VA on the go…… This is what my typical day looks like

Ask any successful leader how they achieve their goals while battling a diary full of commitments, a deluge of emails, requests for their time, work to be completed and of course a smooth running financial system and let’s throw in – physically visiting Customers on behalf of your Clients.  Most of these Leaders – those who utilise our services – will say they couldn’t do it without their Virtual Assistant!

Although probably never seen in person, VA’s can be at the heart of an organisation and play a key role in the success of the business, working side by side with their Clients.

From the time we rise in the morning, till we lay our head down at night, we constantly on the go in managing a wide variety of duties and tasks for our Clients.  If I am not physically sitting at my work station working, I am busy working it all out in my mind and making mental notes, of what practically needs to take place.  And if by chance, I don’t know something……….well then, it’s time to upskill!  And upskill we do, and ever so glad, as it makes our job so much easier and of course benefits our Clients, in ways they don’t always realise.

I always say, my afternoon dictates what tasks are carried out the next day.  Planning, for me, decreases half the stress and manages my time more effectively – except when time is really really short, which does happen from time to time.

As a VA who services three time based Clients each day, in three very different Industries and in very different ways of working, my job can pulsate into a very busy day.  Notice emphasis on the word, VERY.

I spilt my day into three and each Client is serviced according to hours agreed upon.  But I am glad that at times the hours are flexible, meaning that if I work for Client A from 8am to 11am today, I can work for same Client from 12am to 3pm the next and this helps with any critical matters that my other two Clients may need addressed early on in the day.

I am so glad that Technology has replaced the typing pool, diary management, calendar board, paper-notebook and post-its etc., as it makes my day so much easier.  But there are fundamental items from the past which one still uses to help you be successful.  For example, my Clients like to know what lies ahead of them each and every day, so each afternoon, I do a spot check on the Calendar for the next day, so that nothing catches any by surprise and I check Calendar each morning again.  That gives you a foundation of what your day will look like besides the other pending tasks ahead.  Isn’t it nice to breathe easily once you know you’ve got the day prepared and planned.

Being prepared and planned, as great as it is, cannot be so dogmatic, that it does not allow for the ever so often, interruption of an emergency task.  And this for me, takes place some three to four times a week, when a marketing initiative or urgent development meeting takes place and my help is needed.

And add to the wash, that being a Virtual Assistant is not just about sitting at your workstation or co-working space and working off your laptop or computer, at times, there is the necessity physically visiting Customers on behalf of the Clients I service.

And that’s probably what I like about being a Virtual Assistant, the variety of the job that makes it rewarding.

As a Virtual Assistant, you are involved, at times, in almost every facet of your Client’s business and it’s not just providing help behind the scenes as a support role alone.

It’s a career that can be moulded and shaped with hard work and commitment to your Client and the company He or She runs.

Virtual Assistants, you are part of the Team, although only virtually.