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As an average working mom, I never saw myself as someone with a personal assistant, but I have learned a lot since then. Welcome to the world of personal assistants.
The mounting pressure of impending deadlines and lack of time had me wide awake at night. I needed to find a daycare and the only time I thought about it was in the middle of the night.
Escape the cycle.
I had a baby at home, a surgery date scheduled, and would be returning to the office once I recuperated. I was slowly losing my mind because I knew I needed a daycare option for my daughter soon. All of my time was wrapped up in hospital preparations and baby care. And I just didn’t have the patience for all the phone calls needed to do it properly.
The list of things to do kept me awake many nights. So, one night after everyone was asleep, I got on the computer and wrote up a description of the job and a list of all the questions I should ask. I figured that way I could break it down into small bits.
Nothing happened.
Two more weeks passed with no progress. I realized this wasn’t working and that I was never going to get this done.
Looking for another solution, I decided to put years of management training to work. I got on the internet and looked for help. And signed up with a Virtual Assistant (VA) service and posted my job. I asked for a personal assistant who was good on the phone and comfortable talking about kids. Half a dozen people applied.
Then things started happening…
I picked a young man living in Qatar, who had a little experience, a great attitude and a reasonable rate. I gave him my postal code and an email address I had created for just such a purpose. We had a short talk on the phone and discussed what I wanted:
- Make a list of all the legal day-cares within a 15 minute drive of my home in the direction of my office (again I gave him the postal code).
- Call all of them and impersonate a local father looking for daycare options. (I didn’t want him to tell anyone he was a virtual assistant helping me, I was afraid they would form an opinion about me based on that.)
- Document their answers to my list of 20 questions in a spreadsheet.
- Recommend his top 5, based on the phone calls.
- Not to exceed 4 hours of effort (I had capped my budget accordingly), and to contact me at the 50% point to let me know how it was going.
Problem solved.
He finished the job in 3 hours and I was thrilled. We discussed his top 5 and his rationale, and my husband and I visited all of them. My daughter has attended two of them one after my surgery and the other when I became a working mom. The whole thing cost me less than dinner out.
I felt like someone had given me a gift. Suddenly I had a solution to all the jobs that were easy but time-consuming. The ones that I seemed to procrastinate most at. I have used this technique a few times since then and had great results.
Make it a habit.
I have to admit, I loved using a virtual assistant service that handled payment. Nobody ever had enough information to know who I was or where I lived. Even the email address I gave out was one I used exclusively for that purpose. There was no risk to me beyond what I had approved for the project.
Eventually, I made it part of my routine. I found there were a number of things I could get off my plate by delegating it to a personal assistant.
Some examples of small projects:
- Comparing house cleaners including rates and scheduling options.
- Filtering the applicants for a housekeeper posting that generated dozens of replies.
- Generating cost comparisons for a trip we were planning.
- Synthesizing a bunch of website information into a one-pager on the topic.
- Finding a handyman and checking references.
I would flag my calendar, my email and my to do list. I started to use a VA code everywhere. If I thought I could outsource it, I would flag it accordingly. Then, every week I would go through and select the ones worth outsourcing. While I relaxed in the evening, I would post them. Twenty minutes of work tops and I would save hours.
Explore other options.
Now there are virtual assistant services where you can buy a block of tasks or time and then use them a bit at a time. This will allow slightly different options for what I can mark as VA opportunities. All of a sudden outsourcing small tasks becomes more affordable because they decrement the account in 15-30 minute increments.
Examples of options I am considering:
- Making doctor and dentist appointments
- Checking out neighborhood dance classes
- Finding special events for long weekends
- Finding the best value scooter for my daughter
- Set up subscription deliveries for household items
These are all things that have sat around on my to do list that I just haven’t had time to get to yet. Now I can get them off my plate, long before the deadline approaches.
Where to start.
The virtual assistant company I used is not around anymore, so I am evaluating a new one: TaskBullet.* I am trying out a small package of 20 hours, that is decremented in 15 minute parcels. I will write a new post about the results when I am done, along with a guide on how to hire your virtual personal assistant.
Read some of our other time management tips:
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from these links, I will get a small commission.
