Are you one of the many people out there who feel that there just are never enough hours in the day or feel overwhelmed at the tasks you face…whether for your own VA business or your VA clients?

Want to get away from the feeling of overwhelm and get to calm?

Then this is for you!

1. Clarify goals

• Much of the time we feel overwhelmed due to not knowing what we should be doing each day and then find we lose direction.

Therefore:

• Be clear about your aims, both long and short term.
• Write down why you want to achieve what you want
• You can plan accordingly when you know what you want to achieve and within a certain timeframe.

2. Focus on your key priorities

• As a VA we tell our clients that in order to achieve their goals, they must focus on their key activities and focus on what is a priority for them…as a VA you must do the same for yourself and your business.
• You will be more productive and profitable if you focus on the areas most crucial to your business growth.
• Work on the fundamentals first which help build a strong foundation for your business.

3. Schedule your calendar

• Use your calendar to make appointments for yourself to block out time to focus on a particular activity which is a priority. You can even use systems such as Basecamp (a project management tool) to help you.
• To support your action planning on your goals you can use Milestone Planner (more on this on Monday)
• By being able to see your plan will make you feel less anxious and much calmer

4. Start to say “no!”

• Jim Rohn “Don’t let your mouth overload your back!”
• Before committing to say yes, check your schedule of tasks, unless you know you have an associate to support you with the tasks.
• Be careful you avoid letting people to divert your attention from your objectives.
• It also comes down to client management…if you are instigating regular updates with your clients and spotting things that need to be done, being proactive, instead of be reactive, this would make a huge difference.

5. Have a support system and delegate

• This is where having an associate VA comes in handy. Delegate what you are unable to do or if you have an overload, so that you avoid missing deadlines for clients as well as to avoid diverting your time from your core activities.
• Have a system in place to make it easy for you to manage information that comes in and that goes out.
• See where you can set up automated communication with tools such as Aweber.

6. Are you avoiding something?

• By keeping busy it is sometimes a distraction to avoid doing something else, whether it is something we dislike doing or it could be a task that is very big…break down the larger tasks into bitesize chunks and delegate where you can.

7. Keep doing what is working for you!

• Isn’t it amazing that before we go on holiday or when we know we are going to be away from the office a few days, we suddenly become super efficient and get a month’s worth of work completed in a week. If you relate to that, what have you done before, what’s been your strategy to work in that way and get so much done? Whatever it was, apply that same strategy in your daily routine.
• If not, imagine you are going on holiday in a week and you have to think about meeting deadlines!

8. Create balance

• I ensure that I schedule in personal appointments and things like school holidays into my calendar as well as blocking out time to be with my family…especially as I have a baby as well as a daughter in senior school who has an endless list of homework she needs help with!
• It’s about choice…you can make the choice to work yourself to the ground OR take 15 minutes out to go for a walk, meditate or whatever you know allows you to feel calm.

9. The end of each day…

• In the past I used to finish working almost abruptly and leave my office as it was, no filing etc…now, I spend at least 20 minutes each day, filing away emails and deleting unwanted ones, filing in my cabinet, actioning post, writing down what needs to be done in the morning.
• Applying something like this means you have peace of mind that you have done what you need to do and you can relax.
• Provide your clients with a summary of what you have completed that day and what you will do for them the next day, so they too can have a restful mind knowing what has been done…this also creates a visual for you for those tasks you can tick off…this creates a feeling of great satisfaction.

Avoid saying you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that others, who have achieved their goals, have.

A great book I would urge you to read is “Take Time for Your Life” by Cheryl Richardson…this helps with life management NOT time management.

Comments: Please tell me what YOU do to create calm in your day and get everything you need done, not just for your clients but for your own business also.