The Working Blog
Working Tips, Working Chronicles, Working Confidence
What kind of budget or monthly investment am I willing and able to make? Allocate an amount for your project that you are willing or able to invest. If you do not have a budget, think about what you can allocate towards a budget and then let this be the starting point when pitching your project for assistance. You may find that you are right on target with your budget, need to consider more for your budget, or are able to negotiate what tasks can get done with the budget you have. What do I need help with? Take time to write down all the tasks you’d like to complete for the project. Look for tasks that you can allocate to a virtual assistant. If you find that many of your tasks are related to several projects, group them together for each project. Then, assign each project a number of importance order. Whatever project or tasks make it to your top 3 or 5 is where you could start with assistance. How long do I need assistance? This may be a difficult one to determine, especially when you are just getting started, however keep in mind that there is a difference between a one-time task service need and an ongoing service need , usually connected with a more detailed project. If you are simply needing some assistance with getting some proofreading done for an article or needing someone to help you archive and organize your inbox, or the tasks seem sporadic and not necessarily related to each other, this could be a one-time service task. You’ll want to see if whomever you decide to assist can offer that kind of service as stand-alone or perhaps have a package for general tasks that you could consider. One-time service tasks could take anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days, or a few weeks. If you have a project with a deadline and it has ongoing needs, like preparing for a launch of a new book or preparing for an event, these kinds of projects will need more ongoing follow-up and potentially a project plan. A great rule is to look at your needs in terms of a one-time, 30, 60 and 90 days. If you foresee needing assistance longer than 90 days, it’s most likely a more detailed project that needs a project plan and more assistance. How many hours a week or month am I needing assistance? Think through how many hours a week or month you would ask someone to devote time to assisting you. Even if you are not sure, it is best to always start with what you know your budget can afford. Think back to your master list of tasks and/or projects, do a little research on what the virtual assistant can offer, what their specialties are, and their rates. Take your monthly amount and break it down into weekly. If you budget is $300 a month, when you break that down into 4 weeks, you’ll have $75 a week. Hourly rates for a virtual assistant will ultimately depend on the project and task needs. But let’s say the virtual assistant rate averages about $20 an hour, you can assume that 3-4 hours a week or 12-16 hours a month will likely be the amount of hours dedicated to your project. Do I have enough web based online tools or systems to allocate tasks or projects to a virtual assistant? Another important thing to do is also list out what current web based, online tools you currently use to manage these tasks or projects. These will likely be the platforms that you will be giving a virtual assistant access to and these are the platforms you would want your virtual assistant to be familiar with. If you are lacking web-based tools to help manage your business, you may not be ready for a virtual assistant just yet, here is a great resource to help you make your business more virtual ready! If you are ready to hire a virtual assistant here is an article I wrote about what to look or in a virtual assistant! If you need help determining if your project or tasks are ready for assistance, I have put together a short Project Help Assessment that you can fill out and I will contact you and offer a complimentary session to help steer you in the right direction!
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It’s quite common every now and then and even for a season to have to pick up an extra gig or part-time job. Whatever the reason, it can at times feel overwhelming adding more to your plate. Even when it is planned, the change can be an adjustment. I put together these tips (from experience) to help you stay focused, be engaged and keep an open mind while working towards your goals.
Tip 1- Look for a light gig. Take some time to think about what your availability is and what you would feel the most comfortable giving to a part-time or seasonal job. Also think about the simplest thing you could do (that is still connected to your strengths) so that you are not overexerting yourself. Keep in mind that it is only for a season and always keep your why close to heart. Only apply to places that have the availability and flexibility that you need. If you are only available a few days a week, don’t apply anywhere that asks for more than you are willing to accommodate. This arrangement is just as much about what you need as it is what the position needs. Think of you first! Tip 2- Be open and honest at the interview. When you land an interview, be open and honest about your goals, when the interviewer asks these kinds of questions. If it’s a part-time job and potential for longer term, don’t be quick to rule out the job long term. It may take you longer to achieve your initial goal. Consider also letting the interviewer know that you have other interests and aspire to do more and that you are open to exploring more if and/or when that could work for both of you. This shows that you have given thought to what you need and thought to what they need as well. It also keeps dialog open down the road should you need to renegotiate. Tip 3- Take your time learning the position. Even if you think you know and already have experience in the field or position you land, take your time learning how THEY do it and how THEY want it done. It’s common to want to move ahead and get to the core elements of a position, especially if you have done it before or are already highly skilled in an area. However, take your time! If there are hours, days or even weeks of training classes or modules, however boring they may feel, don’t rush this process. Use this time to learn more about the role, get into a routine and ask lots of questions. Also use this time to float and take it easy! There will be plenty of time to “go hard” when it’s time. Tip 4- Take your designated breaks! Take your breaks and take them all! Get in the habit of taking them even when you feel like you are in a groove and don’t want to stop. You’ll be surprised how fast burnout can happen even with part-time or seasonal gigs when you don’t give yourself breaks! As a matter of fact, make this one of your interview questions to the employer about expectations of how long breaks are and when. If you are asked why that is important to you, you can let them know that breaks give you a chance to recharge and come back ready to reengage with your job! Tip 5- Participate in a work/office activity. The tendency to want to shy away from all things “work related” with a part-time or seasonal gig is understandable. You don’t have to orchestrate an event but consider showing up for an after work comingle, team boosting activity or a holiday party. Your part-time/seasonal gig doesn’t have to be a no fun zone! This may be a way to network and you never know who might be a good reference for you in the future. Tip 6- Be open to staying a while or moving on! Many times we have an idea of how long we would like to hold a part-time job. Sometimes things go the way we want and we are ready to move on, then sometimes we need to hang in there a little longer. As long as both you and the employer are doing fine with the arrangements, you are still feeling confident in the role you are in, why not stick around a little longer? Try not to get caught up in what you think you SHOULD be doing by a certain time, even if it doesn’t quite fit your initial plan or timeline. Remember, by this time you have committed your time there and most likely are doing the job well. If you have a chance to open dialog again with an employer about staying longer, moving on, or exploring a new role within the company, it’s O.K. either way! You are 100% in control of your time and availability! Feeling frustrated with your inbox because of all the junk mail you have accumulated over the past year? Or several years? I have found that when my inbox is cleaned up, I am more productive and more consistent in checking and managing my inbox and my time! Over time, I have learned to quickly let go of emails that no longer have value and for the emails that do contain information of value, I want to be sure they are put somewhere I can refer back to it within the year. But sometimes tackling thousands of old emails cluttering your inbox can be time consuming and overwhelming, so I have come up with a quick solution to get through this.
From this point, you will only have the current year (or a year's worth) emails in your inbox. You will immediately feel relief because you are no longer looking at that large number of emails just sitting in your primary inbox!
What’s good about this step is that even the archived emails will be cleaned out by this step- leaving you with more of the relevant emails that you can review later and decide to keep or get rid of. That’s one less step you will have to take when you go back to review your archived emails. This will make a huge dent in your inbox cleanup!
The point is to be able to quickly respond to anything that is current so that potential opportunities are not missed! If you're really feeling a sense of momentum why not keep going? Here are a few extra tips!:
Still feeling like you don't have the time to devote? Connect with me and let's talk chat about how I can assist! |
AuthorNherie is a creative freelancer who enjoys creativity, teaching & writing about best administrative or business practices and virtual assisting. Archives
January 2022
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