohlbaum. Check out Christine’s blog at http://powerofslow.wordpress.com/

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Today’s your final chance to win a copy of Christine’s book. Leave a comment below telling me the one thing about your business that you would like to outsource. Entries close on the 26th, 6 p.m. GMT, and I’ll announce the winner on the 27th.

Technology is supposed to help us, right? Make things easier, let us do our work faster, make life less complicated? How then did I end up with almost 300 feeds on my RSS readers, which cumulatively pull over 2,500 news stories a day? I don’t care who you are, and how many hours you have in a day, no one can read that much!

I can’t get rid of my feeds, if that’s what you’re about to suggest, because they bring news from all the corners of the world to me. The little corners that no one notices, which make for really good stories that no one’s bothering to tell. So the only thing I could do was to streamline the process of receiving them and figuring out a certain time in the day to get through them. I give myself one or two hours each day to read through as many as I can, I delete the rest.

“Eliminate the feeds going into your e-mail inbox to avoid distraction,” writes Christine. “That way, when you read your feeds, it is the only activity you are doing instead of attempting to manage different scraps of unrelated data at once.”

I’ve been experimenting with dozens of RSS feed readers, and until recently, didn’t find one I liked. A couple of months ago, though, I came across NetNewsWire and I have to say, I absolutely love it.

It’s not about shunning technology, it’s about getting the right tools. Now that this one is sorted, on to the next.

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I’m working with The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save time in Our 24/7 World by Christine Louise Hohlbaum. Check out Christine’s blog at http://powerofslow.wordpress.com/

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For today’s contest, I’m offering up three of my successful queries that sold to the New York Times, Global Post, and TIME magazine.

To win them, share your favorite writing tool with us in the comments below. Entries close June 25, 6 p.m. GMT. I’ll announce a winner on the 26th.

As most other people find to be true, my to-do list runs for miles. Each and every day, without fail. It likes to stay energetic, you see. And like most other people, on any typical day, I can tell you how long it goes, right to the last unchecked item.

But how much I accomplished in a given day? Well, I don’t usually keep track.

Christine says I should. In her book, she asks readers to create two columns in a spreadsheet: to do and done. At the end of each day, she recommends looking at the “done” list and seeing, truly seeing, how much was accomplished. Christine says you’ll be surprised, and while she means pleasantly surprised, I was more surprised by how little I was getting done. I didn’t realize that all that Facebooking, Twittering, e-mailing, etc, was actually taking away from work time. Once I realized how little, and eventually, how much I was getting done, the to-do list didn’t matter any more.

On some days, I got only two things done but they were two major things. On others I got twelve minor things done. But as long as I knew that I was being productive and was on track, how many things remained on the to-do list ceased to matter. Now, I’ve been making both a to-do list and things done today list and I have to say, at the end of the day, I feel remarkably better.

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I’m working with The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save time in Our 24/7 World by Christine Louise Hohlbaum. Check out Christine’s blog at http://powerofslow.wordpress.com/

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One more copy of Christine’s book for you today. To win, post your biggest accomplishment of the day in the comments below. Deadline is 24th June, 6 p.m. GMT and I’ll announce the winner on the 25th.

How long is your to-do list? Christine suggests you make it longer.

“Write down every single thing you’re worried about,” she says. “It can be phrases, words, even pictures. You’ll uncover what may seem like silly things, such as taking out the trash on time or paying the electric bill, but life is in the details. And much of our life is spent worrying about them.”

I took Christine’s advice and wrote down a list of everything I had to do this week, both work things and personal things. I’ve got everything on the list, and I do mean everything– from rearranging books on my bookshelf to shopping for kitty litter. I didn’t realize how all these little details were adding up and bogging me down.

Now when I need to worry, I look at the list (and sometimes even cross things off it!), but for the most part, I can go about my day, doing what I need to do, knowing that I haven’t accidentally forgotten something.

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I’m working with The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save time in Our 24/7 World by Christine Louise Hohlbaum. Check out Christine’s blog at http://powerofslow.wordpress.com/

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Now for the contest:

Whoever wins today gets a free critique of two of their query letters. You send me your queries and the market you hope to pitch, and I’ll look at them and tell you if there’s something I’d do to make them more salable for the market you’re targeting.

To win, tell me about the silliest thing on your to-do list. Write it in the comments section of this post by 23rd June, 6 p.m. GMT. I’ll announce the winner on the 24th.