If you are running out of time every day, you need to get better organized.
Virtual Assistants have to manage a lot of things. We have to manage our client work, our own business admin, and sometimes even our clients’ client’s stuff.
If you don’t have good organizational practices, you can quickly realize that you waste time, which is money in a VA business.
Sometimes it’s because we do have too much to get done in a day – maybe we have overcommitted our time, or maybe we have unexpected roadblocks that have come up. Maybe we really do have more work than one person can do in an allotted day.
But most of the time, the reason that we can’t get our task list done is that we don’t organize our time properly.
Here are 7 ways that you can get better organized easily.
1. Set proper deadlines for all tasks
As I mentioned above, not everything your clients send you to do is urgent. Set proper deadlines for all tasks – when does this need to be done? This is a question you need to start asking if you don’t know. It’s essential to control your own calendar and have your clients work within the lead times that you dictate for your business
2. Eliminate distractions
Distractions are the biggest reason that our day gets interrupted. What habits do you have that allow distractions to disrupt your work flow? If you are not completely focused on the task at hand, you are probably wasting time. Set short windows of time to work, and handle notifications and other distractions outside of those focus windows.
3. Research, but make decisions
We need to research many things as a VA – no matter what stage your business is at. But if you spend countless hours researching and never making a decision, you will waste so much time. You have to be confident in the decisions that you make. Research, yes, but be prepared to make a choice so you can move forward.
4. Implement routines and checklists
Repetitive tasks are proven to help with productivity and organization. When you start your day (or end it) the same way every day, that becomes a routine that helps you be more organized. Checklists also help with things that you do over and over. To free up brain space, use checklists and implement routines so you can get more done.
5. Use calendars and reminders
The calendar should be a VA’s best friend. Because we live and die by time in our business (filling our schedules with client work!), it is important to use it wisely. Block time out when you will be working and don’t schedule calls during that time. Reserve time for calls outside of those times. Use a reminder system to tell you to take breaks, or to stop working so you can move to another task.
6. Manage email properly
Leaving our email open all day is a very bad habit that so many VAs have. The key disruption in our work day is email. Just because someone emails you something, does not make it a priority or an emergency for you. Make a plan to respond to email only twice a day – and you will do a better job of being focused on your tasks – and you’ll do a better job of managing workload and deadlines too.
7. Save time finding things
How much time do you spend looking for things in your email or in your digital filing system? Using naming conventions so that you name things according to what the document contains can be very helpful for searches. If you have ever searched for an image to post on social media that was saved with a date, or just called ‘1.jpg’ you’ll understand the importance of this. Set up a filing system with good naming conventions and you will save time!
BONUS tip: Determine if it’s necessary
The first thing we need to consider when looking at anything on our task list is if it’s necessary to do. For instance, if you are setting up scheduled Twitter posts for your business marketing, is it an effective marketing channel for you? I know for me I realized that it was not – I wasn’t getting audience growth or clients from Twitter, so the tasks there did not need to be done. Assess everything!
Getting organized may seem difficult when you have a lot to handle. But by implementing a few simple systems, some smart principles, and taking control of your time are just a few ways that you can do this better in your VA business.
And getting to the end of your day with nothing left on your task list will prove it!
If you want to change the way you work, sign up for my free 12 day ecourse: Stop Struggling: 12 Action Steps You Need to Take To Make More Money. Over 12 days you will get a daily lesson that helps you make small changes in your business that make a difference. Check it out here: https://www.yourvamentor.com/12actions