Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants

One of the things that new virtual assistants struggle with the most is time management.  After all, juggling the demands of one business is difficult enough… juggling the work of several clients can be a huge challenge.  Here are a few tips that I have found helpful in managing my work time and keeping my clients happy.

1. Manage Your Client's Expectations.  When you are first starting out, it is very easy to be there for your clients in the same way that an employee would be.  Your clients can send projects and you can turn them around in a few hours.  However, once you get more than two or three clients,  maintaining this level of service becomes difficult.  To create a business that can grow, you need to manage your clients' expectations.  Tell your very first client to expect at 24-48 hour turnaround on projects.  Limit rush jobs to one (at the most per client).  if you tell your clients what to expect, most are willing to work with you and within your timeframe.

2. Set (and enforce) boundaries in your business.  A very wise client, Molly Gordon, said that that a river's power comes from it's banks.  Without boundaries and without banks, the water has no power.  By setting boundaries in your business (working hours, turnaround times), you can add focus, direction and power to your business.

3. Work in batches.  This tip is from the Time Diva  - Ann Rusnak - work on just one client at a time.  At the beginning of the day, sort your work out by client.  Schedule blocks for each client.  Turn off your e-mail and your social networking toys and concentrate.  You'll be amazed at how much more you get done.

4. Create systems.  Every time you do something for a client, write down the process.  The next time you do the process for a client it will go much faster because you have all the links in place.  One of my favorite places for storing this type of information is Evernote - a free notetaking program that can be used on your mac, pc or iphone.

The more you manage you time, the more money, and more success you will have in your virtual assistance practice.