Is there anything more frustrating than a lack of clarity to complete a job?
In my “working for the man” job days, I often came across this, especially when I was learning my job. I was given a set of instructions to follow (and made notes for myself so I could do it on my own for next time), and after doing this task for a few weeks on a regular basis, suddenly, I was called out on missing an important aspect of the task. What was being brought to my attention made sense, but when I referred to my notes, that aspect was, indeed, missing. There was a lack of clarity in the initial instructions and I was reprimanded for it.
Then the silent but definitely present, “You’ve been doing this for weeks, why are mistakes happening?”
How unfair. If only there was clarity involved in the initial delegation of tasks. (more…)
Updated October 2020.
Things have definitely changed since I first wrote this blog post. Freelancing and working from home weren’t quite as normal as they are today. Thanks to Covid-19, many more people are working from home than ever before. And I’m sure many can attest to the fact that it’s not as cushy as some might believe!
If I’m being honest, though, while it IS great.. there are definitely some downsides to it, at least until a routine is put into place:
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Client Challenge: Social Media Profile-Building
November 2016 – January 2017
This client was a published author and well-established businessman in the food and spice supply industry. His published book was not in relation to his industry.
He was struggling with visibility for his book and was looking to get more eyes on it. This, in turn, would hopefully boost sales. It would also pave the way for the second book he was writing, during our time working together. (more…)
Is there anything that Google cannot help us with?
A little while ago, I wrote a blog post about backing up your files. You can read it here if you missed it.
I thought I’d share a story about my own situation. As a VA, it’s doubly important that files are backed up.
In my naivety, I thought that having files backed up to an external hard drive would protect those files for life. Suddenly, the hard drive couldn’t be read by any computer in our house. I was devastated because the majority of the photos on that drive were photos of my second son. Baby photos.
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If you’re at a place in your professional life where you can’t go another day without having some help, or if you’ve discovered aspects of your day that you just loathe doing, read on.
The first step is denial, as they say. The next is acceptance.
I have a handy VA Delegation Worksheet that you can download here. It will help you to figure out what you can delegate (some people have a difficult time with this part).
Once you know what to delegate, and you’ve found a VA you think you might like to work with, it’s time to get some questions answered:
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Recently I connected on LinkedIn with someone from a past life – someone I worked at my job with.
Would they wonder why I left my job after such a long time?
Probably not, as no conversation ever followed. That’s okay, because I don’t owe anyone an explanation, but I’m more than happy to talk about it.
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