I’m determined to become more efficient and effective with my time.
I’ve come to the realization that I waste WAY too much time on things like:
- Checking email (hundreds of times a day)
- Customer support
- Internet window shopping (doing tons of research before deciding what to buy)
- Forum reading
- Social networking (Facebook, Twitter, other Ping.FM sites)
- Blog posts for niche sites
Most of these things can and should be done by someone else, so I can free up my time to do more important things. I’m not the only qualified person in the world to do these tasks, although sometimes I trick myself into thinking so.
So I’ve decided I want to hire a Virtual Assistant.
My plan is:
- Log my time in detail for a couple weeks to see what can be outsourced or eliminated or managed differently
- Write a list of VA-appropriate tasks
- Hire a VA for a trial period (from a company, not an individual…as they’d become a huge bottleneck in my life if something were to happen to them)
- If they don’t work out, find someone else, and if they do continue giving them work.
- Make damn sure that my instructions are super clear and adjust the responsibilities and authorization (financial accounts) they’re given over time.
I’m already in the midst of doing #1. I’m using the site Paymo.biz with a timer widget that lets me switch between tasks easily.
I’ll continue to post about my outsourcing experience, so hopefully others can learn from my mistakes…which I’m sure there’ll be many of haha.