by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | May 21, 2012 | Delegation, Organization
We are repeatedly bombarded by data overload via our push notifications, social media notices, text messages, phone calls, e-mails, Skype chats and news alerts on a daily basis. It is marvelous to always be connected, in touch and just a mere keystroke away. You are never alone and continuously up to date in both your personal and professional life. But there is a hitch and that is the negative impact it has on our concentration.
As a technologically in-tune society, we must learn to filter the urgency of our incoming communications in order to remain dedicated to the tasks at hand. The constant interruptions have a pronounced impact on our productivity and efficiency level, never mind time management. If we continue to allow outside distractions to compete for our time and focus, we are unable to give our absolute attention to our present moment and activities.
Computerworld reports that we are now living in a world of “interruption technology.”
Learning to unplug and tune out can present a challenge for many, but as an entrepreneur, it is paramount to your success, effectiveness and time management. Researchers at the University of Kent in Australia monitored the eye movements of 100 people using an eyeball-tracking camera. They asked the participants to read a section of text on a computer screen, before disturbing them with one-minute messages – like phone calls. The research subjects were then told to resume the original reading, while the eye-tracking camera analyzed how they did so. The investigators discovered that there was an average 17% increase in the total time it took to read the whole passage on the screen.
Psychology lecturer Ulrich Weger was quoted as saying: “I wasted time by reading emails whenever they came into my inbox. I noticed that once I had started reading the name of the sender, I read the first line of the text. Once I mastered that, I continued reading the entire message, and once I got to that point, I felt compelled to respond because there was no point in leaving an already half-finished task. Then sometimes I needed extra information to answer the message, so had to add other tasks.” Which meant it was harder to get back to the original task.
Now just imagine all of the alerts and communications you receive during the day; probably much more than what was instituted in the above research. If there was a 17% increase in the length of time it took to read the passage, can you imagine how your output is affected with a continual barrage of steady disturbances?
Here are a few tips to assist you in halting unnecessary diversions:
- Schedule time on your calendar to tune out and turn off
- Let others know you are “off limits” during certain working hours
- Close the door or put on earbuds
- Silence your Smartphone
- Just say NO to social media! (Facebook and Twitter updates are always accessible).
- Shutdown everything that notifies you of an alert, sound, or other announcement (your e-mail will still be waiting for you).
- COMMIT to your decision to focus and jump in with gusto
- Once your project is completed, come up for air, stretch, respond to voicemails, text messages and other communications.
- Grab an energy snack to refuel for your next session
Remember, being offline is an industrious act toward completing your projects, achieving your goals and remaining on task. You will see a considerable increase in your productivity as you continue to shield yourself from outside disturbances.
Turning off isn’t just for the business world. We are electronically tethered 24/7 and this crosses into our personal boundaries. It becomes too much when we allow technology to consume our time and energy away from the present moment, sacrificing the things that truly matter.
How do you tune out and limit distractions?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 30, 2012 | Delegation, Executive Administration, Time Management
To focus ON your business rather than IN it!
Delegating to a virtual assistant is actually a low cost, high impact solution to your admin and concierge style needs.
May I invite you to consider if you outsourced just 4 hours per week, or 16 hours per month of the back end office details that you must currently attend on a daily basis, how much time you would gain to focus on income generating activities? As you know, when we attempt to manage some of these tasks, allotting 5-15 mins per each, it usually does take longer. Add up this time spent throughout the day and these initially small projects can equate to larger time robbers that keep you from doing what you do best, what only you can do.
There is a large ROI when you choose to delegate on a virtual basis. One of the cost savings of utilizing a virtual assistant is that you only pay for project time and there are no extraneous cost factors. What might help you to further investigate the value of a virtual assistant is a short but eye-opening exercise. For just one week, keep a log or spreadsheet of every task you work on, if you were able to complete it, the time spent …etc and at the end of the week, review your list and see how much time was spent generating revenue and how much time was spent on projects/tasks that could have been successfully delegated.
