Entries Tagged 'Time Management' ↓

When I was working in the advertising world as a production assistant, I was advised to always carry a notebook and pen with me. Taking detailed job notes or writing down questions from others on the account team ensured that those tasks would get completed and that I would have a complete understanding of the job before leaving their offices.

This turned out to be the best advice I ever received from my boss.

Now that I’m working in the online world the same advice holds true. No, I’m not physically walking from office to office but I’m still working with many teammates, all of whom have different types of jobs, different deadlines, and different requirements.

And I learned the hard way last night that I still need to write down detailed notes in order to work most efficiently.

Taking the extra minute to carefully label your audio files can be a life saver. Include detailed information about the music/artist, interview guest, client name, air date, etc. Anything and everything about your audio file should be listed, either on the label or in a separate note that you can easily find at a later date.

Same is true for your written documents, especially if you have multiple drafts of the same project. Label each draft carefully with different version numbers so you always know which is the most up to date.

Remember that your time is valuable. Don’t waste it searching endlessly for a lost file.

In my last post I asked the question if VAs use other VAs to help complete projects. At the time, I was asking because I am taking a personal coaching class for 4 weeks and had a couple of personal projects swimming around in my head, neither of which I thought I could even work on because of multiple client projects.

No sooner had I hit the “publish” button than I saw on Twitter that Michelle Schoen at VA Demo Girl had an interview all about how to handle multiple projects. Michelle and her guest discussed how to handle multiple clients and their individual needs, how to schedule client projects, and the tools she uses to schedule projects and meetings. Basically, if you have the clients and the manpower, then the solution is in the planning.

I started off in January using a real pretty desk planner where I could keep track of individual projects and their costs. It served me well (when my desk wasn’t cluttered with paperwork!) but now that I have attracted some retainer clients with recurring projects, the desk planner just didn’t cut it anymore.

Now I’m using Backpack (by the makers of Basecamp) primarily for the calendar (which I can color code for each client) but it also has some blank “pages” where I can put notes, to do lists, and any other info I can think of. It’s good for taking notes while I listen to podcasts or doing research for one of my personal projects.

It’s working fine for me right now but it’s not perfect because I still have non-retainer projects and prices in the desk planner. For some reason it’s real hard to give up! It’s really just trial and error because one of my retainer clients is testing out a bunch of project management applications to find which one is easiest to use with HER clients. Maybe it’s trial and error and depending on how your business grows, it’s possible to outgrow whatever planning system you currently have.

The key is to never miss a deadline and to be flexible…

I must admit that I have come across a slight problem that I had never considered: now that I’ve got multiple clients and projects, I can’t seem to find the time to do my own projects.

Even finding the time to write blog posts is hit or miss. Right now I have the time because Audacity is taking its sweet ol’ time converting an mp3 file but otherwise I’m jumping from one project to the next.

Now, don’t get me wrong! I’m loving life and I’m thrilled to pieces to be working from home with some really great clients but honestly, I could easily use another 12 hours in the day to finish these projects, all of which are in various stages of development.

Does this VA need to hire a VA? Interesting thought…

I’m curious to know how other service providers handle this. Care to share your thoughts?