Many business owners feel the need to do everything in their business; from the smallest, most insignificant daily task to the big picture roles of acting as a leader or marketer. Trying to balance so many roles at once is not only exhausting, it’s damaging to the development of the business. The truth is, you simply can’t control everything in your business or life all the time. Learn to pick your business battles.

When you try to do every job in your business, you end up filling each role poorly, rather than one role with excellence. Rather than micromanage, leverage your resources and delegate your responsibilities to others. The purpose of having employees is to allow them to do the less important tasks while you tackle the big picture ones. Don’t be afraid to release some control and trust your employees with different tasks; that’s what you hired them for.

Without delegation or tasks, it’s impossible to focus any attention one place or another. As a result you end up juggling a dozen or so roles without giving priority to the ones you should be doing. As a business owner, your attention should be on marketing and leadership. With your attention spread so wide, you’re bound to not only lose a lot in the details, but eventually face real burnout. Things can quickly escalate into a stressful and chaotic mess. When you try to control everything, you really control nothing.

If you’re feeling anxious or stressed out, take a look at the way your business operates. If you’re the one performing the majority of the duties and tasks, it could be time to think about seriously restructuring your business so it can function without you. Your ultimate goal as a business owner is to develop your business so it is self sufficient. The first step towards self-sufficiency is developing an understanding that you can’t control every little thing. Delegate and create systems to do these things for you.

Changing your business so it functions with as little constant input from you as possible begins with having the right systems. The proper systems allow others to do the jobs, and do them right, that you shouldn’t be bothered with. While letting go of so much control can be difficult at first, over time it develops into relief and reduced stress. Letting go of control means more freedom to focus on the real priorities in your business, as well as the real priorities in your life. When you learn to pick your business battles, you set yourself free.