
Outsourcing your chores is a good thing - gbvb
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/outsource-your-way-to-success.html?hp&_r=0
======
cmbaus
At one point I hired a personal assistant through oDesk. I took this idea from
Timothy Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek, but I hired someone in the US. I wanted to
get a landscaping project done (that was required by the environmental
regulators in Tahoe), but I didn't have time to track down the contractors, do
background checks, make sure they showed up, and finally get the regulators to
sign off on the project.

The contractors thought it was pretty strange to have to deal with someone in
a different state, but it worked out pretty well. Our culture (at least here
in the US) doesn't appreciate outsourcing day to day tasks (and I felt
embarrassed telling people I had an assistant). Maybe this comes from our
Protestant roots.

It reminds me of an episode of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. Some
of his characters from Minnesota visit California and find out one of their
relatives has a gardener, and they ask if the relative is having any health
issues, because they couldn't imagine having someone do their gardening for
them, unless they were severely ill.

Update: The poster above mentions getting what you pay for if you pay $2 per
hour in the Philippines for instance. I agree with this. I payed significantly
more, but I feel as though I got my money's worth. It isn't that expensive to
hire in the US if you look to lower cost areas like the Mid-west.

For this project, I felt it was worth it to have someone who understood the
problems of hiring and managing contractors in the US. The person I hired was
a homeowner, understood what I wanted to accomplish, and did an awesome job.
It turned out to be a fraction of the cost of the overall project, and was
money well spent.

~~~
ghaff
I'm not sure it's related to work ethic or religious roots but it's certainly
true that there was never a particular culture in the US of service whereby
even people of fairly middle-class backgrounds had servants. And this has
probably carried over to modern culture whereby people probably outsource
fewer tasks like grass cutting, housecleaning, and so forth than they arguably
should (whatever that word means in this context).

That said, a lot of people do outsource tasks like cooking--but they do so in
different ways (like going to restaurants) rather than by explicitly hiring
help.

~~~
veidr
It's a good point about eating at restauranta vs. hiring a chef; in my limited
norcal experience, it cost less to have a come-and-cook chef weekdays than it
did to routinely eat out, and it was _substantially_ more awesome in several
ways.

Despite it costing less, though, several of my fellow Americans thought the
chef was like, bourgeois, or pretentious, or _something_.

(I would still do it, except now I have a wife who cooks, and resists my
lobbying to outsource this function...)

~~~
beat
My college-age daughter LOVES to cook and finds it relaxing. I call her my
"personal chef" and have basically turned over all household food stuff to
her, freeing my time for other things.

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russjhammond
The best advantage I have found with our VA is having them listen to all the
podcasts I want to listen to, summarize the articles and send me the
transcript. Then I can skim in 30 seconds what use to take me 45-60 minutes to
listen to.

Also, I have found Odesk very helpful when our sales people ask for custom
demos for clients. Instead of distracting our team I hire someone on Odesk to
reskin our demo app. The best part is I know exactly how much that demo costs
and like to let sales know so they can decide for their self if a demo is
warranted in each situation.

As for personal tasks, I love using the concierge service attached to my
credit card. Just recently I had them research all the candidates up for local
election for me, find out how to return a jacket I bought on a business trip
across the country, and suggest some recipes for a halloween party.

I have a running list of my favorite things I have sent to my concierge on
Quora: [https://www.quora.com/Concierge-Services/What-are-some-
good-...](https://www.quora.com/Concierge-Services/What-are-some-good-uses-
for-a-credit-cards-concierge-service)

I also have a running list on my blog:
[http://delegnation.com/](http://delegnation.com/)

A presentation I did at a Product Camp recently about using outsourcing to
support product management: [http://www.slideshare.net/russjhammond/product-
camp-nashvill...](http://www.slideshare.net/russjhammond/product-camp-
nashville-92813)

~~~
joelrunyon
For the podcasts - have you tried listening to them at 1.5x or 2x speed? I
started doing that & it's saved me _tons_ of time & I can get through way more
content (doesn't sound that weird once you get used to it either).

On your credit card - is that the Amex Platinum? I have a friend that uses
them as a personal assistant basically.

~~~
russjhammond
I do use the 1.5x feature but save that for the podcasts I actually listen to.
By reading the transcripts I can "monitor" 3-5 weekly, hour long podcasts in
15 minutes.

As for the card, yes I use an AMEX Platinum but believe Visa Signature and
MasterCard World Elite also offer a similar service.

~~~
cryptic
Looks like AMEX Platinum is getting rid of their Concierge service

[http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1212590/bell-...](http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1212590/bell-
tolls-amex-concierge-service)

------
joelrunyon
I got a VA from the Philippines earlier this year & it's changed my business.
I spend less time doing basic research, and repeatable tasks that I _can_ do -
but is simply not a good use of my time.

