Time Management

Starting your own home based Virtual Assistant business is a decision that involves a lot of thought and preparation. One of the biggest “perks” that comes with working for yourself and from home is having a flexible schedule.   However, that flexibility can become a liability if you don’t manage it well.

One common pitfall I see VA’s struggling with is the tendency to “multi-task“.  While you may think you can get more done, multi-tasking can truly be a detriment to your business and personal life.  It’s so easy to think you can do a load of laundry while you’re working on a website, and then take a break to fold the laundry and come back to the website when you’re done. While this may seem harmless, it actually is making you less efficient in your work as a Virtual Assistant and your housework (or whatever the other activity may be).  As a Virtual Assistant, it is important to create a work schedule for your clients’ benefit…and yours.

A key to creating a work schedule and maximizing your time is called “batching”. Batching refers to setting aside a specific block of time to handle similar tasks.  So, say for example you have 3 clients and all of them need you to do some phone work.  You might be making phone calls to clients, checking on insurance rates or whatever.  The important thing here though is to do all the phone calls at once.  By blocking out 2 hours in your day to do all the phone calls, you are focusing on just being on the phone and completing the project.  Even though you will need to track the time spent on the phone for each client so you can allocate the time appropriately, you are still being more efficient by doing all the phone calls at one time. If you were to make a phone call here and there throughout the week, the project would take much longer.

By batching your tasks, you become much more efficient which can free up time for you later in the day to do other client work, or take (some well-deserved) time off.  This technique works with virtually all tasks that you do:  bookkeeping, reading emails, transcribing files, client projects, etc.  You can even batch clients individually, rather than by task.  What this means is that maybe you designate each day of the week to a particular client and do everything in that day for them.  You’ll have to test this method out to see if it works out for you (and the client), but it can be a really effective way of getting projects done.

Another important thing to remember to schedule in your day is breaks. We all need a mental break throughout the day to ensure we’re on top of our game.  So maybe you find that you can work for a solid 2 hours before your mind starts to wander.  Then make sure you schedule your day in 2 hour batches with a 15 minute break to get something to drink, take a brief walk or just rest your brain.

By taking the time to outline your schedule and establish how you’ll get work done, you are setting yourself up for business and personal success.  You’ll have a clear “start” and “end” time for your business and family time.  This gives you the ability to make the time for doing housework (YUCK!) and of course enjoying your family time each day.  By focusing on one project at a time, you are also giving your full attention to the task at hand.  This is very important to completing clients’ projects, but also to your family who notices when you’re “distracted” by work.

What type of work schedules do you use?  How do you batch your day?  Please share your techniques with us so we can learn from each other and hopefully help someone improve their work and life balance!