There never seems to be enough time in the day.
There’s always one more task, one more email, or one more bit of research that will have to wait until tomorrow.
If this sounds like your day, maybe it’s time to consider a little extra help. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a blogger, there’s a lot to get done in a day.
One of the best ways to help manage your busy schedule is with a virtual assistant. Keep reading for a look at why you should work with a virtual assistant and 10 tasks you can easily delegate to one.
Why Work With a Virtual Assistant?
Most small business owners or entrepreneurs are simply wearing too many hats to be truly effective.
If you’re running a solo operation or only have a few clients, it can be easy to think you need to handle everything from bookkeeping to email, and everything in between.
The good news is … you don’t.
A virtual assistant is a great, affordable way to hand off tasks that take valuable time to perform. If you’ve ever felt like managing your calendar, putting together an invoice, or proofreading your next blog post for the hundredth time was a waste of time that could be better spent getting real work done, then it may be time for some extra help.
While hiring a full-time employee may be out of the question, virtual assistants typically work as freelance or contract workers. This means you’ll only have to pay for the time you need–making a VA a solid option even for those running ultra-lean operations.
1. Calendar and Scheduling
How many times do you look at your calendar or daily schedule and wonder how much time you waste just managing your time?
Save yourself some trouble and share your calendar–or set up a new one–with a virtual assistant. Allow the assistant to work appointments in where they’ll fit and manage your other time where needed.
It might seem like too much to give up, but you’ll thank yourself when you see how much time you save.
2. Project Management
If you’ve got a lot of projects going on at once, managing them is an excellent task to hand off to an assistant.
Complex projects tend to suck up a lot of time with scheduling and managing the work. Save yourself some trouble by pulling yourself out of the equation. A smart VA will be able to jump right in and keep things moving on schedule.
Try using a program like Trello to set up projects and guide them through to completion.
3. Inbox Management
Email takes a lot of time to go through, especially if you’re trying to run a business.
As hard as it might be to let go, go ahead and hand this task off. You don’t need to have an assistant monitor your personal email (unless you really want to). Just have them monitor your work account or an administrative one.
A good virtual assistant, like alldayPA, can pass the important stuff along to you while weeding out the less pressing communication.
4. Research
Odds are you probably do some type of research–whether it’s for a client presentation, your company blog, or how to optimize your website.
The problem with research is it often takes large amounts of time. Give yourself some extra working hours and pass this task along to an assistant.
5. Expense Reporting
Unless you’re an accountant at heart, odds are that you detest tracking and documenting business expenses just as much as everybody else.
Documenting and cataloging your every move can be tedious and difficult. Have a virtual assistant do this and save some major time.
6. Invoicing
Much like expense reporting, invoicing is time-consuming and can be difficult. Depending on the client and your business, there may be hours, projects, or products to bill clients for.
Rather than spending time on this often stressful task, have an assistant handle sending, tracking, and recording your invoices.
Making sure you get paid is important and allowing a virtual assistant handle it may help you get your money faster and with less stress.
7. Travel Plans
Another task that can easily be handed off to an assistant is travel.
If you travel at all for your work, you know how difficult and time consuming making travel arrangements can be. Finding the right hotel or plane ticket at the right price can be a real challenge.
While it may seem like a real sacrifice of freedom, a virtual assistant can really help with travel plans. If you’re worried about what you’ll end up with, just make sure you verify that the reservations are a good fit for you before they’re finalized.
8. Proofreading
The right VA can be very helpful with proofreading your writing.
If you write blog posts or other content for your business, you know how important it is to get everything right.
Once you’re done writing, hand it off to your assistant for a second opinion and some final proofreading.
9. Data Entry and Collection
Don’t waste your time punching numbers into a spreadsheet or sleuthing through data online.
Have an assistant take care of data entry and digging up important information rather than spending hours doing it on your own.
10. Contact Management
Collect a lot of business cards?
Have an assistant gather new contact information and add it to your contacts or CRM. Doing this yourself can take a lot of time that’s probably better spent on something more important.
Putting It All Together
A virtual assistant can help take your productivity–and profitability–to the next level. A good assistant can help you get important tasks done quickly and often more efficiently than you could on your own.
For more help with improving your productivity and profitability, check out the rest of the blog.