You Keep Saying “I’ll Just Do It Real Quick.” That’s Why Nothing Changes.

You’re slammed.

Slack’s blowing up. There’s a customer fire. You’re two hours behind already.

So you tell yourself the lie: “I’ll just do it real quick.”

And maybe you do. You crank it out in 12 minutes. You feel like a machine. A legend. A fixer.

But you didn’t just save time—you made a trade.

You stalled your team’s growth. You reinforced a dependency. You guaranteed they’ll come back to you again. And again. And again.

You saved 15 minutes today to lose 15 hours this quarter.

This is how founders stay stuck. Not by being bad at delegation. But by being too fast, too helpful, too available.

The quick fix becomes the default. And the default becomes your jail.

The way out?

Stop solving. Start transferring. Let it take longer this time so you never have to touch it next time.

That’s what real delegation looks like. That’s how you scale.

Next time you want to ‘just do it real quick’ — pause and ask:

1. Is this problem recurring?

2. Is it teachable?

3. If I do this now, will I still be doing it a year from now?

If the answer to #3 is yes, you’re not leading. You’re looping.

It’s not the work that’s burning you out.

It’s your reflex to stay useful.

Best,
Pete

P.S. If you took a week off, would anything still work?