If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or if you just know you’re doing a lot of stuff that you could outsource, but you can’t really figure out what you should – here are a few tips to help you decide what you could outsource to a Virtual Assistant.
Firstly, if you already have a Virtual Assistant – ask them what they can do and what services they offer that you don’t currently utilize. You might find they can suggest things that you hadn’t thought of, or they may be able to help you to streamline existing processes.
The next step is to look at what you do. Pay attention to what you do and how long it takes you to do for a day, a week, or a month. There are probably a few areas at the moment that you KNOW you want to get rid of, but the big time and energy sappers might surprise you. I suggest keeping a pen and paper next to you, so you can just jot down start and finish times as you jump from task to task. Alternatively, you could use a diary format, either electronic on your computer or PDA or a printed one.
While you’re doing this, don’t forget to pay attention to how you feel about doing things. After all, you don’t really want to outsource something that you enjoy doing! So if you enjoy creating and maintain social media profiles – there’s no need to outsource it. On the other hand, if social media is taking over your day, a Virtual Assistant can help in a myriad of ways; from setting up profiles, to monitoring subjects of interest, to scheduling your tweets.
- A Virtual Assistant can help you get your inbox under control, they can create rules to sort emails as soon as they’re received, they can monitor and respond to your company emails, they can setup and remove newsletter subscriptions and they can create templates for emails sent regularly.
So if you’re spending a lot of time reading the same email over and over, if you can’t find anything in your inbox, or if you start feeling stressed at the thought of checking the mail – consider outsourcing as either a “once-off” cleanup project, or even better, as a permanent duty.
- A Virtual Assistant can monitor your company twitter account, monitor mentions of your company in social media, find appropriate people and companies to follow, create lists and monitor your followers.
If you feel like you get distracted by your social media, if you find you’re missing things, or if you’ve got follower overload – consider outsourcing some of your social media needs.
- A Virtual Assistant can create and edit document templates, make sure all documents comply with your corporate branding, proof read your proposals and ensure that every document sent out maintains a professional standard.
Unless you have a strong desire to play with document formatting, this is always going to be something you should consider outsourcing.
- A Virtual Assistant can do research, whether it’s for a personal need or professional. They can get pricing on home wares or equipment, contact stores local to you and give you a list with details and pricing for comparison. They can organize business travel and meetings, book holidays and research locations.
This is another set of tasks I’d always recommend outsourcing – if you are specific about your preferred details, your Virtual Assistant will be able to handle all the time consuming details.
Of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but hopefully will give you an idea of some of the ways to look for ways to streamline your day. In the end though, the best results will come from you having taken the time to monitor your workflow.
