3 Ways an Assistant Can Lighten Your Workload Immediately

Like most members of Generation X, I was a kid when big wheels, swingsets, Barbies & G.I. Joes were all the rage. This was the sunset of days when the lights came on, the kids came inside. There was a timelessness, a gentle slowness, to those long evenings.

Nowadays, you’d think with all the tech and apps we have, we might have more time on our hands, but it’s quite the opposite. Everyone seems to wear “busyness” like a badge of honor, but what does that get us? Daily stress, poor health, and strained family relationships, just to name a few. 

Having been a business owner myself, I understand the tremendous demands on your time. As a current Executive Assistant & Office Adminstrator, I know just how much a good assistant can ensure your precious time doesn’t get frittered away.  One of the reasons I love working here for Craig & the team at Doescher Group is that balance between work & personal family life is important to our team here.

If you’re like most business owners we work with, by the time you think about hiring someone to support you, you probably already feel pretty stressed and overloaded. Maybe you wish you’d hired someone six months ago!  It’s tricky because hiring someone to help (who you’ll have to train), is often just one more daunting task to business owners who already feel stretched too thin. 

But I promise it’s worth the effort!  Whether you already have someone at your company who can help you out, or whether you want to hire someone right away, here’s a glimpse of some simple tasks that you can get off your plate immediately to open up more time in your life and business for the things that matter.

3 Super Simple Tasks To Delegate Right Away

“It's all about finding & hiring people smarter than you. Getting them to join your business. And giving them good work. Then getting out of their way. And trusting them. You have to get out of the way so YOU can focus on the bigger vision. That's important. And here's the main thing.... you must make them see their work as a MISSION.”

-Richard Branson

#1 Email Can Be Time Hungry & “Distraction Central”

Email processing can consume huge amounts of time. In fact, it is a great place to get distracted and, before you know it, you can lose 30, 60, or maybe even 90 minutes! Here’s a short list of ways your new assistant can help you with your email: 

• Suggest emails to unsubscribe you from, and unsubscribe you from those lists

• Follow up on emails related to scheduling meetings & fit them into your calendar

• Flag important emails, whether by the content or by the recipient

• Organize rules for your email. For example, move all newsletters from a certain company into a folder or a tagged area for review as needed

#2 Calendar management

The calendar can be a beast for busy business owners to manage on their own, on top of their already growing list of business tasks, meetings & strategizing. 

Time can slip away like sand through your fingers. Getting someone to catch some of it for you is a very good thing!

Often, business owners find themselves in back-to-back meetings, with no time to breathe, and no time set aside for working ON the business instead of just in the business. This can lead to a terrible case of burnout and a loss of the passion that drove you to start your business in the first place. Here are some examples of how calendar management can be simple & helpful: 

• Buffer Time: Adding in extra unscheduled time to think before or after other meetings, or to allow for meetings that may run over with a potential new client. Also, adding in time specifically designated to arrive to and from meetings. 

• Meeting Management: Once the need for a meeting is established, an assistant can handle every aspect of scheduling that meeting and sending a calendar invite, including all involved parties, location, and time. 

• Guarding the Calendar: Limiting the number of meetings and appointments within a period of time

• Scheduling family time

• Idealizing Your Calendar: Setting up recurring time blocks to prevent over-scheduling.

#3 General Administrative Tasks

A business can have what seems to be a never-ending list of general administrative duties that need to be done to “keep the trains running on time”. Whether your administrative assistant is in your office, works a hybrid schedule, or is 100% remote, with today’s technology, they can still handle amazing amounts of tasks for you. Here are some things that would be easy enough for anyone to hand off: 

• Organizing documents

• Keeping track of marketing assets

• Researching local venues, restaurants, and personal matters

• Personal or professional appointments

• Payment processing

• Optimize new ways to make your office processes & systems more effective & efficient

• Learn & implement new systems

• Light bookkeeping or payroll

• Handling common customer service issues (ie: chats, calls, social media comments)

• Compile information for easy access

Time away from your business can be tremendously impactful for both your family & work life. Make sure you're getting some!

There is so much more than an assistant can do to ease your burdens in the areas you don’t love to do - or just those that are just not the best use of your time. 

The best part is that when you start getting support, even with just a few daily tasks, it sets off a virtuous cycle. As you hand off some of these easy things, you have more time: time you can then use to get more strategic about which other pieces you can delegate, including taking the time to train someone to do things exactly how you want them done. In other words, the hour you save this week will help you create even more hours in the future. 

This compound saving of time is how you make sure that everything still gets done – but you spend your time on the things that are the best use of your time, including high ROI areas of your business…not to mention your life. 

Sometimes, business owners aren’t sure where they can expand the team, if they need to raise more capital, or if they need to take steps to increase revenue. If you’re ready to look at hiring some help, but you’re not sure of the right strategy for your business, I would encourage you to reach out to our team. Here’s why: Doescher Group exists to level the playing field for self-made business owners.

If you would like help finding a quality Executive Assistant, let us know!

Whether it’s just a one-time conversation, or you ultimately work with our team, we are always here to help you navigate the path to your best possible future.