Category Archives: Virtual Assistant

Sep27

How To Focus On Work

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How To Focus On Work

By now, the novelty of working from home has probably faded, and we’re all experiencing some sort of lockdown fatigue. For some of us, it could be more than just a state of tiredness. It could be something as serious as a full-on mental burnout. Aside from the isolation of working from home, we can also experience the blurring of lines between work responsibilities and personal responsibilities. Our homes, which have been our refuge from the pressures of the workplace for the longest time, have now been converted into workplaces and home offices. This causes career and family stress to merge as one, resulting in our inability to shift our focus on either one. This could affect our work productivity.

Despite trying to be constantly organized with to-do lists and project management tools, many of us have lost the ability to hunker down and get through deadlines. We know that we need to get things done but might feel like we’re being pulled in different directions. How do we get our focus back on work and improve our attention span?

The problem: Tiredness 

If you find yourself constantly tired and yawning at work, that might hinder your ability to concentrate. Sleep deprivation can majorly impair cognitive function – including working memory. This means that your lack of sleep can adversely affect your executive attention.

The solution: as you would have guessed – try to get more sleep. Aim for 7-8 hours of restful sleep. The operative word is restful.

The problem: Doom Scrolling

When you’re getting a steady diet of bad news, your performance at work will most likely be affected. Right now, it’s a struggle to want to stay informed but to stay away from bad news. Most news programming would highlight information pertaining to COVID-19 response or lack thereof. It’s difficult not to worry.

The solution: balance out the bad news with good news. Stop the doom scrolling.  Actively seek out news that is uplifting and positive.

The problem: Overwhelm

Having too much on your plate can cause burnout. Too many balls up in the air can cause you to lose your focus and drop some of them. If you’re working on too many work and personal projects, you will feel varying degrees of pressure to get things done. This constant shift from one task to another can eat away at your mental and physical resources. 

The solution: focus on one thing at a time – easy to say but very hard to do. We all think that by multitasking, we accomplish more. That could be true for some instances, but multitasking trains your brain to be unfocused. The constant shift in attention puts your body in a state of stress. Make a list of your top 3 priorities for the day and stick to that.

What are your tried and tested tips to stay focused on work? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Aug23

10 Tips To Keep Your Video Calls Professional

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10 Tips To Keep Your Video Calls Professional

There are still a majority of people working from home. That means a lot of our work meetings, one-on-one coaching, and work catch-ups are done through video conferencing. Some of us may have challenges with maintaining professionalism since not everyone has the benefit of having dedicated work from home workspaces. Inevitable background noises, kids and pets on camera, and messy backdrops are par for the course during video conferences. Everyone understands the struggle and is more forgiving, under the circumstances. However, we must all strive to maintain virtual meeting etiquette in order to make video meetings a fruitful experience for everyone involved. Here are a few tips to ensure that your video calls will go smoothly:

1. Have an agenda

This benefits all participants as:

  • They can prepare for the meeting beforehand
  • They can set expectations of what will be discussed and for how long the meeting will last
  • They can set action items for points related to them on the agenda

2. Find a quiet place

First, let everyone in the household know that you will be on a video call. Let them know that you need this time to be free of noise and distractions. Then, find a quiet place to set up your gear. A private room with a door is best, but if not, a part of the house that is relatively quiet will do.

3. Eliminate distractions

Turn off anything that can make a background noise; fans, phones, a radio, the tv. Shut down the windows to eliminate outside noise. Make sure nobody can walk by and be seen on camera while you are taking a call.

4. Wear a headphone with a mic

Your laptop mic picks up all background noise and may not have the best audio quality. Buy a dedicated headphone with a mic. This will greatly improve your audio.

5. Test your equipment

Test your equipment BEFORE the video call. It would be a shame to not be able to attend just because of technical difficulties, so make sure to check your gear beforehand.

6. Turn off notifications

You won’t be able to concentrate on the meeting if someone keeps pinging your phone or if you are constantly getting alerts from social media. Turning off notifications is an easy way to eliminate one possible distraction.

7. Introduce yourself

It is good manners to let people know that you have joined the call. A simple “Hi everybody, it’s (name) here. Good to see you all!” will do.

8. Use the mute button

When it is not your turn to speak, put yourself on mute. This should be the norm for video calls with more than 3 people. Imagine hearing 10 sources of audio. Wouldn’t that be distracting? Make it easy for others to hear the speaker by putting yourself on mute when you’re not speaking.

9. Address participants by name

To avoid confusion about whom you’re talking to, address the person by name. But don’t talk over someone who is speaking. You can use the raise hand feature in some apps like Zoom.

10. Stick to the schedule

Don’t go over the schedule, follow the agenda and wrap up on time.

What are your video call etiquette tips? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Apr2

Note Taking: A Skill that could Get you Ahead of the Pack

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Note Taking: A Skill that could Get you Ahead of the Pack

In last week’s article, This is why you spend so much time looking for missing things, I mentioned an interesting study that shows why taking down notes by pen and paper is far superior for memory retention than using laptops. The premise is that, the act of writing down information helps people remember the information better.

