I need to finish that darned book. You know, THE book everyone is talking about (and some are really really whining about, but more on that another post). The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss is a must read, even if you are the type who has a hard time just “letting go.” And that would include pretty much every entrepreneur I’ve ever known in my life.

But wherever you’re at with your business, I can almost guarantee very few readers here outsource email correspondence with the same zeal as Tim Ferriss does. And I must admit, I need to get on the bandwagon soon. I probably spent 3 or 4 hours alone this weekend just plodding through emails, getting lost in interesting but probably unproductive conversations with my colleagues, and just all around enjoying my security blankie instead of working on the big picture stuff that is coming toward me right now like an avalanche.

I mean, it takes me an hour or two just to clean out my main inbox. Think about this for a minute: are you spending literally hours a week deleting and sorting EMAIL?

We love our email, don’t we? We joke about how buried we are in it, but it’s like a little purple heart we proudly wear on our shirtsleeves. “Yeah, got that one in the recession of ’08. Clients were dropping all around me, but I remained strong and got those emails out the door, one by one. It was tough, but it made me the person I am today.”

Don’t laugh! This is not far from the truth.

Even after hiring my own Virtual Assistant a couple months ago, I felt all funny inside about handing over even a wee bit of my email correspondence. I keep saying to myself and to her–capable woman that she is–that maybe I will just cc her for a while on my replies to prospective clients and the like, you know, to give her a “feel” for how I respond before actually delegating the task.

If that’s not an big fat excuse for holding onto b’ankie just a little longer, I don’t know what is.

Besides, it’s like Ferriss says, you have to be willing to accept a few small glitches along the way. I think that’s a small price to pay to unload hours and hours of admin off your plate. Not to mention how professional and big-shot-ish it will make you look to your own clients and prospective clients.

I’m heading over to Ferriss’ blog right now to print off his template for creating my own Email Rules of Engagement. I’ve got work to do and money to make. I dare you to do the same. Put the blankie down. Call up your VA (or hire one). And start letting go my friend. I’m sure we’ll both feel better in the end.

Let me know how it goes. Pain and all.