Top 6 amazing tips for being a more productive virtual assistant

productive virtual assistant

As physical workplaces become saturated, many organizations opt for a more efficient way to recruit people. Thanks to the Internet we are now able to work from any part of the world alongside various agencies as Virtual Assistants, or VA in short. Their responsibilities may vary, including their pay scale which fluctuates according to your skill sets. This process has added efficiency to workflow and the growth of self-motivated staff that now contribute to their business while sitting at home, sometimes even thousands of kilometers away. This flexibility allows organizations to focus on other essential matters besides staff accommodation; however, the case isn’t easy since finding the right talent for the job can get tricky. VAs are hired either part-time, full-time, or even based on projects, and to keep track of their contribution to your cause, check out HubStaff’s time tracking software.

Here are the top six tips for becoming a more productive virtual assistant.

Create your work environment:

As a virtual assistant, you know you’d be working from home, and that means there would be distractions. Being the eldest sibling and a full-time VA, I often have to work late nights right after putting my siblings to sleep (one is a four, and the other is a six-year-old).

The best practices would be:

• Lock yourself into a room with all necessities and refreshments
• Pick the room with an attached washroom, if possible
• Invest in a proper work table as well as a chair
• Spend more time on YouTube and learn courses on different skillsets

The more skills you have, the greater your salary will be.

Familiarize yourselves with tools:

Let’s say you’ve made that sweet work environment and you’ve settled down to work. There could be multiple agendas to be covered, and that’s how VAs entirely forget about living a social lifestyle.

To prioritize work, there are tools you should be using, such as

• GSuite
• Hubstaff
• Trello
• Slack
• Calendly
• Skype

These are some tools I have personally used over the course as a virtual assistant. Most importantly, one must be willing to learn anything and master the task eventually.

Meanwhile, developers are coming up with tools for making a VA’s life easier.

Essentials for an ideal workspace:

When you’re working as a VA, you’re not completely self-reliant. A productive VA must ensure he has his essentials in place before getting started.

• You must ensure a perfectly functioning laptop
• Reliable internet connection
• An abundant supply of coffee

Remember that most software utilizes cloud integration support, meaning you don’t have to invest in an external hard drive or even a software package.

However, the software has added functionalities if you opt for the paid version of an app. Address all these to have an uninterrupted workflow whenever you need to work.

Self-motivation is the key:

When you’re working from home, nobody can monitor your work except HubStaff’s time-tracking software if you’re working hourly.

• Hit the gym routinely.
• Read, read, and read again!
• Must realize that inefficiency will lead to unemployment
• Have proper sleep
• Set goals and achieve them

Remember that while working as a VA, you need to be self-motivated enough to show your work progress to the supervisor whenever you are questioned.

Set goals, improve yourself to attain them, and set higher goals again so you can reach greater heights for a successful career.

Read emails carefully:

Emails will become the most frequently used means of communication once you get hired as a virtual assistant.

Clients often state crucial details regarding projects in emails; therefore, you need to patiently read the lines to understand their requirements better.

Read emails at least twice to ensure you haven’t missed anything. As a result, do not hesitate to ask questions while replying/responding to the person’s message.

Sleep is NOT for the weak:

The most productive work comes from properly rested minds.

Virtual assistants don’t usually work around the clock as they have to work at the same timezone as their supervisor. Therefore, make sure you have adequately rested before initiating the next shift.

Seven hours of sleep is mandatory for a perfectly calculative mind; otherwise, you’ll likely be forgetting your core responsibilities.

The sum of it all:

Virtual assistants are in demand from both sides, but the right skilled individual is preferred by organizations and agencies. Since they don’t have staff managers, it is up to the assistant to make sure everything is in order. So, start by focusing on one particular skill, graphic designing or coding; just select one and continue to learn as much as possible. Eventually, you will notice how your work will begin to speak for you while evolving you into a perfect virtual assistant.