I finally sat down, did a few of my tasks & documented each one, step by step,
creating SOPs (standard operating procedures) for each one. It was a little
tedious as first, but once my VA got after it - it freed up _tons_ of time for
me (but almost more importantly - head space & energy).

Most people who have bad experiences with VAs either don't have a good idea
how to manage them or don't have a budget to get someone competent for the
tasks they're requesting (paying people $2/hour & you'll get what you pay
for).

Go in with reasonable expectations, good systems & processes in place & you'll
have a great experience.

~~~
martin-adams
I keep wondering what my repeatable tasks are. I suspect I just don't
recognise them because I don't have documented procedure.

I don't suppose you'd elaborate on some examples of tasks you give to your VA?

~~~
joelrunyon
Data entry & research. Used to spend hours for lists, contact information,
etc. Can be done automatically. Lead sourcing is another big use here.

Competitive research. Having your VA research these tasks & put together a
database of information becomes a 1-day task that has immense value down the
road.

Customer Service - haven't done this yet - but having them take messages, be
my secretary, handle refunds & answer 80% of the support messages that come in
(usually variants of the same problem with a fixed, simple solution).

Basic writing skills (non-native english is tough here, but if you want just a
paragraph or so written, they can usually do a pretty good job here - after
which I have an native-english editor / copywriter go back through & clean up
any leftover artifacts).

~~~
mgl
True, we decided to outsource, at least partially, lead sourcing for
[http://codedose.com](http://codedose.com), as it was just way too much time
consuming and steering away from other more strategic tasks, like e.g.
"processing" these leads.

------
jacobevelyn
What about the social and psychological impacts of doing chores for all of
those old-timey reasons like "learning the value of an honest day's work"?

I would say this kind of behavior has pretty big social implications that
everyone seems to be glossing over.

~~~
quaffapint
Totally agree. As a kid of course I hated having to do all the work I was told
to do. Now I much more appreciate it and have my own son mow the lawn, etc. I
see my neighbors kid not wanting to mow the lawn (and they let him) and
instead plays call of duty all day. Will it make any difference - I don't
know, all I can continue to rely on is my own experiences.

------
altero
Outsourcing meals and cleaning is pretty common. Yet another economical
article which discovers america.

BTW: when we had first baby, we hired doula for several weeks. Very good
investment.

------
huherto
sigh...If I could only outsource my HN reading I would be so much productive.

~~~
dllthomas
Why can't you?

~~~
angersock
I for one am reluctant to entrust somebody else with posting as angersock... I
don't want to dilute the brand quality, the meticulous posting, the careful
planning and forethought that goes into each bespoke communique.

For some things, if you want them done right, you have to do them yourself.

~~~
dllthomas
I doubt actually posting is the bulk of the time you spend on HN, though.
Paying someone to filter a bit _could_ make sense. Possibly.

------
quaffapint
I will say I would never hire anyone to do work I can accomplish myself - I
don't care if it makes sense or not, I just couldn't do it. Why? Because I and
I would say most people that hire people to take care of their lawns and clean
their toilets aren't then using their time more wisely or getting that oh so
amazing hour of family time they could never have. They just don't feel like
doing the task.

~~~
hackula1
This seems like a bit of a puritanical viewpoint. Taking a nap for an hour can
be more productive than raking leaves, if rest is what you need most.

~~~
quaffapint
But there you use the word 'need'. If you have been working 48 hours straight
and want to hire the neighbors kid to mow the lawn that's now a foot high,
fine.

It's just my viewpoint, I know how much time I waste (heck I'm wasting it
right now) and how much time I have to take care of the lawn, etc. I don't
need to add to the waste because I don't feel like doing it.

------
joelrunyon
Single page article here -->
[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/outsource-your-
wa...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/outsource-your-way-to-
success.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all)

------
joshavant
True story: I got my first industry job, out of college - at Apple - by hiring
a VA to iterate through all open jobs that met a list of criteria I gave them
(years experience, skills listed, etc), and submitting my resume to them.

------
hajderr
Talk about degrading family value.

Doing chores is beneficial and a nice way of taking a break.

~~~
joelrunyon
I don't think you read the whole article or you would have caught this:

> (Oddly, it’s perfectly fine if leisure time includes those inefficient
> D.I.Y. household tasks that some people find rewarding and fun, like
> pickling beets or knitting.)

If you find it fun - do it. If not, outsource it as fast as possible.

~~~
quaffapint
So if it's not fun, don't do it. Does that sound like a healthy philosophy to
pass down?

~~~
joelrunyon
How bout:

If you want to or have to do it - do it. If you don't want to do it &
absolutely don't have to do it - then outsource it.

