How My Virtual Assistant Changed My Life

Knowing the small things are handled means the big things get better

“I’m busy.”

That’s the answer everyone I know gives when I ask, “How are you?”

It’s also the problem that seems to underscore so many of the Medium posts recommended to me.

Funny enough, it wasn’t a problem that caused me concern, nor was it how I defined myself — until I had to question business growth due to a limited number of hours in the day.

I was presented with a choice: accept my current capacity, or find a way to increase my productivity.

I have quite a lot I’d like to accomplish, so I decided on the latter. Turning the problem over in my mind in search of a solution, I remembered an article I had read about how a busy female founder had discovered renewed capabilities and peace of mind through a virtual assistant.

I took to Google and after selecting one of the dozens of companies out there, I was matched with an assistant.

And my life got exponentially better.

According to Tractica predictions, active customers of virtual assistance services will elevate from 390 million in 2015 to 1.8 billion by 2021’s closure, worldwide.

Clearly, I am not the first person to discover the value of an assistant, and I won’t be the last.

My assistant’s name is also Katie. Katie B., to be precise, which I found mildly entertaining and a sign that it was meant to be.

In one of our first meetings, I asked what types of projects she preferred to work on out of my desire to never bore my team members with work they detest. She responded, “I’m here to do whatever you need. My job is to make your life better.”

Well, that was different. What did that even mean?

After much thought and some trial and error, I started to get the hang of having an assistant. I started to reach out with requests and had work returned back to me faster than I thought possible. Things were moving forward.

It’s been several months and now I can’t imagine another way of working. Here are some key changes that I see leading to an exciting future:

I’m learning to delegate — and I see more growth potential than I did before.

I work. A lot. I power through my to-do lists and juggle multiple clients as well as business development to keep it all going. In the past, my gut reaction to a new project request was to tack it on to my To-Do list and find somewhere to fit it in.

I don’t do that anymore. Now when I regroup on my work list, the first thing I ask myself is, “Can someone else on my team handle any of these projects?”

Asking this question serves two purposes. First, it makes sure my plate isn’t too full (back to that problem about there being only so many hours in a day). Second and more importantly, it helps me to focus on the projects that most require my attention and skills.

I now see a level of growth for my company I couldn’t see before. I can finally see myself bringing on even more creative talent and leaning on my team — especially my assistant — to keep it all going.

I’ve also seen my work improve. I can now find pockets of time to truly dig-in to strategic thinking because I’m not as concerned about the little tasks. Katie (the other Katie) has my back.

Even more than that, I am able to continuously add value to client projects because there’s someone who can concentrate on the smaller tasks — formatting documents, scheduling meetings, transcribing notes, facilitating surveys. All of these things are now done better, which means that my client’s experience is better.

Have I been doing an adequate job on my own? Yes.

Am I doing a better, more thorough job now? Absolutely.

I’m launching new projects because I have the time to do so.

I’m launching a second company.

I’m launching a second company and I do not feel like a crazy person.

That’s because Katie has my back. I know that there’s someone there to help me with the little things that slip through the cracks. The meetings, the research, the proofreading (no more typos!).

As I mentioned, she’s giving me back time to focus on what I should be doing. It sounds like such a simple thing — and it is. Time is potentially the most precious resource we have and anything we can do to own every hour and maximize its value equates to a win in my book.

For me, it means I can now put my efforts into developing the new company’s brand, expanding the feature offering with my chief technology officer, and crafting a new presentation that will help promote both my firm and the product.

I would be lying if I said this was anything less than exhilarating. I’m even looking ahead to what could be a third company and diving back into my creative writing.

I know I have a partner to help manage the smaller tasks, so I have the time to conquer the big ones.

I am investing in my personal life.

I’m not much of a partier nor do I stare out my office window longing for Friday.

I do however love my family, take joy in my friends, and savor things like reading sci-fi, coloring, and going for hikes where I can shoot photography.

These things take time and planning. They require management.

But virtual assistants helping with personal tasks? I say yes.

While it may seem callous to ask your virtual assistant to help you research photo books for your mother’s 60th birthday, it isn’t. I came up with the idea because I know my mother and cared enough to think of it. Because I asked for my assistant’s help, I got to give her not only a beautiful book filled with images of her life (that I got to select and lay out myself), but my top selections for photo book creators as well as a company that will scan your photos for you and send them back to help her with the tubs and tubs of photos she wishes she had time to go through.

I got to see her thrilled, and if I hadn’t had help, the gift would have remained nothing more than an idea.

Katie has helped me book travel for business, yes, but also for personal trips. These things never seem to hit the top of my list, which results in realities like this summer being the first year I’ve taken a multi-day vacation to anywhere but my house in the last three or four years (true story).

And when my personal life needs me, I have the time to give. I can go away and know that Katie will handle any emergency communications that come up, so I will not be on my phone worried someone needs something and I am not there (which is one of the biggest reasons I almost never go away). I can invite friends over on a weekend and take the day because I have the time.

I’m headed to Maine in August and it’s going to be great.

To all my awesome, hands in the dirt, driven, get-it-done people — hear my story. Don’t fry yourself, or worse, limit yourself, because you don’t want to get support.

It’s not about can’t. I didn’t bring on an assistant earlier because there was a part of me that felt like that meant I couldn’t do what I was trying to do, that I couldn’t keep up.

What I’ve learned — the most important thing I’ve learned — is that it isn’t about can’t at all. It’s about being able to do even more.

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.