It’s 11:45 AM and you’re surfing around your RSS feed reader. Before that, you laid on the floor with your dog, you checked your personal Facebook account, you made some breakfast, you checked your e-mail but haven’t answered any yet, you wrote out some ideas for future blog posts and you made yourself a coffee.

You glance at the clock and feel frustration and anger at yourself for wasting so much damn time and energy on nothing productive (although, I’ll give you something - making a coffee for me is definitely productive!)

So, where did the time go and why does this happen to you day after day?

It’s because working from home means you have NO structure. There isn’t someone looking over your shoulder and you aren’t in business attire in a stuffy cubicle where you work to keep your mind off of how long you need to stay there. Your day is wide open for you to do whatever you want and you do what you want.

Becoming a super successful virtual assistant means cutting down on the non-productive things you do every day.

It’s true! I bill my clients, on average, eight-ten hours per day. My assistants are also billing between four and six hours per day. Every day, on top of client work, I am marketing my business, managing this coaching practice, taking client calls and balancing a personal life.

How do I do it? I stay focused. Focus for me is the number one reason that I have experienced such rapid, amazing success in such a short time. So, here are a few times for you scatter-brained VAs…

* Set a timer. I’m not kidding! What I do is sit down at my desk with my Red Hot Copy chicken timer and I say, “Ok, for the next 30 minutes, I am going to work only on client X stuff” and then I do. When the timer goes off, I reset it for the next client. I spend the day counting down intervals of time until I have at least eight hours of billable work in.

* Make a list. I use Basecamp to manage my to-dos but if you don’t want to pay for something, get a notebook! It’ll save your sanity if you know what you want / need to accomplish every single day.

* Think of the almighty dollar. This one sounds funny but it’s so true. If you think every single day, “How much can I earn today?” and you get motivated by increasing your income, you will! Remember, one of the Laws of Attraction state that what you put attention toward sees results so get your mind on raising those billable hours and creating more income for yourself!

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Sincerely,

Erin Blaskie of Business Services, ETC

I use a large desk diary for my notebook to track all my to-dos. That way I can actually look back and confirm dates work was done or something else carried out, even a phone call returned. And like you, I do think daily of the dollar. I keep a daily check on my bookkeeping system (Quickbooks) and build up my invoices daily so I always know where I sit at any time during the month. But that wasn't something I did in the early days - it took me a while to realise that's what I needed to do. Sometimes we can get so busy inside our business that we forget to take time to take stock and look at our business.

Like you say 'what you think about, you are drawn towards'.

Thanks Erin.

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Kathie M. Thomas, VA Coach
A Clayton's Secretary, VA Blog

Thanks so much for these tips! I tend to be either totally scattered or hyper-focused... altho I can't seem to control when the hyper-focus happens....

I think this is exactly what holds me back from actually getting my business off the ground (i've been thinking about it for soooo long). I'm so good at procrastination and I believe i'm scared of taking the plunge, marketing myself, and having to get work done... from home. I'm afraid i'll miss deadlines, let people down, etc...

My safety net is my J.O.B... where I have about 50 things going on at once, yet I can switch between them, and operate at high speed all day. I can't seem to apply that at home. Some of that is the fact that I live in a small mobile home out in the middle of nowhere and my "office" is actually my bedroom. Not good. It's hard to focus on work when you're in your bedroom

I mentioned in another post about a program I completed that required I save $1000 and the program would match it with $4000. So in June, I'll have $5000 to start this journey. I've never had $5000, and I've been thinking how I will spend it. At first I was dreaming about all sorts of high end computer equipment, but now I'm thinking that finding a small office in my area would be a better choice. It would get me out of the "lazy" home environment, where distractions like my dogs, the TV, and all the endless home projects are pulling at me.

The daily calendar tip is good - I forget to write things down, or I write things down and then forget to look at them.... i have a mulitude of computer based calendars, to-do lists and such that beep at me, (and one actually yells at me in a computer-generated voice) and i tend to ignore them, or put them off (procrastination, again)...

I think I'm going to pin a dollar bill to the wall behind my computer maybe that will help keep me focused, along with a collage of things I want to accomplish....

Thanks again, you guys are all so helpful and the ideas and problem-solving that goes on here is phenomenal....

It is great to see that I am not alone. Time wasters on the web scream for me to come and visit. Also, the laundry pile in the next room automatically pops in my thoughts.

