Why Being on Time is so important to Gaining Success as a Virtual Assistant

I feel one of our biggest challenges is having enough Time. Everything revolves around time management with work or our personal lives so I get that this isn’t always easy to manage. I think my biggest challenge is not being so hard on people who are late and make me wait. In the last couple of weeks I have been tested with regards to staying calm and waiting for people who are late or cancel on me at the last minute. I don’t have a problem when you have one of those days or it is out of your control but I do struggle with why this happens with certain people who live their lives being late everyday as I find it affects your business and strains your business from becoming a success nevermind the stress it adds. For me it comes down to respect and if you are late then it says to me that you don’t think my time is as important as your time.

Managing my own business has been a rollercoaster due to having quite a bit of time and making sure I fill that time with being productive and now being so busy I have no time to do the little things that count like making sure I still prepare food to eat healthy and still go to gym or that walk or run in the morning. It is so easy to get caught up being too busy again but through everything I always make sure I am on time or earlier when it comes to anyone be it a customer, supplier or friend.

If it is the last task you do in the evening it is to plan your next day, we have so much technology to help us like Waze or google maps. Waze can be synced to your calendar and it will tell you when it is time to leave. I go into Waze the night before and set my time for the meeting or meetings that I arrive 10 min earlier and it then prompts me when I need to get moving and with Waze it even redirects you if traffic is too bad on the route or accident has occurred, I have never had Waze fail me yet and if there is a detour I have set it for being 10 min earlier so if anything I have some time to play with.

Another tip is set your meeting requests to remind you 30 minutes or even an hour before the meeting so if anything has come up and you are tied down you can spend 5 minutes messaging the person you are meeting to cancel or move it out or just to let them know you are going to be late as I am sure they also have meetings after your meeting so they can manage their situation and cancel if need be.

Then the last tip obviously my best tip is to have a Virtual Assistant manage your calendar so you aren’t flustered or stressed and everything runs seamlessly when you have your VA plan your day ahead and able to make that call if need be or prepare your documentation while you are driving to a meeting. Not only is your day more pleasant but you will be seen to be so organised and professional that your clients would not think of dealing with someone else.

“Nothing valuable can be lost by taking Time” – Abraham Lincoln