Do you ever look up at the end of a day and wonder where the time went?
Losing time is very common for Virtual Assistants – and anyone who works on their own, or from their home.
With no one around but us, it can be easy to start a task and not really keep track of where the time has gone.
I’m not really talking about client work – if you aren’t keeping track of that, that’s bad!
I’m talking about when you are not working on client work. Maybe you are on social media, maybe you are writing blog posts or creating content.
Many VAs I know do not set blocks of time to get these types of tasks done. They leave them open-ended – and then spend WAY too much time on them.
I was guilty of this recently, as I was sitting inside on a cool, rainy day, watching tv with my husband.
I grabbed my laptop and decided that I didn’t really want to waste the afternoon … I had things to do!
So I puttered all afternoon. But by the end of 2 movies and a bit of hockey (it was a really lazy day!), I really didn’t have much to show for it.
By the time I realized how much time had passed, we were ready to make dinner. I looked at what I had done, and it wasn’t much.
It wasn’t much at all.
What happened? I didn’t have a plan of any kind. I literally puttered. I hate puttering! It’s so counter productive.
When I work through the week, I have a list, a plan, and I keep track of what I am doing.
But what happened that lazy day is more common that you think.
As I’m sure you know, we all have the same amount of time in our schedules. In our days. In our weeks.
As Virtual Assistants, we try to help business owners maximize their productivity during those business hours.
But are you doing the same thing for your own business? Or are you just wasting your time?
I don’t know about you, but I find when I am have a set deadline I am more productive.
My systems I have in place keep me on task, and knowing that I have a lot to do at once makes my mind sharper, so that I am concentrating on not dropping all the balls I have in the air.
When I have less to do – or, more OPEN time, sometimes I’m not as rigid as I should be.
I still get things done, but the pace slows down, the urgency is not there. I’m more relaxed about it all.
Sometimes that relaxed state is not a good thing.
Sometimes you end up just wasting your time like I did that day.
I had started writing a few things but could not concentrate while watching the subtitles on the movie, so I stopped that.
I read several blog posts while I was doing some content research, but I didn’t really retain much of what I read because my attention was divided.
I surfed social media and caught up with a few messages.
I created a few images in my Canva account that I’m not sure I’ll even use.
What happened? I had no plan. I had no focus. My attention span for everything was near zero.
My whole afternoon of ‘work’ was a total waste of my time. And I missed parts of the stuff I was watching on TV too.
I talk often about focusing on the task at hand, and mapping out your time.
When you have open-ended time slots like I had, you usually get less done.
It happens to me all the time.
I was feeling like a day of watching TV was a waste of my time, but in fact it was really what I needed – to be offline, to not be focused on anything except rest.
So I took out my laptop thinking I could somehow make use of the down time.
But I ended up spoiling it all, completely.
Focusing on things whether you are busy or not is essential to maximizing your time in your business.
Time can get away on you and then when you really need it, it’s not there.
If you are on social media, set a time limit for how long you will be on. And set a goal. What are you doing there? If it’s fun time, that’s okay, but be clear that you don’t mix it with your business time.
If you are creating images, set a goal. Draft your ideas before sitting down at the program you use. Instead of heading down that rabbit hole of ‘I’ll know it when I see it’, have a plan. If you need creative or research time, schedule that – 20 minutes for idea collection, or whatever you need.
If you are writing content, set a time limit and an expectation of what you intend to write in that time.
If you need to do online research, be clear about what you are looking for and where you think you might find it. Set an amount of time you expect to do the research, and then check in with yourself at that time to see how far along you are.
Managing your time is a big deal in business. Stop wasting yours!
It can eat away your schedule and if you don’t realize it, you could soon be on your way to burnout.
Having a plan and sticking to it is a part of accountability in your business. Because we all have the same amount of time, we need to make sure we use it all efficiently – and that includes down time!
Our Inspired community can help you to form better routines and habits so you can enjoy that down time, and still get lots done every week! You can read more about our group here: www.yourvamentor.com/
We are a tight knit group of professionals who are getting things done in our businesses because we have the support we need to do it. It’s a (very) low-cost, high-value coaching alternative.
If you aren’t sure if the group is for you, I invite you to schedule a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me: www.yourvamentor.com/15-min. We will talk about where you are in your business now, and where you want it to go. I will help you figure out your next step so you can move your business in the direction you want it to go!