Being a virtual assistant takes a lot of work! Not only do you have an image to uphold, but other people are relying on you to take charge. If you do a bad job, you and the client suffer. This is why it is so important to make sure you are organized!
How exactly do you stay organized as a virtual assistant? There are plenty of ways, but the easiest is keeping a planner. The type of planner does not matter, but having a hard copy would be a great thing to have. While technology has made our lives so much easier, sometimes it can be chaotic. This is why having both digital and hard copies work best! Don’t have a planner? That’s fine! A notebook can work or even sticky notes. As long as you have a system that works for you, use it!
Organizing Fun!
Now, the fun part! Organizing your days! Whether you are just starting out, have a couple of clients, or running a small company, having your days organized is essential. We all have days off or at least a day where work is at a minimum. This is the day you should plan out your week. Personally, Sundays are my planning/organizing days. During this time, the handy-dandy planner and journal are brought out. For repeat clients, I already have their information stored for the month, so that does not need to be touched. Also, I normally use this time to look over the past week to double check that I completed all the goals previously set. Once that is done, I transfer any new information I gained from the past week from my journal and add it to the calendar. The information can include any new meetings, clients, and rearranging my to-do list to which project needs to be done first. It may sound slightly dull, but this sets the week up for success. You do not want to start work without a clear goal set!
Let’s Get It Started!
You’ve made it past the organizing; now it is time to get started! Whichever time or day you start working, you should always refer to your planner and calendar. You did not spend the time organizing in vain! Once you look over your checklist, start by setting time limits for yourself for each task. Each client and project is important and time management is a must. Depending on the tasks, I spend anywhere from 10 minutes to 2+ hours on a task per client. Once I finish one thing, I take a mini break and start up again for a certain amount of time. This is especially helpful if you work with a child (ren) around like I do. That itself can make tasks a little challenging, but doable with your time broken up. You do not want to try to do everything in one sitting. We are still human. We still need to schedule in mini breaks in between sessions.
Time to wrap up
Once you’ve nailed your daily tasks, it’s time to wrap things up for the day. You may not be completely done for the day depending on your schedule, but you knocked out the important items. Now is the time to look over any work, send out some final emails for the day, do updates to your weekly calendar, etc. Even though everyone may not do this, take a quick second and breathe. You’ve made it through the day! Now, take some time to spend time with family, relax, exercise, or anything that will be beneficial for your health. People rely on you, but you also need to make sure you are caring for yourself as well.
Being a virtual assistant owner can be challenging and stressful. It may sound boring to some. Just knowing you are helping make someone’s lives easier and allowing them to live out their dream makes it worthwhile. Just remember to stay organized, manage your time wisely, and also take care of yourself. You are doing great.