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Simple Is Best When It Comes To Task Management for Your VA Business

Are you looking for a simple organizational system to manage your tasks for your Virtual Assistant clients and your own business? If you find yourself running out of time or forgetting about things you were supposed to do, you may need a better task management system. People often ask me how I stay organized. I guess I look like I’ve got it all together LOL. But I assure you, that’s not always the case! I do have a great system in place, though, and it has worked well for me for many years.   Working with multiple VA clients, we can often lose focus and the priorities can shift from hour to hour. So I have a tip for you that… Read More »Simple Is Best When It Comes To Task Management for Your VA Business

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My Housecleaner is Back! And More Lessons About Communication

A few months ago I wrote to you about my longtime housecleaner retiring, which meant that we needed to replace her. How hard could that be, we thought? 🙂 We brought in someone new and expected her to be able to do things the way our previous cleaner had. But we didn’t help her very much, by giving her clear enough instructions. I made a strange (I realize now it was strange) assumption that the new girl would be able to seamlessly take over for the other one. She did not. Long story short (you can read it here),  it didn’t work out with the new girl. But the good news is that when I called our old cleaner to get… Read More »My Housecleaner is Back! And More Lessons About Communication

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Say No to Get More Done In Your VA Business

Do you ever feel like you are running so fast that if you stop everything will crash in on you? It’s like that scenario of having so many balls in the air, and if someone tries to catch one for you, they will all drop. That was me, the last couple of weeks. I have a lot going on, like most of us, and my life is busy and so is my business. But it’s really not a good way to be all the time. You have to have ebbs and flows of activity. You have to be able to rest and then come back strong to work well. I know this. I teach this. But sometimes I don’t do… Read More »Say No to Get More Done In Your VA Business

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Following My Own Advice

Certain times of year, picking up email can get tiresome. I notice that the busiest time for my inbox usually begins before American Thanksgiving, and continues all the way till the end of the calendar year. Before the ‘holidays’ as the US refers to them, things are relatively calm. (In Canada our ‘holidays’ usually refer to Christmas – from say the 22nd till the day after New Year’s Day). This year I have more email to manage than normal – since I purchased GAVA and CAVA, that it totally okay with me! And I am also slowing down my client work and transitioning some clients to new VAs, so my inbox is slowing down for that kind of work. So… Read More »Following My Own Advice

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How Do You Take Time Off as a Virtual Assistant?

Every month when I send out my client billing, I let them know which days I will be out of the office in the coming month. It’s an easy habit to get into – I can book off whatever days I want, and they get enough notice so we can make plans to get their work done on their deadlines. I have done it for quite a while now and my clients now just have to take my email and update their own calendar. It’s quick and easy! How do you take time off? Do you take time off? Maybe that’s the first question to ask! I used to never take time off. I was usually the only support staff… Read More »How Do You Take Time Off as a Virtual Assistant?

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Manage Your Day Better!

People often ask me how I stay organized. I guess I look like I’ve got it all together LOL. But that’s not always the case! I do have a great system in place and it works well. Working with multiple clients, we can often lose focus and the priorities can shift from hour to hour. So I have one tip for you that will help you get and stay organized: Find a task or project management system that works for you and use it. My system is simple. I use GQueues and a spiral notebook that stays on my desk all the time to manage what I need to do. After I have a production call with a client, I… Read More »Manage Your Day Better!

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Favourite Tools for VAs: Google Calendar

Google Calendar is one of my most-used tools in my business. I have shareable calendars that I can share with clients (marketing calendars, payment calendars). And I also have ones that I can use just for myself (personal, family, and my own business info). I use them for everything. For my clients, we have a payments calendar set up so we know when to expect recurring payments. It’s so handy to keep track of what is coming in. We have marketing calendars, so we can plan strategy for promotions and JV events. Google Calendar is free, and you can setup unlimited calendars. So there’s no reason not to use it for one thing or another in your business! Check it out… Read More »Favourite Tools for VAs: Google Calendar

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Favourite Tools for VAs: Slack

Slack is a new way to collaborate with your colleagues or your clients. It’s a simple, hashtag based communication system that helps keep your conversations organized, and your to do lists too. I have started using it recently with one client, and we really find it easier to keep things organized that using email, which was our only previous solution for collaboration since there are only two of us working together. I like the simplicity of setting up a hashtag (called a channel) and keep all of the relevant information about that topic together in the same thread. I like it better than checking email – I’ve set it up on my phone so I can log in and check… Read More »Favourite Tools for VAs: Slack

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