The 70% rule: Why "it's easier if I just do it myself" is a trap
You've said it a hundred times.
"It's easier if I just do it myself."
And honestly? You're right. It is easier. Faster. Done the way you want it done.
But here's the problem: if you're the only one who can do everything, you can never stop. You can never rest. You can never be sick, take a day off, or step away without everything falling apart.
"Easier if I do it myself" is a trap. And it's keeping you stuck.
What if there was another way?
The lie of 100%
When you think about letting someone else help (an employee, your spouse, your kid, a volunteer, anyone) you're comparing them to you.
Can they do it as well as I can? As fast? As carefully? Will they do it exactly the way I would?
The answer is almost always no. So you don't delegate. You do it yourself. Again.
But here's the lie underneath: you're comparing their help to 100% of you.
And 100% is the wrong benchmark.
Enter the 70% rule
What if you stopped expecting 100%?
What if 70% was the bar?
The 70% rule is simple: if someone can do the task 70% as well as you can, that's good enough to delegate.
Not perfect. Not your way. Not exactly how you'd do it.
But 70% of the task done by someone else means you're not doing it at all. You get that time, that energy, that mental space back.
70% done by them is infinitely better than 100% stuck on your plate.
The math of 70%
Let's do some math.
Option A: You do it yourself (100%) Task takes you 2 hours. Done perfectly. But you're 2 hours more depleted, with 2 hours less for everything else.
Option B: Someone else does it (70%) Task takes them 2 hours. Done imperfectly. But you didn't spend those 2 hours. You spent maybe 10 minutes showing them how.
Now multiply that across all the tasks you're hoarding because no one does them like you.
How many hours a week are you losing to 100%?
What would you do with those hours back? Even if the tasks were only done 70% as well?
What 70% actually looks like
Your spouse does the market setup. It's not arranged exactly how you'd do it. A few things are in the wrong spot. But it's done, and you didn't have to do it.
Your kid feeds the animals. They forgot one step. You had to remind them. But the animals are fed and you weren't the one doing it.
A volunteer helps with harvest. They're slower than you. They miss some things you'd catch. But you harvested twice as much as you would have alone.
An employee handles customer emails. Their tone isn't quite your tone. They don't answer exactly how you would. But customers are getting responses and it's not on your plate.
70% isn't failure. 70% is freedom.
Why we resist 70%
If 70% is so freeing, why do we fight it so hard?
Perfectionism. You have standards. You care about quality. Accepting 70% feels like lowering those standards.
But your standards mean nothing if you burn out. Perfectionism that breaks you isn't a virtue. It's a liability.
Control. When you do it yourself, you control the outcome. Letting someone else do it means letting go of control.
But control is an illusion anyway. And the cost of holding onto it is your time, your energy, your capacity.
Identity. "I'm the one who does everything." It's exhausting, but it's also who you are. Letting go of tasks means letting go of part of your identity.
But you're more than the person who does everything. And you deserve a life that doesn't require you to be.
Speed. Training someone takes time. It's faster to just do it yourself (at least in the short term).
But short-term faster is long-term trapped. Every task you refuse to teach is a task you've signed up to do forever.
The real question
The question isn't: can they do it as well as me?
The question is: can I afford to keep doing everything myself?
Because the cost of 100% isn't just your time. It's your health. Your relationships. Your joy. Your sustainability.
70% from someone else creates space for you. Space to rest. Space to think. Space to do the things only you can do.
100% from you creates a prison.
How to start using the 70% rule
1. Pick one task you're hoarding. Not the most critical one. Something that matters but won't be catastrophic if done imperfectly.
2. Define "good enough." What does 70% look like for this task? What absolutely must happen, and what's just your preference?
3. Let someone try. Spouse, kid, employee, volunteer, neighbor - whoever's available. Show them once. Let them do it.
4. Resist the urge to redo. This is the hardest part. When they do it 70%, you'll want to fix it, redo it, do it yourself next time.
Don't. Let 70% stand. Notice that the world didn't end.
Eventually you will get a feel for the tasks that matter enough for you to take from 70% to 95% but if you start “fixing” every task you delegate immediately, you’ll never truly extract yourself from the task.
5. Repeat. One task becomes two. Two becomes five. Slowly, you build a life where you're not the only one who can do anything.
The permission
You don't have to do everything yourself.
You don't have to do everything perfectly.
You don't have to be the only one capable of keeping this whole thing running.
70% is enough. Imperfect help is still help. Good enough is good enough.
Let someone else carry part of the load — even if they carry it differently than you would.
The invitation
What would you do with the hours you'd get back?
What would it feel like to let go of one task — really let go, not just delegate and hover?
What would your life look like if 70% was acceptable?
You can't do everything yourself forever. At some point, the math breaks.
70% from someone else might be the thing that saves you.
If this resonated, you might also like:
The scaling fallacy — What to know before you hire
You're doing this completely alone — When there's no one to delegate to
You're a perfectionist and it's holding your business hostage — Why 100% is costing you everything
You're doing a good job. Even when you're doing too much of it yourself.
If you need help letting go (or figuring out what to delegate and how) I'm here. You can schedule a free chat with me anytime at FarmCoachKatia.com/work-with-me.