I like the idea of handling things in small amounts and then moving forward. I do this with my cleaning and that keeps me on task.
*make sure my kitchen sink is clean and the table wiped down
*a load of laundry going and one put away
*the living room clear of clutter

These small items make me feel more at peace to focus on the business at hand.

I will also follow the money idea that Erin spoke about. That is a great motivator.

Thanks for the great ideas and motivation.

Debbie Saro

If procrastination was a job, I would be the chief chief of all chiefs in this job!

The tip about the lists is a great one. if I do not have a to-do-list each and everyday, I would get nothing done.

Thank you Erin for starting this thread.

The idea of the timer is great, I will be out on Tuesday to purchase one, (cannot do it Monday as it is St Particks Day here and everything is closed).

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Vicky
www.c-vas.eu

As always great tips Erin! Staying focused is crucial for success.

I have recently started to use Toodledo. I love how I can view my to do's through my Google Calendar. I am going to try the timer trick this week.

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Great tips Erin! I just found your VA Coaching site and I'll be linking to it on my new blog that is for VA resources.

Megan

Erin, thank you so much for this post. I know this is me and I have been working to structure my day, but still time was getting away from me. The very next thing I am doing is walking into the kitchen to get the timer.

Thank you again for your thoughts.

Oh Thank GOD it's not just me! I am the queen of procrastination and trying to find a way to stop it, especially if I want to have a highly successful VA practice!!! I purchased a Franklin Covey day planner a couple of years ago and loaded it with all sorts of cool stuff that I knew would help me get on track. Except it doesn't help if you don't open it! So for the last two years I've purchased brand new planner pages and note paper for it and used it for a few weeks and there it sits. I know it is a powerful tool and I really want to get into the habit of making it a part of my business and organizing my life. I love the list idea that was mentioned and the timer as well.

I get distracted easily so I need something that's going to remind me to finish up and go on to the next thing.

I also love the idea of posting the dollar bill near the computer to remind myself of making money and focusing on building my business and getting into a routine so I can be more productive and make more money.

Thanks everyone. I am now motivated and ready to GO FORTH AND BE PRODUCTIVE!

I totally agree - stay focused, make weekly and daily plans, lists, and stay focused. So when the sun is shining and the lawn wants mowing or the dog brings you his lead for walkies - you can check your list and say no, its not allocated, but I can do it later when I have completed my list I know, it's much easier said than done, but it is the only way I can be productive, especially working from home with so many distractions to go and play!

The dollar sign is a great tip - ££££s for me!

Sally

I think that I need to track down the old timer I used to have in the "office". And I knew that my hobby of collecting journals would pay off at somepoint.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this thread! I too am the queen of procrastination. I'm going to try that timer idea on Monday. Something in my nature absolutely hates schedules, but like all things, if you take it one small task a time, it probably doesn't seem so restricting. And besides, if I'm lucky, I'll get clients who will hire me to do the things I enjoy doing, so it won't be that hard to stick to a schedule anyway!

Bessings!

Sam

Thanks Erin, great tips again and again. Now I need is a timer and I'm ready to go!

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Joey Wong - Virtual Assistant Service - Your Partner in Achieving Business Success
Facebook

Thanks for this thread. Great suggestions. As I just got laid off from my day job, my priority is now getting my business up and running so I too can bring in the big bucks. I need organization and not procrastination. One thing going for me is my husband who also works from home. He is the King of staying on task. So if I start to sluff off, I just look at him working and that is motivation for me. We usually start at about 8:00am. Take a break at 11:00 to go the gym. And then work until about 6:00pm. It is a good system. He is going out of town next week, so we will see if I can stay on that schedule. I may need to go get the timer!! Having a weekly goal thread here has also helped me. Now before I quit for the day, I make a list of goals for the next day and check them off as I finished them.

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Pam
www.adminetcetera.com

Ok, I love this thread! Not only am I getting great ideas, it's nice to know it's not just me. lol I've discovered that I'm one that needs structure/routine, and I have a procrastination problem. I feel like I'm a mix of everything mentioned. lol My bed gets made, but my laundry lives in the basket. My office is in my bedroom, and hopefully some day I'll be able to walk back into my closet. I get all stressed out by 11:00am when I ask myself what it was that I actually accomplished.

I would love to eliminate all of those tasks that are hanging and move forward towards productivity. Two things I've been working on that seems to help are going to bed and getting up at the same time each night/day, and scheduling at least five things on my to do list for the next day. Wish me luck & I'll be doing the same for all of you.