It may seem like more work to hand off a task than it does to just buckle down and do it yourself, especially when no one else on earth could possibly “get it”—the intricacies of the subject matter, your boss’ aversion to semicolons, and all the other invisible barriers your communications must overcome.

Plus, asking for help is hard.

But it doesn’t have to be an act of defeat. Writing and editing support can improve the quality of your work and give you a little room to breathe.

Here are three reasons to ask for writing and editing help:

• You can’t see your own mistakes. We’re not picking on you – it’s a scientific fact. A few years ago, a study at the University of Sheffield in the UK identified several reasons people miss their own typos. Basically, your brain generalizes information to free up brain space for other activities, so some tasks (like typing or driving to work) become second nature. Since we already know where the story is going, what we see on a computer screen competes with the version in our heads. That makes an independent editor more likely to catch your errors, whether they’re tiny typos or key elements that affect clarity.   

• Time. Who has time to do everything? And do it perfectly? Nobody. Writing and editing support can help you accomplish  more (and more confidently). Keep the projects you’re passionate about and outsource writing assignments that keep  sliding down your to-do list. Or enlist an editor to tidy up your masterpiece so you can move on to the next assignment. Since writing and editing support can be delivered remotely, you can partner with someone in a different time zone to amp up your productivity to superhero levels.

• You need a fierce ally. A professional editor has one goal: to make you (and your work) look amazing. A professional editor will let you know when company lingo is getting in the way of comprehension, if something could be (unintentionally) perceived as offensive or discriminatory, or if a sentence just plain doesn’t make sense. In contrast, someone who works for you may be afraid to point out inconsistencies or ask tough questions. You don’t want someone to go light on your document (or your ego) and let a costly mistake slip through.

If your writing needs some “tough love” or your deadlines are whizzing past, ask for help. That’s what the pros are for.

Blog post written by Senior Writer, Melissa Blevins.