If the idea of hiring a VA appeals to you, but you’re not sure how they could work with you, perhaps it’s time to reframe the question and think about what it is you actually want or need to achieve.

I always encourage prospective clients to look at their to-do list and see which tasks they could outsource to simplify their life, but sometimes, that in itself can be an impossible question to answer. Clients often come to me at the point of overwhelm, when they’ve got so much on their plate, asking them to do one more thing feels like it might tip them over the edge, even if it’s something that will help!

They’ve often reached a plateau in their business – busy, but with so much to do that they’re treading water to stay on top of everything, without being able to move forward. When they do eventually bring a VA on board it’s because they’ve decided to try a new initiative and want some help implementing things, not because they want to offload some of the existing tasks.

That’s fine, but can feel like it’s adding just adding a new job to the list: ‘Catch up with VA about new system’. Without really knowing what objectives you’re trying to achieve (aside from maybe ‘get more sales’), it can sometimes feel like underwhelming, like you’re not actually reducing any stress or getting any time back.

So what if you took a different approach and worked from the outside in?  Look at what outcomes you want to achieve and work backwards from there, and you might just find that looking at the problem from a different angle shows you the best way to solve it.

It could be something relatively simple and not actually related to a specific work-task. Say, for example, your end goal is to have a more satisfying work/life balance.  First of all, ask yourself what that would look like? Only working 5 days a week instead of the 7 you’re currently pulling in trying to stay on top of everything? Get more specific! Grab a pad and pen and really think about what you could do in the time you’re going to create for yourself. Spend it with the family? Pursue a hobby? Think about the things you’re always saying you’d do ‘If I only had more time’ (go on, we’ve all got them).  It doesn’t have to be something dynamic like ‘train for a 5k’, but it does need to be specific ‘make sure I get at least one decent run/walk in a week where I’m not tied to my phone’.  

When you’ve got a clear picture of how great your life is going to be now you’ve got your weekends back, pay attention to the nagging feeling in your gut and the annoying voice in the back of your head asking you exactly when you’re going to get all those piddly little tasks done. I bet you can name three of those little jobs straight off the bat. The ones you file under ‘admin’, that you probably procrastinate and stress about for hours about doing, which then only take 5 minutes to do. Maybe it’s creating and scheduling social content, maybe it’s doing your monthly expenses. It might even be something a bit bigger like raising invoices.

Whatever it is, those are the first ones to outsource. It’s a far more fruitful conversation when you have the clarity to say ‘I need help with X, Y and Z’, rather than tearing your hair out and saying ‘I need help but I don’t know what!’. (For the record though, that’s OK too). When you start working with a VA, you don’t need to commit to hundreds of hours a month and then try and find things to fill those hours. We’re all about reducing your stress, not adding to it. Get in touch today and see how we can help you!

Until next time!

Stay productive.