Running a VA Business: Time Management and Overcoming Procrastination
One of the most challenging parts of running a VA business is becoming a master of time management. Specifically, when you work at home, running a VA business means figuring out what it’s going to take to keep you from falling into those ruts that suck up your time and keep you from getting things accomplished.
What are some of the most common ways in which every day things lead to procrastination (and interfere with both time management and running your VA business)?
- Phone calls from friends or family members who don’t get that just because you’re home doesn’t mean that you’re not working.
- Checking to see whether a friend has updated their Flickr site - either with personal photos or with images that they’re using for a project.
- Catching up on reading blogs - those related to running a VA business and those that just catch your eye.
- Answering emails.
When you look at the list, you’ll notice that a lot of the same time management problems that happen in any workplace do carry over when you are running a VA business: developing great time management skills can help you to keep them from slowing you down and then having to rush through getting work done for your clients.
When you run a VA business, one way to overcome procrastination and ensure that everything goes smoothly involves setting a schedule - knowing before you go into the home office what’s going to need to be done. Some VAs find it helpful to set alarms if they are going to indulge in some refreshers; after all, if you schedule in a few minutes to devote to checking on something, it will be a lot easier to avoid the temptation of getting caught up in it.
The good news is that, when it comes to develop great time management skills that will help you in your virtual assistant business you’ll find that it’s not altogether difficult to do; it just means getting around to doing it!