Given their tendencies toward perfectionism, it’s hard for many lawyers to delegate work to others. As a law firm associate, you’ve undoubtedly had the experience of having too much work on your plate and have contemplated delegating at least some of that work to others, only to find yourself thinking, “It will take more time to delegate this task to someone else, so I might as well do it myself.”

We have all been in this position, and it may prove true in the moment—it probably is faster for you to do it yourself. But in the long-term, which is what you should be focused on, it’s better to get someone else working on that which must get done, but not necessarily by you.