📅  22nd February 2016 | Productivity

How to be Productive, Organised and Efficient

How a virtual assistant can make you much more productive, organised and efficient!

One of the ‘secrets’ of really productive people is that they don’t try to do everything themselves. Well, that’s not much of a secret and not exactly rocket science! However, delegating work can be  a big challenge for small business owners and entrepreneurs. With fledgling businesses, where the title ‘Chief cook and bottle washer’ is common, the pain points can include handing over control, knowing which tasks to delegate and, of course, cashflow.

It’s essential to know which nonessential tasks you should ditch in order to focus on building your business. Think of it as investing in the growth of your company and saving your sanity. Here are six categories of tasks which you can delegate to free up your time:

Areas beyond your expertise

Spending time on jobs which aren’t in your field of expertise is counter-productive. Why slave over your keyboard for hours trying to write a blog when a content writer could produce it in an hour? Whether it’s social media management, marketing assistance or event support a good virtual assistant will provide a service that’s effective and pays for itself.

Organising tasks

You should be applying yourself to executing actions rather than organising them. Establishing systems and processes to keep your workflow smooth isn’t everyone’s top priority but a little effort can provide a huge pay-off in the long term. It makes life easier for new starters as your business grows.

Speeding up your cashflow

Cashflow is crucial to small businesses. Keep it flowing by having one person responsible for sending out invoices promptly, tracking them and chasing up any late payers.

Time sucking tasks

Research should be straight forward but can soon turn into an extended surfing session. Let a virtual assistant explore your next project, research a presentation or vet potential employees. Equally, entering the data from  a stack of business cards into a database is necessary to make it useful.

Quality control

The quality of your output is a reflection on both you and your business. From a presentation with typos to incorrectly addressed letters the value of a second set of eyes proofreading documents can’t be underestimated.

The stuff you simply hate doing

Steering clear of the tasks you can’t stand helps you remain driven and enthusiastic about your business. All those jobs which are essential to keeping your business running successfully can be handed over. Examples include copy typing, report writing, meeting minutes and database maintenance to new a few.

If you’re not ready for a full-time employee but an extra pair of hands for certain tasks and projects is essential them it’s time to consider hiring a virtual assistant. Benefitting from an experienced assistant who can provide flexible hours and work remotely is a cost effective option.

Naturally you’ll need to find someone who is a good fit for your business and will have to provide direction on the delegated tasks and expectations. Starting with small tasks and gradually increasing the level of responsibility before stepping back will help to build trust.

Knowing and understanding how to scale your business effectively is key to your productivity and your business’s success. Hiring a virtual business could be the key to your success, happiness and work-life balance!