by guest blogger, Perry Marshall

As the old saying goes, if you’re a jack of all trades, you’re a master of none. This mantra holds true in the business world, too. You might be able to be competent in multiple areas, but to produce work worth $100, $1,000 or even $10,000 per hour, you need to throw the “jack of all trades” ideology out the window. Move past competence and strive for mastery and excellence.

One tactic to focus your energy on high-paying tasks is to hire someone else to do menial jobs. Delegate any grunt work, like futzing around on websites, to lower employees. With less busy work cluttering your plate, you’ll have time to focus on important tasks.

This theory is echoed in a recent USA Today article. Career consultant Andrea Kay cites research from Eric Horvitz, a scientist at Microsoft, that states, “the average Microsoft employee takes 15 minutes to return to their previous task after being distracted because of an email, phone call or instant message.” In fact, she found the brain is incapable of multi-tasking because the lateral frontal and prefrontal cortex and the superior frontal cortex cannot process two tasks at the same time. What does all this scientific mumbo jumbo mean? It’s worth the money to hire someone to perform your hum drum administrative tasks.

Another way to yield more money per hour: focus on your talent zone. You can invest time in your strongest skills and hire others to cover your weaker areas (or areas where you loathe working).

Homing in on our particular talent zones is sometimes easier said than done. It’s difficult to distinguish in which areas our strongest skills lie. To help with this process, I suggest performing a “Unique Capability Survey.” Ask friends or colleagues who have known you for at least five years what natural skills and unique capabilities they’ve noticed in you. The answers can reveal gifts you weren’t aware you possessed.

How about making a Love/Hate List? In one column, write things at which you excel or love to do. In the other, write tasks you detest performing. These lists will illustrate where you should focus your time, as well as tasks you can hand off to other employees. Remember, whatever you hate to do, there is someone out there who loves doing it.

Here’s a final suggestion: take my Marketing DNA Test. This questionnaire is designed to measure your style of persuasion. Although it was original designed for the world of sales, the DNA Test isn’t limited to salesmen and women. The Marketing DNA Test recognizes that everyone has to sell sometime or another, even if they’re not a salesperson. Everyone has to get a job. Everyone has to play patty-cake with bosses and committees. Everyone struggles to get their ideas accepted.

Once you have an idea of your natural aptitudes and interests, extend these tests to your employees and job candidates. Challenge yourself to diversify the skill sets in your office. Most bosses have an innate desire to hire employees with their same work style. But every movie needs great writers, and every creative genius needs to be surrounded with people who can stick to a plan.

So, hire people who love to do what you hate. Your employees—and your wallet—will thank you.

Click here to get Perry Marshall’s 80/20 Sales and Marketing book for just one cent.