I’m going to be radical and tell everyone to throw out their ability to multitask. And no, I’m not talking about how we cook tea with a baby on one hip, phone on one ear talking to a ‘needy friend’ having issues while refereeing older children and staving off blood noses. That’s just called being a mum. I’m talking about how we try to do too many business tasks at the same time. Personally, I just can’t do it anymore. Being a Virtual Assistant I pride myself on only charging my client’s for time spent on task. In fact I promote that’s what I do. But what happens when I receive an urgent email request or a friend pops up on instant messaging for a chat? I lose focus and I feel that I’m doing that particular client a disservice. I’m not living up to my personal standards that my business is hinged upon.

To manage our time effectively and efficiently it’s important to create a schedule of sorts and stick to it. Record your family commitments such as sport and other after school commitments, preschool attendance and date night. You also need to record times for doing housework, groceries and other blah tasks that need to be done to keep the household running smoothly. This will then help you to identify time slots that you have available for working in and on your business.

Your schedule doesn’t have to be strict and unattainable. It needs to be the opposite and allow for flexibility and for change. Personally, I know that after I drop my son’s to school and preschool, I allow an hour for tidying up, cleaning the breakfast dishes, to have my shower and to put my baby girl to sleep. As for the actual tidying up it might be sweeping the floors today, it might be cleaning the handprints off the fridge tomorrow. The key is to have some idea of when you are going to do certain tasks and then concentrate solely on that task to ensure it gets done.

When it’s time to work on your business, shut out all distractions including children. If need be, arrange play dates with other WAHM or SAHM so your children still get the play time they need and you get the business time you need. Work on one task at a time until it is done.

And finally, keep track of your tasks in a master to do list. Every night, transfer only what needs to be done the next day into your planner be it paper or electronic. Reasoning behind this is so it becomes easier to focus on what needs to be done immediately instead of becoming overwhelmed with EVERYTHING that needs doing.

Alliance member and volunteer, Tilda Virtual Services partners with small business owners to provide personalised, cost-effective and reliable services that support the needs of you and your business. Our team of Virtual assistants provide bookkeeping, administrative support, contact & lead management, complex business document design, website design and hosting.

Tilda Virtual Services is here to assist in building your business, freeing up your time and reducing your to-do list. Contact Tilda Virtual Services today and discover what we can do together on 02 6332 9016 or www.tildavirtual.com.au.