by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 9, 2021 | Entrepreneur, Productivity, Time Management
Getting down to business is more than being busy. Busy focuses on getting things done and checking off items on a To Do List. It is easy to confuse being busy with being productive. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got an organization to manage, a product or service to market, and a team to lead but if you’re tied up dowsing fires, and making checkmarks, then your productivity level is probably waning. Put the fire chief hat on the shelf and consider results-oriented actions to produce measurable outcomes.
Busy is transactional behavior, a quick fix, not a long-term solution for success. Think in terms of transformation.
Transformational thought processes generate a foundation for infinite strength and durable business achievement. Productive people establish viable systems and processes to direct their attention to single tasks, minimizing diversions and distractions.
Busy people touch everything that comes across their desk, check email at every ping, lend an ear for text messages, maintain a side-eye on social media posts, fiddle here and there, and at the end of the day, have managed to spread themselves so thin, wondering where did the time go.
Choose to reach peak productivity levels on any given workday by forgetting about looking and feeling like a busy donkey and transform yourself into a productive unicorn today. Larry Kim
Busy people tend to ask, ‘What else can I do?’ Filling their day with a whirlwind of activities that can fuel the ego and make for great conversation at the (virtual) watercooler. The busy bees are intent on doing more, perhaps in a chaotic and unfocused fashion, accomplishing a myriad of micro-tasks to fill their day. Maintaining the busyness is also another tactic for avoidance and possibly not eating the frog.
In How Being Busy Makes You Unproductive, Travis Bradberry stated, The truth is, busyness makes you less productive.
Productive people ask, ‘What else can I remove?’ Productive people hone in on their talents, top priorities and core genius to drive their results. Fueled by purpose, they often check in with themselves, thinking about what they can do, dump or delegate.
I received an email from an exceptionally valued long-time client who shared her To Do list with me. She stated: “These are just a few of the things I need to grow my business – and I am failing at doing them, but when I do, it totally pulls me away from the work I NEED to do that is billable.”
Determining the greatest value of your time requires a little taste of honesty. While you may enjoy many of the daily business operations and social media fun, they aren’t your ticket to paradise. They are required fillers to help fortify your business structure but are hardly the top dollar shakers.
Everything we do is an investment of our time. In many ways, time is more valuable than money, as you always have the opportunity to make more money, but you cannot recreate lost or wasted time. It is gone forever. If you think of time as a commodity and all of your actions/choices as an investment, it may change the manner in which you approach your business operations and your life.
Stop doing stuff that isn’t valuable. So much of what people do in attempting to be productive involves just trying to fit more low-value tasks into the same amount of time. Being productive means accomplishing more with the same or less effort. Mark Shead, Productivity 501.
Transform your life and your business by not being busy. Be productive.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Nov 17, 2020 | Entrepreneur, Life Thoughts, Virtual Assistant
Your virtual assistant is more than that amazing avatar behind the company name that gets your SH** done in a timely manner. We are your left hand, right hand, and perhaps a toe or two that manages all those business nuisances and trying tasks so you can focus your most valuable time on what you do best. The prime reason you started your business.
You know we exist because everything you need or want seems to get done. Kind of like some unicorn magic. We are damn good at what we do, or at least I know that I am. I have been in business since 2002 and absolutely love what I do and whom I serve.
Social media has blessed me with wonderful connections, colleagues, partners, clients, and even sub-contractors, some that I have met in person.
While running your business, and mine, is paramount to my success and paying bills, of course, I do have a personal life that I highly value, protect, and embrace. I am more than the Ace behind the keystroke of our partnership of timely deliverables and virtual support.
Since I have introduced my new website, I thought I might grab your virtual ear and share a little bit about me. What drives me. How I thrive in life. My goals.
My foundation, my essence if you will, begins with my personal beliefs about health, well-being, and longevity which grew out of my firsthand experience working in a naturopathic clinic with the founder (also a relative). My philosophy continued to develop due to my social media research role for various client professions: chiropractor, sports/conditioning coach, and health industry authors/podcaster. I read, researched, learned, and educated myself. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I followed doctors, health professionals, organizations, and clinics on social media. I purchased books. Talked to people, listened to interviews, and formulated ‘ME’ based on the science, case studies, and personal stories. A life-long learner with an interest and passion for living MY BEST life.
