Do's and Don'ts of a Productive Work Day

When you’re a Virtual Assistant – a person who sells time – it’s essential to get a handle on how you spend your days.

This is hard enough if you work in a traditional office. If you work at home, things can be even more challenging. Distractions are everywhere you look and it’s easy to be drawn in.

For starters, it’s important to think of your working time as “your job.” As a guideline, you can ask this simple question: “If I worked for someone else in their office would I be doing this right now?” More specifically…

Here’s a list of what I DON’T do during my workday when I’m at home:

1. Laundry. While it’s easy to “throw a load in,” before you know it, it can turn into laundry day.
2. Clean the kitchen. When I eat lunch during working hours, I put my dishes on the counter to handle after work. No dishwasher emptying either.
3. Talk on the phone with friends or family. Don’t worry, after a while they’ll stop calling during the day.
4. Make the bed. If my bed is not made before I sit at my desk, it stays that way all day.
5. Pay personal bills or shop online.

Here are some things I DO during work:

1. I start my day pretty much at the same time every day.
2. I start looking at emails that have come in overnight and prioritize them into my day before I jump into any project.
3. I block time on my calendar to work on specific projects.
4. I work on one task at a time, when at all possible.
5. I have a system to track what I’m working on.
6. I plan to be at my desk all day, almost every weekday.

All of this can be difficult at first – especially getting family and friends on board!  But once you see how productive you can be by staying focused on your work, you’ll never go back.

If you’re not already a member of our Facebook Group, The Virtual Assistant Connection, and would like to join, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevaconnection/