This blog gives you some tips for managing your calendar better so that you can claim some of that time back.

What is calendar management?

Calendar management is the process of actively organising your time in order to create the most productive and realistic plan. It includes work tasks, meetings, calls, trips, client work, school runs… whatever you need to do each day.

What are the benefits of proper calendar management?

Calendar management can help you with:

• Prioritising the important ‘must-do’ tasks that can get pushed aside 
• Efficiency and productivity by planning ahead so there’s less time wasted
• Organisation of teams, meetings, calls, goals… 
• Finding achievement in getting things done
• Insight into where your time goes.

Tips for managing your calendar

There are different ways to manage your calendar so you need to find what works best for you. Below are some tips that could help, so try them out and see what sticks!

Review

Review what you need to get done each day and week before you start. This way you can decide in advance what your focus will be and be prepared for what’s ahead. Start by writing down the top three tasks for the day. 

Block booking and batching

Carve out blocks of time for different tasks and where possible, batch like tasks together. 

For example, if you need to write 5 posts this week, block out a set amount of time and do all 5 together. This allows you to focus on one thing and stops you from flitting between different tasks.

This works for any type of task as well as client work. It’s also a great habit to get into for email management – block a certain amount of time in the day to deal with emails and don’t look at them at any other time.

Calendar scheduler

Use Calendly (https://calendly.com/) or another similar calendar scheduler to book appointments. You set times within the app that you are available for meetings and then just send the other person a link to book whenever suits them. 

This way you avoid wasting time going back and forth trying to fix dates and times that work for you both.

Merge calendars

This works well for personal and works calendars as well as collaborative team calendars. Putting all the information in one place will give you a much better idea of how the week should pan out.

Colour code 

Colour coding helps you see at a glance what’s in store for the day, and some people find it very useful for avoiding being overwhelmed by a large list.

Know yourself

Know when you’re at your peak – for many it’s first thing in the morning – and plan your tasks around that. Tasks that require more mental power should be planned for peak time and lighter tasks for when energy wanes, usually after lunch.

Time track to have a better idea of how long things take

Track how long tasks take so that when you’re planning out your calendar you can be more accurate with timescales. Leave some flexibility in your calendar so as to not get stressed when things don’t go to plan.

Summary

Successful calendar management should give you back your time and make you more productive in the time that you have.

If you need help to review your calendar management, then give us a call. 

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

In this blog, we’ll take a look at what you should be looking for when hiring a VA.

What do you need them to do?

The first question to answer when hiring a VA is ‘what do you want them to do?’.

In the past, a VA could assist in all areas of the business. But as areas such as marketing, social media management or bookkeeping become more specialised, it’s important to make sure your VA can handle the intricacies of the subject. 

That doesn’t mean that a VA who helps with admin tasks can’t also do some marketing, for example, but a VA who claims they can do it all probably won’t do as good a job as a VA who specialises in a specific area. 

This may mean that you need more than one VA, but being a freelancer who joins to support your business rather than an employee, this is still a viable option.

So, when you know what tasks they will be asked to do, you get a clearer idea of what you need.

Their background

VAs come from all sorts of backgrounds and recently over the COVID lockdowns, a lot of VAs have started up their own business coming from employment in all industries. 

Consider the following when checking their background:

Industry

You may want someone who knows your industry. It’s not always necessary and as mentioned, it depends on what they will be doing for you, but a VA with industry knowledge might be more useful if, for example, they were part of the customer support process and need to be able to talk about your product/service. This is not an essential requirement in most cases and is down to personal preference.

Employment

Knowing who else they have worked for and in what capacity will also give you an idea of the experience they have in what you need.

Get references from past employers. You want to know who you are working with and references can be helpful in determining this.

History

Ask how long they have been a VA and how they started. What made them become a VA? Questions like this will give you a feel for the person and what their goals are. Do they see themselves as working in partnership with you or as a separate entity?

Experience alone doesn’t necessarily mean they will be any good, so don’t dismiss newbies out of hand – they could have had experiences that translate into being a great VA.

What else?

You can check out their social media, especially their LinkedIn profile. Don’t be put off if they don’t have one as they may be finding work through other avenues, but it could give you more insight into the person.

Interview them. This person will be representing your business and working with you so you need to interview them as you would any other employee. Find out what they are good at and what they enjoy doing. As with any member of staff, pushing them to do something they don’t enjoy won’t get you the best results. 

If you are hiring a bookkeeping VA, you’ll want to make sure they are registered for anti-money-laundering regulations (MLR).

And finally, as with any business, insist on business insurance. 

Summary

Treat hiring a VA the same way you would treat finding any member of staff. You need to know they can do the things you need them to do, but quite often you can go with your gut on how you feel about them and their ability to integrate with your team. 

At Jaxstar, we see ourselves as partners in your business and are fully committed to your success. We help you in all aspects of admin, processes and systems, and can help give you back your time so you can focus on what you love doing.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/