When You Have More Work Than Time

At the beginning of life as a Virtual Assistant, it may seem like you’ll never have enough work. But things can change quickly. When they do, and you bring on a steady stream of new clients, you may be surprised by how quickly your work can outstrip your available time.

This is a tricky situation. On the one hand, it’s not a good idea to slow down the flow of work. On the other, you still need to meet your deadlines and keep your promises.

Here are some tips to help out when this happens:

1. Block Your Calendar. This is something I do every week and it becomes especially important when I’m juggling many deadlines. Blocking my calendar allows me to keep what’s most important in front of me. Read more on how to do this in my recent article on the subject, here.
   
   
2. Manage Expectations. When I’m not at capacity it’s easy to do the work quickly and delight my clients with speedy turnarounds. When I’m over capacity, however, it’s critical to let clients know when they can expect their work to be completed. Time blocking will help with this (see above) and some deadlines are more time sensitive than others, so make sure you pay attention to what needs to be done by when and that you are up front with clients.
   
   
3. Don’t disappear. Even though it can be uncomfortable to negotiate deadlines with clients, keeping in touch will preserve your relationship in the long term and make it stronger. Let clients know if you’re going to miss or cut a deadline close as soon as you realize it’s going to happen. Waiting until you miss a deadline is the worst possible strategy – now you’ve got to apologize for not communicating, on top of not meeting your deadline! More on this topic here.
   
   
4. Take care of yourself. When you’re at or over capacity, the first thing you may do is stop taking care of yourself. That’s a big mistake and one which only digs the hole you’re in faster. Make sure you eat well, exercise and take some time off to relax. It might seem impossible, but experience has shown me that I’m better, faster and more productive when I’m taking care of myself.
   
   

Too much work may seem like a great problem to have. It is, but it’s still a problem. Make sure you manage your relationships and use your time wisely so that you can stay productive and to be able to deliver.

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/