My health is extremely important to me. If I am not healthy and thriving, I cannot provide the executive support I promise to you. I choose to live out my years actively and dis-ease free.
I think in terms of ‘healthspan’ not just lifespan.
“Healthspan,” a coinage now gaining traction, refers to the years that a person can expect to live in generally good health — free of chronic illnesses and cognitive decline that can emerge near life’s end. Although there’s only so much a person can do to delay the onset of disease, there’s plenty that scientists are learning to improve your chances of a better healthspan. via Kaiser Health News (KHN)
I have been whole food plant-based for about six years and love, love anything veggie related. The produce aisle is my candy store. I do prefer shopping at local farmer’s markets if I can. I can’t really think of a fruit or veg that I don’t like or can’t prepare for that matter. I enjoy raw vegan as well as cooked foods. Playing in the kitchen is my therapy and have created many recipes of my own. Food can harm or heal. I love to eat healing, whole foods to nourish and feed my mind, body, and soul.
Exercise is my other passion. Exercise and fitness! I don’t ever want to say, ‘I’ve fallen and can’t get up’ before I’m 100 years old. I want to be able to play, jump, run, climb, squat, get dressed, sit on the floor, tie my sneakers, sit in the sand, or splash in the water until my eyes close forever. As you may have read in Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference, and Persistence (MY WHY of starting Ace), my mom, sister, and more recently, my niece all passed from breast cancer. I embrace and value every day of my life and will live my best life in their honor because theirs were drastically cut short.
I have a gym in my basement, love to kayak, hike, SUP, and cycle. My longest bike ride is 52 miles so now 30 seems so short. I will get to a century ride. Goals!
I have been tracking my fitness since January 2019. I keep a whiteboard in the basement gym and record the time I lifted, time on the treadmill, steps, calories, miles walked, and whether it was fasted cardio. I also write down every lift with reps and sets. This is just me. I want to be accountable, motivated, and responsible for my own healthcare. [bctt tweet=”I am the architect of my body/life and I need to be proud of my building.” username=”AceConcierge”].
My day starts between 5:15 and 5:45 with my morning routine of hitting the gym for 1 to 2 hours. If I’m not doing intermittent fasting I will make a high protein green smoothie and perhaps some avocado toast after I train. I do change it up. After the gym and breakfast, you’ll find me outside weeding, pruning and planting until it’s time to move on to the office. In the colder months, I’m seated at the helm much sooner.
At the end of my workday, I prefer to enjoy a bike ride, a hike, or kayak. If I could, I’d always be out doing something. I don’t watch any television. I love to read, mostly health books or client books.
The ocean is my air but living in Virginia I’ve adjusted to appreciate the beauty of the mountains. They are majestic in all seasons. I love seeing the bones of the trees. I am in awe at the shapes, sizes, and expanse of these skeletons in the winter. We have many that were here during the Civil War and I wonder what they saw. What stories they would tell.
And no story about me would be complete (as many would tell you), without the mention of my love of wine, a newly acquired taste for bourbon, and now craft beers. Virginia is the mecca for adult beverages. We have beautiful wineries and vineyards, amazing distilleries, and fabulous breweries. There are even biking trails around some of the venues. How can you go wrong? Right?
So, this is your personal behind the scenes look into your virtual assistant.
Tell me, who are you? What do you love? What are the routines that make you, you?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jan 12, 2017 | Entrepreneur, Executive Administration, Small Business, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Greeting the day as an overwhelmed entrepreneur has become part of the norm for many first-time business owners. The hats we wear are numerous and can present unexpected challenges in our day-to-day operations. It can be suffocating trying to figure out where to turn or what to do next.
Becoming more productive and being able to free up more time and leveraging your existing time, is one of the most skills that can literally multiply your success. Tor Refsland
You are an executive who worked hard, paid your dues and now you are sitting in the seat of responsibility. With responsibility comes an increased need to manage your time effectively. You cannot spend hours of your time formatting documents, writing business letters, building forms, writing and responding to emails, and editing or proofreading marketing material. Your decision-making, client relationships, and management of the company’s fiscal responsibilities take precedence. Hiring someone full-time is just not in the books yet.
What can you do? Is there a simple solution to help you achieve more by doing less?
Delegating
The purpose of delegating is to enable you to focus on your core genius, the tasks and projects that ONLY you can do; the revenue generators.
