Handling Life's Curveballs

When you work as a Virtual Assistant your business depends on you getting the work done. When things are going well, it’s pretty easy to handle the day to day. But when life throws a curveball it can be difficult to navigate. In this episode of The RocketGirl Show, I'll share 5 tips on getting work done when the curveballs come your way!

TRANSCRIPT 

My name is Belinda Wasser also known as RocketGirl.  And today we're going to talk about what happens when life throws you a curveball.  

If you're like me, you're probably running pretty close to the edge in terms of how much more you can possibly take on in a given day. I know I'm in my virtual assistant business, I have lots of client requests coming to me all day long in addition to my family and and other obligations. So when life throws a curveball it can really, you know, bounce me right out of the park, pretty fast, and this happens from time to time. So I've come up with some strategies that I'm going to share with you today on what to do when not if because it's going to happen when that happens. So let's look at my curveball tactics.  

Okay, the first thing when the curveball occurs whether it's a sick family member or a big event being sometimes your curveballs can be planned. You know, I remember when my daughter graduated from high school, she also within the same, like two weeks, she turned 18 she had prom, you know, we had family from out of town. There was a lot of stuff going on and not anticipating all of that can be curveball to and even when I did anticipate it, you know, there's always something that that, you know, we're not we're not ready for. 

So the first thing you want to do when this happens is prioritize your list. There are definitely things that can wait till later. I know as a virtual assistant, we have a tendency to want to have everything line up, but sometimes when we get it curveball, we've got to let go of something. So look at your at your list. Prioritize it. Remove anything that can wait and and start from the top.  

Okay, then the next thing is, it's important to be able to settle into your work and what I mean by that is when a curve ball comes, it's very easy to get wrapped up in the curve ball, you know, whatever that event is or the drama or whatever it is you need to do. So what I find is that when I have some things that have to get done for my work after I prioritize I need to figure out how to kind of settle down and the way I do that is I choose work on the priority list that's easy for me to do.  

So, it's something you know that I know how to do. I don't have to give it a lot of thought. I make sure there's music playing that's relaxing. I close my office door and I really just kind of settle down. When a curve ball comes your way, it's important to try to hold on to as much of your routine as possible. So if part of your routine is, you know doing certain chores around the house or you know, looking at something on the Internet or you know, managing your client in some way. Try to stick to your routine as much as possible. I know for me when a curveball occurs, the first thing that gets thrown out the window is usually my exercise which is the last thing that should be thrown out.  

So try to hold on to those things that you put into your routine that make your life work. Okay. So try to stick with that routine. Communicate with clients, really important that your clients know what's going on. Now, we're going to talk a little bit about what they need to know and a couple of minutes but if you especially if you think that you need to re-negotiate a deadline, you want to tell them as soon as possible because you know, if something happens on Tuesday and you have a deadline  on Thursday, you probably have a pretty good idea of whether you're going to be able to make that or not.  

So you don't want to wait till Thursday morning or even Wednesday night if you can see it coming. All right, because with that knowledge you and your client can put your heads together for a plan B and they're not surprised. All right, so definitely communicate with your clients. However, I don't want you to fill your clients up with all the details of whatever it is that's happening. You just really, you know as much as they love us, they don't probably want to know and they don't need to know. 

So keep it professional and you know in the case of someone getting sick or you know, the powers going out or whatever the curveball is. I would just say, you know, to your client. I want you to know that XYZ happen, you know, I lost  my power for two days or my so-and-so is sick and I needed to take my focus away from work and have an option for them, you know of how you're going to handle it. This is what I propose and just give it your best, you know, give it your best. That's that's more than more than anyone can ask.  

Alright, so before we go today, I just want to take a minute and invite you all to my free online classroom. It's called "The Virtual Assistant Connection." We are over on Facebook. And all you need to do is type "The Virtual Assistant Connection" in the search bar at the top and then when you find the page click the join button and I will happily, happily welcome you in. We are streaming right now on several places on Facebook. Also on YouTube and Periscope and this video will be later posted on LinkedIn.  

So if you have any comments or questions, just put them in the comment section wherever you're watching and tag me and I'd be happy to circle back around and answer your questions. If you're watching on YouTube, please click that subscribe button so that you'll be notified next time I go live. In the meantime, I'm Belinda Wasser, RocketGirl. Signing off. Bye.