Look for more "exhausted" images at office.com/imagesMonday's post made the point that you're the one doing all the work all the time, and it's time to step back and let go a bit. Handing off some work isn't a sign of weakness; it says that you trust others (and, okay, need to get rid of the bags under your eyes).

Share the information...and thereby the love

Remember, on Monday, how I briefly got into about how sharing information means sharing the love? In this case, I'm not talking about STDs and TMI about former relationships; no, I'm talking success, recognition, and achievement. Okay, talk is cheap. So here are some of the tools to help you share your responsibilities and get the love you all need. And note that the majority of my tips below require that you use Outlook with Exchange Server (as if you needed more reasons—reason 1 and reason 2—to use Exchange).

  • I give you permission to help me    In Outlook 2010 and 2007, your private folders (such as your Tasks and your Calendar) are, by default, you guessed it: private. But if you want your coworkers to be able to see certain things that you're working on, perhaps you should give them sharing permissions on your private folders. You can set just exactly how deep these permissions go, too, by setting them up as read, modify, create, or delete. This works for Mail folders, too.
  • Represent me, won't you?    I suppose I really do need to ask this: You do know what a delegate is don't you? I mean, I'm writing this long after the 2010 election, folks, so if you don't know what a "delegate" is by now, it is time to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE POLITICIANS!

    Note to self:  Oh golly. So many jokes I must just let go by: the smell of Charlie Rangel's broken-yet-lavish birthday candles being blown out by federal court , the smell of oil in water and on sea life, the smell of Virginia Thomas' breath on Anita Hill's answering machine...  Shall I go on? I shall not. Move on Crabby; move on.

    In this case, a delegate is someone to whom you've given permission to send messages for you, accept meeting and task requests for you, and—actually manage information in your private folders.

More information about delegates in Outlook

You are an open book (certain chapters, anyway)

Make the work you need to share and delegate an open book: Create a separate folder—a public folder—outside of your own mailbox that other Exchange users in your company can access (ah yes, Exchange once again). These are a great way to share information or work on projects together. (And you control the permissions, of course.)

See, these public folders can contain any type of Outlook item such as messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, forms, files, and postings. When you're connected to your Exchange server, folders labeled "Public Folders" appear in the Outlook Folder List in the Navigation Pane.

Now everyone can share Outlook items related to a specific subject or project. You are no longer working in a vacuum, scaring the dog.

More info about public folders

A tisket, a tasket, clean out that task basket (SOMETIMES without Exchange)

Now that you non-Exchange users are thoroughly disgusted with me, I'm going to give you a tip about how to delegate some work when you're not using Exchange Server.

If you're like me (or want to be like me, although I can't imagine why; maybe it's my sparkling wit or jewelry), you are a list-maker. And you probably keep a list of everything you need to do—for work and your personal life—in your Outlook Tasks folder. I frankly cannot do without this helpful little friend. I use it to keep track of everything from my daily tasks (read customer e-mail messages and sort the customers from the stalkers) to my personal to-do list (brush the Crabby Office dog's teeth, make the soccer/ice skating/tap dancing classes on time).

However, sometimes this list gets a little, shall we say, bloated. Then it's time to share it. If you're a manager, "sharing" is also known as "delegating." If you're not a manager, "sharing" is sometimes known as "passing the buck."

See, you can go ahead and assign your tasks to someone else to finish in a specified time-frame. It's simple, painless (for you, anyway), and it'll lighten your load in no time.

More information about passing the buck

Delegation-related partner products Crabby likes

Don't forget the kudos

Now that you've freed up a little of your time, make sure you take the time to give credit where credit is due. Acknowledge your delegates; you're more likely to not only give them more job satisfaction, but you'll also have more willing delegates next time the opportunity to lighten your load comes along.

 — Crabby

Not finding the help you need from the various channels you've tried? Microsoft Answers is where you're most likely to solve your nagging problem.