It is often said that time is a non-renewable resource, especially in your Virtual Assistant business where time is money.
If you waste an hour - whether it's an hour a day, a week or a month, you could be wasting valuable time.
Many VAs bill their clients by the hour, so it stands to reason that they are hyper-aware of time - but are still not always able to control it well.
When we don't have a lot of clients, we waste time doing research and setting up our website ... usually more time than we need to.
When we do get clients coming in, we often run from client task to client task and don't pay much attention to our own admin or marketing tasks.
What if I told you an hour can make a difference in your business?
It's true.
When you get really clear on what you need to get done - and you focus on just that, you can actually stretch that hour of time into what seems like a lot longer period of time.
Here are a few ways an hour can make a difference in your VA business:
One Hour a Day
I recently attend an event where Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Success Principles) was speaking. He shared one of his daily routines - he spends 20 minutes a day reading, 20 minutes a day meditating, and 20 minutes a day exercising. That's an hour. You may not think you have a spare hour, but if you realize that he says his best ideas come when he quiets his mind, the you realize what great advice this is. If you can find 20 minutes a day for each of these activities (and really, who can't?), you can set yourself up for Jack Canfield kind of success.
One Hour a Week
I am reading a book called Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz as part of my business book club. It is about how to put your business on autopilot (so to speak). There is a big framework, of course, but one of the most important pieces of information I have gotten from this book is to spend an hour a week 'designing' your business. That means looking at your numbers, considering your goals, and analyzing your strategies. Many VAs never do this, but it is so valuable. You want to make sure that everything you are doing is leading you towards your goals. Focusing on the design for just one hour every week is an excellent way to keep on top of your goals.
One Hour Whenever You Need It
I often tell this story about my cousin Justin. He gave me some of the best business advice I've ever heard (and he hates it when I credit him, but I do anyway). He told me once that if you feel like you are overwhelmed and too busy, take an hour and spend it in your project management system. Look for things that can be done more efficiently, delegated, removed completely, or completed quickly. When you have too much to do the sense is to run from one thing to another but it's much more effective to take another look at what you have on your list. It works, I tell ya! I do it all the time. Try it.
An hour is an important increment of time to Virtual Assistants. Many of us bill our clients hourly.
But don't forget about your own business. It's important to make sure that you are taking good care of yourself, and your plans.
Whether you take an hour right now, every day, or every week, you'll be heading in the right direction!
For more tips on time management, check out my free VA training videos on Youtube. There are more than 50 free videos there for you!
It can be difficult to find that productive groove you once had. It happens when you’re dealing with burn out. It also occurs when you’re coming back from a vacation or time away from your business. So how do you find that productive groove? Where do you find the motivation and the enthusiasm to get back into the swing of things?