If you had spent say 15 hours on admin tasks:
• Is that truly your expertise?
• Is this where you generate income?
• What would have been a better use of your time?
• Could you have been more focused on the customer’s needs?
• Would you have had more time for business development?
• Worked ON your business rather than IN it?
Ace Concierge will:
• Increase your productivity
• Enhance your time management
• Improve your efficiency
• Give you back some of your work life balance
• Manage the back end details so you can manage your business
• Be one call, one text, one tweet away for assistance
Think about your options. Ask any questions. Review the data.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 12, 2012 | Executive Administration, Social Media, Word Processing
Ace has been busy assisting our client base with a variety of tasks and projects, helping to create more time for them to focus ON their business rather than IN it. While we have some consistent daily activities like social media management, many of the projects we complete for our clients are a variety of administrative or concierge type duties. The possibilities are limitless.
Our Virtual Assistant services encompass a wide range of solutions to help support our clients in their business activities. It is not merely WHAT we do for you in terms of tasks and projects, but it is more about what you gain by outsourcing your To Do list to Ace Concierge.
Delegation is a low cost, high impact solution enabling you to focus on what is important, rather than on what needs to be done. If you are tied up working on tedious administrative details, then you are not able to focus on building your business, providing customer service, using your core genius, or otherwise, doing what only YOU can do. Use your skills and talents to do what you do best and outsource the rest. Your time is too valuable to become engrossed in the “small stuff” when you should be dedicating your expertise to your company.
Here is a small sampling how we have helped our clients:
- Appointment scheduling
- Blog posts
- Calendaring
- Data compilation
- Document creation
- Editing/proofing
- Email management
- E-newsletters
- Internet research
- LinkedIn groups
- Mailings
- PowerPoint presentations
- Re-purposing content
- Social Media management: Twitter/Facebook
- Transcription
What is on your To Do list this week that you really don’t need to do, don’t want to do, don’t have time to do or don’t like to do? Think about what you can effectively delegate to help increase your productivity levels, time management and essentially, your bottom line.
Just think: if you outsourced 4 hours per week, you would gain 16 hours a month. Can you imagine what you could do with 16 more hours??
Our Ace solutions are only limited by your requests. How can we best serve you?
“A VA’s role is to help the business owner be more profitable by absorbing the tasks, responsibilities and roles that don’t allow the business owner to play to her/his strength.” Olalah Njenga
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jan 3, 2012 | Delegation, Time Management
Many of the daily business tasks that consume your time can be effectively outsourced, enabling you to focus on what is important, rather than on what needs to be done.
- Think about what you would do with an additional 4 hours per week, or 16 hours per month?
- How would you invest that time in your organization?
- What administrative details do you really need to be doing, or not doing?
- Are you caught up in back-end details that should be delegated?
A simple exercise to discover what you can delegate to your virtual assistant is to keep a daily log of your tasks and projects’, noting how much time was spent on each, even being mindful of the interruptions. Each of these facets helps you to see how your time is spent.
Looking back to the log, do you see items that should have taken you 15 – 30 minutes but may have take longer due to unforeseen distractions, or because you had to “figure out” how to complete the task? Keeping track for a few days or a week will help you to see where and how your time is being spent.
- Upon review of your time sheet, think about what you should have delegated.
- Did you spend unnecessary hours performing more admin tasks?
- Were there other more vital business details that were overlooked or passed over because you were doing busy work, or trying to figure out how to complete the task?
How do you want or need to invest your time in your company? Delegating is a proven tool to increase your productivity, time management and effectiveness. Many important administrative tasks can be outsourcing to a professional Virtual Assistant who already has the knowledge or skill to be able to complete your tasks efficiently, without interruption and in a much timelier manner than you may be able to. With your projects being successfully executed and completed, you will gain valuable hours in your day to work ON your business rather than IN it. Why not start today?
