Separate thinking work from doing work
Most days mix two kinds of work: deciding what should happen and making it happen on screen. The second kind is often what fragments your attention, because it is full of small, repetitive steps.
When you notice yourself doing a mechanical task, pause and ask whether it could be described and handed off. Over time, your day tilts toward the thinking work.
Open with a briefing, not an inbox
Starting the day in your inbox lets other people set your priorities. Starting with a short briefing of what changed, what is waiting and what matters most puts you back in charge. Then delegate the follow-ups and move on.
Batch hand-offs at natural breaks
Before a meeting, a focus block or the end of the day, hand off the tasks that have piled up. The agent works while you are busy, and you return to finished work rather than a longer list.
Protect a daily block of deep work
The point of delegation is to create space for the work that compounds: strategy, creative work, relationships and learning. Put a recurring block on your calendar and defend it. Let the agent handle the interruptions that would otherwise break it.
Close the loop at the end of the day
Spend five minutes reviewing what was completed, approving anything that waited for you and noting what to delegate tomorrow. This short ritual turns delegation into a system.
- Review finished tasks and exceptions.
- Approve drafts and confirmations.
- Add tomorrow's repetitive tasks to the hand-off list.
- Note any preference the agent should remember.
Measure in hours, not tasks
The best sign that delegation is working is not how many tasks the agent completed but how many hours you spent on work you value. Check in with yourself weekly and keep adjusting.