If you are being busy with many of the back end, admin tasks, you not using your expertise to the best of your ability; thereby further impairing your business advancement and opportunities. You’re potentially hindering your own growth which is counterproductive to starting your business. Let go to grow.
Tracking Hours
How much valuable time is used for follow up emails, searching/scheduling social media posts, writing/editing content, travel planning, document reviews, calendar reminders, project management, or presentation prep, just to name a few?
Track your time for the rest of the week, including the project, time on task, distractions, task completion, new additions to your list, items that were dropped to a lower priority or simply forgotten and how you felt at the end. In your review, what tasks clearly represented your core genius? What tasks were a low value?
Infinite list of responsibilities
All of the above are just a few of the basic yet necessary components to your business operations. It can be exhausting and frustrating to manage all of these tasks on your own. Unless you’re a super hero, it’s nearly impossible to be all things, to all people, all of the time.
In his blog post “The Way To Measure Your Productivity As An Entrepreneur”, Dan Martell suggests you:
- Create 4 buckets of activities: Admin, Work, Mgmt, Strategy
- Measure each with a monetary value: $10, $100, $500, $5000
- Focus on moving your way up the value chain (working ON vs. IN)
Measure each activity for what it is, then tally up your time for the day to get your daily value creation score.
The goal of these activities is to nudge you to work ON your business, rather than IN it. Typically, the IN does not generate revenue but keeps you busy. Busy isn’t necessarily productive. Busy can be frittering time. You don’t have time to waste.
When you love what you do, you want to do more of it!
Delegating gives you the flexibility you need to keep the company momentum going. Unburden yourself of these time consuming, the low payoff tasks/projects that keep you from the core of your business.
Stop doing stuff that isn’t valuable. So much of what people do in attempting to be productive involves just trying to fit more low value tasks into the same amount of time. Being productive means accomplishing more with the same or less effort. Mark Shead, Productivity 501
ACTION STEP
What’s on your To Do list right now that you’re ready to outsource? Do it and discover for yourself why so many other entrepreneurs embrace the power of delegating. What do they know that you don’t?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 20, 2016 | Delegation, Entrepreneur, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Let’s get real about time management. Sure, scrolling through social media and completing daily to-dos are satisfying, but will they translate to success? Likely not! These activities are like sidekicks, important to keep the business chugging along, but they won’t be the superhero bringing in the major cash.
What is the best use of your time and expertise?
Your core genius: something you love to do, is effortless, creates a sense of joy and contentment, generates a fire within and time disappears. It could be coaching, writing, graphic design, speaking, leading, selling, training, motivating, marketing or whatever your passion is. When you are focused on your CG, you are alive, vibrant, and producing outcomes.
As an entrepreneur, when you can maximize your potential by focusing on your core genius, you not only follow your passion but can devote your time ON your business rather than IN it. You become more productive and efficient. While many daily business tasks require attention, it doesn’t necessarily have to be on your time. Delegating the lower return projects and tasks gives you back your time to build your business, develop strategy, nurture relationships, foster loyalty, seek partnerships, and focus on your bottom line.
Compare the individuals, the business owners, who dedicate their time to every task, every project, even those that they don’t like, don’t truly have time to do, or the ones that are more menial “time robbers.” These people are taken away from their core genius and focused on the back end, admin-type projects instead of building their companies and concentrating on income-generating projects.
“Most entrepreneurs spend less than 30% of their time focusing on their core genius and unique abilities. In fact, by the time they’ve launched a business, it often seems entrepreneurs are doing everything but the one thing they went into business for in the first place.” Jack Canfield
Everything we do is an investment of our time. When you choose to watch television or engage on Facebook that is an investment of your time. In many ways, time is more valuable than money, as you always have the opportunity to make more money, but you cannot recreate lost or wasted time. It is gone forever. If you think of time as a commodity and all of your actions/choices as an investment, it may change how you approach your daily activities.
Think about the return on your time invested. In a recent article by Anthony Iannarino, “Return On Time Invested,” he suggests measuring each activity, the time you spent, and the return. If there was no return on your time, then you must realize that that task or activity is not worth doing. A better use of your valuable time is to focus on those activities that produce a desired, profitable, and rewarding outcome.
Leveraging your time and effort is a fundamental strategy for success. There are only so many hours in the day that you can work and by only using your time, you can only accomplish so much. When you choose to utilize other people’s time via delegation, you intensify your productivity and efficiency to an extraordinary magnitude. It feels great to do more in less time.
