7 Vital Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants

You’ve gotten over the hurdle of signing on your first few clients, word of mouth is spreading fast and you are quickly reaching peak capacity. Now you are left wondering how you can possibly meet all of your client’s needs, while also meeting your family’s needs and not forgetting about yourself! Thankfully, these time management tips for Virtual Assistants can help give you ideas on managing your time.

This post is all about Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants. Read more to learn how to manage your time and check off tasks from your to-do list!

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When you only have a few clients, time management is easy! I remember having my first Virtual Assistant client, I scheduled out my week by assigning a specific task to each day Monday to Friday. This way, I could make sure to get all tasks accomplished on time.
But the more clients you sign on, the more your attention will be divided, and the more organized and efficient you must become. That’s why in this post I’m sharing my 7 Vital Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants.

This post shares 7 Vital Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants

1. Eliminate Distractions

We live in a world where everyone is vying for our attention, not only are we hit with ads every 2.5 seconds, but the cell phone we carry everywhere is attached to us like the umbilical of our unborn child! We’ve made ourselves available to everyone and anyone at all moments of the day.

The advancement of technology has some benefits, like allowing us to work from home as Virtual Assistants, however, it has come at the cost of leaving us distracted.

Here are some quick tips to Eliminate Distractions.

Put your phone on ‘work mode’, allowing only emergency calls to come through
Download a Focus app, these apps help eliminate distractions on your computer by blocking out unnecessary notifications during set working hours. Kind of like the ‘work mode’, setting on your cell phone.
Communicate with your clients and family, letting them know your set working hours and when you are available to communicate with them. More on this in the Time Blocking section below!
Turn off the TV! (not me writing this as I am sitting in front of the TV watching HGTV), seriously, we are often our worst enemies when it comes to letting ourselves be distracted by technology. Some people are incredibly efficient and can work while watching TV. That person is not me! Ok, taking my own advice now, turning off the TV!

2. Get Organized

If you have to go to multiple locations, to find your passwords, client notes, or your to-do list, you are missing out on valuable time that could be used to accomplish tasks for your clients instead.

A lot of being a Virtual Assistant is being organized and keeping your clients organized. That’s why I like to get organized by using project management apps. The best part, a lot of them are free!

Project Management apps allow you to create multiple client projects, where you can save passwords, write out your to-do list, assign due dates, and even communicate with teammates or clients. Most also offer different views so that you can visually see your task list and due dates in different formats like Calendar, Kaban, Gantt, and timeline view.

Best Time Management Apps to Get Organized:

Asana: This is by far my favorite Time Management/ Project Management app. To this day I still use the free version! I’ve never seen the need to upgrade to paid. It’s simple and straightforward to set up.

Visit Asana Here: https://asana.com/product

Click Up: A very popular Time Management/ Project Management app. It boasts more robust features and automation if you are into this kind of thing! Many of my clients love and swear by Click Up, while others find it too clunky and confusing. It depends on what type of person you or your client are.

Visit Click Up Here: https://clickup.com/

Trello: I first started using Trello with my very first VA client, and I loved it! And have since had other clients that utilize Trello as well. It’s simple and easy to set up. I haven’t used Trello in a few years, but it’s a good viable option especially for someone just starting in the VA space and want to keep organized on a budget. They also offer different project views and automation.

Visit Trello Here: https://trello.com/

3. Set Priorities

You have the option of organizing your day by priorities. I like to set priorities by task importance, or due dates. But sometimes, depending on the day and my level of motivation for that day, I like to complete the ‘hard tasks’, or ‘boring tasks’ first that way those tasks are out of the way, and I take the rest of the day ‘easy’. I mean what would being a Virtual Assistant and working from home mean if we didn’t permit this type of leeway to ourselves once in a while? Right?!

Depending on the type of clients you serve, you may want to prioritize different aspects of the tasks at hand. Here are a few examples.

Due Date
Task Importance
Level of Difficulty
Timeline (are there other people waiting on me, so that they can complete their parts)

4. Time Blocking

Time Blocking has been one of the most important time management tips I’ve personally implemented as a Virtual Assistant.

It used to be that I would answer my emails as soon as a new email hit my inbox. While my clients appreciated my quick responses, it also slowed me down because I was constantly starting and stopping tasks to take care of other issues. And it also left me very distracted and more prone to making mistakes.

I now utilize Google Calendar and block off specific blocks of time to check emails, take breaks (yes, this is important!), have lunch, and work on specific client tasks.

This has helped my productivity and it ensures that I check in with all clients daily.

5. Establish a Routine

As with number 4 above, establishing a routine for yourself can help you keep organized, enhance your productivity and organize your working efforts. Clients also appreciate having a Virtual Assistant who has a consistent routine, who checks in on a consistent schedule and moves the needle on a daily basis.

At some point during your VA career, you will sign on a client who is more demanding than another. Having an established routine can help you manage your clients expectations, and help you protect your sanity. Take it from me! Some clients will try to speak to you at all hours of the night and on weekends. Now, I am not saying that occasionally you won’t answer their calls outside of your established working routine, I’ve done it during emergency situations. But I also wished I would have established a working routine from the start with some of my clients who I feel like have tried to take advantage of my time.

6. Learn to Say No

I don’t know about you, but I am naturally a people pleaser and a miss fix it. I believe that most who establish a Virtual Assistant career are also. I mean if you didn’t care about other people’s problems, you probably wouldn’t care enough to fix them. Right?!

With time, I’ve needed to learn to say no to clients, or at least say no, for right now. We often forget as Virtual Assistants that our clients aren’t aware of our full client workloads especially if you have multiple small retainer clients, or are only working part-time and not full-time with any one client.

If you truly feel like you can’t meet a client’s expected deadline, or you simply aren’t the right person for the job you are allowed to say so. It’s been my experience that clients appreciate the honesty, and would rather know that you have too much on your plate right now, and won’t be able to accomplish said task until a further date.

7. Take Breaks Between Tasks

You might be thinking, Dom, what does taking breaks have to do with the rest of these Time Management Tips?

Glad you asked.

If you are constantly go, go, go, you are going to lose steam, feel burnt out, and not want to sit at your computer day after day. The whole point of becoming a Virtual Assistant in the first place was to be home with the kids, spend more time with loved ones, and be present.

When Time Blocking my calendar, I like to include scheduled breaks. It’s easy when you are working from home, to forget to take breaks to stretch your legs and rest your mind. Even if you simply get up to load the dishwasher, or start a load of laundry.

And if you do still have young kids at home, you’ll want to schedule times during the day for play, nap time, and to take walks. Because after all, our primary reason for starting all of this is to be more present with the kiddos.

I hope these Time Management Tips sparked a few ideas that you can implement in your daily life to best manage your time. Remember that it’s never too late to take a step back, evaluate the situation, then implement. There might be growing pains at first, but eventually it will get better!

Do you have other time management tips you would like to share? Leave a comment below!

This post was all about Time Management Tips for Virtual Assistants