Module 1: What to Delegate First
You cannot delegate what you have not named. This module turns your week into a written list, sorts every item by the value of your attention, and picks your first five handoffs — the exact tasks your VA starts with in week one, each with a clear definition of "done."
Run the task audit
For seven days, log every task you do with the minutes it took. Not categories — tasks. Not "admin," but "answered 14 customer emails, 40 minutes" and "rescheduled the Tuesday demo, 20 minutes." A notes app works; a pocket notebook works. The method does not matter; completeness does. If you missed the log for a day, backfill from your calendar and your sent mail — the record is almost always recoverable.
When the week is done, label every task with one of three tags. Only-you: requires your authority, your relationships, or your judgment — closing a deal, a strategy decision, a hard conversation with a client. Teachable: someone else could do it if you showed them once — inbox triage, invoicing, research, scheduling. Trash: stop doing it entirely — the meeting nobody needs, the report nobody reads, the inbox folder you never open.
A filled audit row looks like this: "Wed — replied to 11 support emails using the FAQ — 55 min — teachable." Another: "Thu — rewrote the proposal pricing for the Henderson deal — 90 min — only-you." Do this for the full week and two things happen: the teachable column becomes your hiring list, and the trash column gives you free hours without spending a dollar. Plant one seed now, the SOP Rule: anything you explain twice gets written down. You will build full step-by-step procedures in module 4; for now, just notice which tasks keep repeating.
Three kinds of work — and which one your week should shrink
Build brief
From your time log, list your top 5 time-eaters and mark each: only-you, teachable, or trash.
Saved
The $10 Test
Here is your new coined filter: The $10 Test — if someone else can do the task for $10 an hour, you should not be doing it. Inbox sorting, data entry, appointment scheduling, basic research, chasing invoices: all $10-an-hour work. When you do it, you are paying a $100-an-hour person (you) to do a $10-an-hour job. That is the most expensive mistake in a small business, and almost every owner makes it daily.
Contrast that with $1,000-an-hour work: closing a deal, designing the offer, building a key relationship, making the call only you can make. This work has no substitute — no VA, no employee, no contractor can do it for you. The uncomfortable truth from most task audits is that $1,000-an-hour work gets about two hours a week, because $10-an-hour work eats everything else. The test is not about what the VA actually charges — it is a filter for where your attention goes.
Apply it ruthlessly. Look at your teachable column and ask, task by task: could a competent person do this for $10 an hour with one explanation? If yes, it leaves your plate. Your only-you column is the $1,000 work — guard it like revenue, because it is. The goal of the audit is not just a hiring list; it is a weekly calendar where your hours drift upward in value. Every task that fails the test is an hour you could spend selling, deciding, or building instead of sorting.
The filter
The $10 Test, on every task
Build brief
What $1,000/hr work are you NOT doing because $10/hr work eats your week?
Saved
Your first five handoffs
Across hundreds of first VA hires, the same five tasks keep winning. One: inbox triage — flag what needs you, draft replies for the rest, archive the noise. Done looks like: inbox at zero every evening, with a flagged folder of 5 or fewer items for you. Two: calendar management — scheduling, rescheduling, sending confirmations. Done: no double-bookings, every meeting has a link and an agenda attached.
Three: travel and research — booking flights and hotels inside your stated preferences, compiling options before you decide. Done: three options with prices in your inbox, nothing booked without your approval. Four: social media scheduling — taking your written drafts and scheduling them across the week. Done: every post live on time, drafts queue never empty. Five: bookkeeping prep and invoicing — organizing receipts, sending invoices, chasing late payments politely. Done: invoices out within 24 hours of the work, receipts filed weekly.
Two warnings. First, do not hand off all five on day one. Sequence them across the first two weeks — inbox and calendar first, because they teach the VA how you think, then layer in the rest. Five new processes at once guarantees confusion on both sides. Second, each handoff needs its written "done" standard from day one. "Handle my inbox" fails; "inbox at zero by 6pm, flag anything needing a decision, draft replies for the rest" succeeds. The worksheet below turns your picks into that standard.
The starter set
Your first five handoffs
Build brief
Which of the classic five handoffs scares you most to give away — and what is the fear underneath?
Saved
Marcus audited his week: 6 hrs inbox, 4 hrs scheduling, 5 hrs client delivery, 3 hrs scrolling supplier sites for prices. Which do his first five handoffs come from?
Your turn: Write your first five handoffs. For each, write one sentence defining "done".
Saved.
Your next 24 hours
Finish your 7-day audit sheet — backfill the last 3 days from your calendar and sent mail.
Steal this template
FIRST FIVE HANDOFFS
Task | What "done" looks like | Hours per week | Week to hand off (1 or 2)
1. ________ | ________ | ________ | ________
2. ________ | ________ | ________ | ________
3. ________ | ________ | ________ | ________
4. ________ | ________ | ________ | ________
5. ________ | ________ | ________ | ________
Module 1 cheat sheet
- Log every task for 7 days, with minutes — backfill from calendar and sent mail.
- Tag each task: only-you, teachable, or trash (stop doing it entirely).
- The $10 Test: if someone else can do it for $10/hr, it leaves your plate.
- $1,000/hr work (closing, strategy, key relationships) gets protected first.
- Start with the classic five: inbox, calendar, research/travel, social scheduling, invoicing.
- Sequence handoffs over two weeks; each gets a written definition of "done".