- Eliminate unnecessary activities
- Prioritize so you focus your energy on those tasks that provide the highest rate of return
- Set long and short-term goals with action steps, motivating you and keeping you on target
- Learn how to effectively delegate
- Outsource non-core tasks/projects
Action Step:
- Identify the daily activities that are devouring your time by keeping a journal: logging activities, projects, and time spent
- Build a plan to delegate the time robbers that are taking you away from your CG
- Call Ace Concierge to discuss your delegation strategy and project timeline
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | May 17, 2016 | Delegation, Virtual Assistant
Entrepreneurs are accustomed to doing it all from changing printer ink, uploading tweets, proofing blog posts, and ordering supplies to curating content, creating images, travel planning, retweeting, and sharing content, and testing the latest social media apps. Owning and operating a scalable business takes a team to fortify the back end, the daily routines, the foundational systems, and processes. It’s not a solo act to grow your business.
My client’s advice to other business owners and start-ups: “Cultivate the business mindset for growth and profit. You don’t have to go it alone, nor should you”.
When you keep yourself buried in the day to day minutia, this is time you are not working ON your business. If you aren’t, then who is? With only one person at the helm, there is only so far that you can scale. While it isn’t easy to relinquish some of your daily demands, it is a tremendous benefit to free up your valuable time and avoid burnout.
Entrepreneurs have great talents but many times they think they can do it all. That can really stall the growth of the business. By outsourcing the day to day back-office tasks, the business owner has more time to focus on generating income. Laura Lee Sparks
Identify the essential and eliminate the unnecessary
Delegating will help you to:
- Focus on your core genius: Do what you must do: the tasks and projects that ONLY you can and should be doing. The mainstay of your company.
- Increase your productivity: You can work on more high-level business operations instead of the routine and mundane day to day necessities.
- Eliminate distractions: There are many daily tasks that don’t require your immediate attention. Moving those off of your plate diminishes notifications and multi-tasking.
- Be client/company-centric: You have more time to dedicate to building your business structures and relationships.
- Reduce your stress: You’ve got a vested partner working behind the scenes to ensure that everything is efficient, successful, and administered in a timely fashion.
- Bolster your work-life balance: The more you are able to move off of your desk, the more time you gain for your personal life. Nix the nights and weekends.
Effective Steps to Delegating
DETERMINE WHAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE
Typically, at Ace Concierge, LLC we assess the type of tasks associated with your business functions and daily management. They might fall under two categories: highly repetitive tasks, such as data entry, social media management, and blogging; or more specialized knowledge, such as accounts payable or web design. To help determine your delegation list ask yourself the three questions below.
- What are THE most important core business activities that I should be doing?
- What generates revenue?
- What leverage points produce the greatest results?
CREATE A PLAN AND EXPECTATIONS
Clearly plan, understand, and outline for accountability and outcomes, keeping all lines of communication open. We try to stress the importance of a strategy to ensure that all needs and requirements are met or exceeded. It is often difficult enough to give up what you have always done so it’s vital to create a solid foundation with dialog, expectations, and feedback.
RELINQUISH CONTROL
The hardest step business owners tend to have is relinquishing control and letting the person or business you’ve hired do their job. Remember, you’re outsourcing for a reason. You need to focus your time and energy on other more important, high payoff activities relative to your business. It doesn’t make sense to outsource a project or task and then micromanage it. Trust and release.
For some entrepreneurs partnering with a virtual assistant is unfamiliar territory and you may not fully comprehend the wide scope of work that can be efficiently outsourced to help free up your time. You may create mental roadblocks or perceived hurdles to prevent yourself from seeking assistance with your business. These alleged barriers can be easily overcome with a little in-depth thought and evaluation to conquer your objections.
A greater fear to consider is how much are you actually holding on to that is stopping you from focusing on the core of your business? What isn’t getting done? What is being shuffled under the rug?
Embrace delegation, don’t run from it. It is a low-cost high payoff tool to help you scale your company and focus on the core of your business – what ONLY YOU can do.
Delegating is a key management strategy that will benefit you and your company.
In order to grow a successful business, it’s important to let go of some perfectionism and delegate certain tasks so you can focus on your strengths. Diana Adams
Are you ready to grow? Contact your Ace today to start the dialog.