People assume that note taking comes naturally and that we all write down the important stuff when we take down notes. But not all notes are created equal. Ever had a moment in an exam where you try to shuffle through your memory for an answer but then give up and say “this wasn’t in my notes!” Those moment come up a lot of times. It doesn’t matter if you’re in junior high, uni, grad school, or even at work – “this wasn’t in my notes” moments come up often and to embarrassing results.

No one teaches note taking when you’re suppose to learn the skill. When you start school, no one expects you to take notes. They hand out books for that. When you move up to college or grad school, teachers assume you already have the skill of note taking down pat. No one expects you to copy what’s written on the board or to transcribe the lecture word for word. They hand out syllabi for that. When you’re already working, bosses and colleagues assume that the sales presentation is available in digital form somewhere, so no one is expected to take notes. They hand out presentation deck for that.

So what use is note taking anyway?
Easy. Notes help you retain information more quickly. Let’s go back to that sales presentation example. If you were in that meeting and you know that the information is readily available as a slide deck, how much of it do you really retain. If we both were completely honest, I’d say none! Ever wonder why? Because you weren’t paying attention the first time.

Note taking forces you to pay attention and sift through the noise to capture only the important things – things that are relevant to you. This is a skill that come in handy and could set you apart from the rest, career wise. If you are able to wade through the clutter and retain important information, you’d be an asset to your team and a very valuable resource for your boss.

What makes it good?
There’s no need to write down everything. You should focus on two things, capturing what is new to you and what is relevant. Pay more attention to things like dates, names, main points, and definitions. It would be best if you can summarize meetings or write down your own questions. This will allow for maximum info retention. Practise this every time you’re in a meeting. Write down your own summary or your own questions. It will exercise your memory and you’ll come across as someone who is interested and invested.

Note taking seems simple but is actually a great career skill to have. What other seemingly mundane skills do you think are good career skills to have? Share them with us! Stay humble and hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Feb19

This is for the EA/VA peeps

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This is for the EA/VA peeps

To all the Executive Assistants and Virtual Assistants out there, put your hands up in the air! We salute you. You keep the world organised. If it weren’t for you, countries will fall into chaos, kingdoms will fall, and all will descend into an unorganised pile of papers and unscheduled meetings.

This is for the EA/VA peeps. The ones who keep the company running and never get tired of manning the fort. The ones who are always on top of the situation and know which thing goes where and who gets to do which task. This is for the This is for the EA/VA who keeps us all on track and organised, ready to do our jobs. We already know you’re fabulous, and here are a few more competencies you can work on in order to continue to be the fabulous assistant that you are.

Communication
As an EA/VA you have to be able to learn to cut through all the noise and get to the heart of the matter. With all the things going on with your client, you have to be able to get the important points and get the gist across minus the fluff. Your client only need to know the gist, so get to the point. Clients have a whole range of different personalities and diverse backgrounds and each EA/VA should be able to adapt to the client’s communication style. Flexibility is essential in order to relay messages effectively and efficiently.

Attention to detail
Yes, there are a host of technologies, applications, and tools to help you scan, narrow down, compute, double check, correct, and go through just about any document, email correspondence, or presentation. But EA/VA’s have to make their clients look good, and it is imperative that all the small details are taken care of. For example, you can spell and grammar check documents but if you forget one part of the instructions – that could spell disaster for the project. You can have all the documents ready and looking fantastic but if you miss the deadline because you missed a schedule change in the meeting, then your client could look bad. Small details matter and will always be an area where EA/VAs can add value.

Flexibility
Clients, especially executives, have a packed to do list. EA/VAs have to be able to make decisions on which tasks are a priority and which ones can be delegated. Handling multiple priorities will be an EA/VAs job and it is up to them to be able to juggle those priorities.

Self motivated
To be able to excel in every industry EA/VAs should be self motivated. They should not be afraid to take the reins and be able to put themselves forward for projects, tasks, challenges, and anything that will get them seen and heard. EA/VAs are vital to every organisation, let them know that you are.

What are your EA/VA experiences? What competency are you looking for in a EA/VA? Share them with us in the comments Stay humble and hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Sep17

A Story of Remote Work

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A Story of Remote Work

A survey done by Gallup in 2015, reports that 37% of the US labor force is working remotely…and that number is rising. The option to do remote work is one of the perks that is being made available to employees today. It certainly is one of the perks that millennials look for when job hunting. Offices are now equipped to provide a remote work option to their employees. And there are many tools to enable this: powerful laptops, video conferencing software, collaboration tools, instant messaging, and cloud syncing to enable employees to work from anywhere. These are just a few of the tools. But many myths and misconceptions surround this way of working.

Why aren’t we all still adopting this way of working when technology has enabled an easier way to do remote work. This is probably due to the stigma surrounding remote work – with remote work meaning you can work from anywhere outside the office setting (co-working spaces, coffee shops, work from home, etc.).

One prevailing myth is that productivity decreases when you work from home. This is because of the three temptations: the fridge, the bed, and the TV. But one study from Harvard Business Review notes that a worker’s productivity increases by 13.5% if he/she is permitted to do remote work. This could be due having fewer distractions like office chatter, white noise, pointless meetings, and the infamous breakroom effect where you get pulled away to socialize, have coffee, or eat cake with co-workers.

Some office traditionalists wonder if remote workers are as committed to their work as workers in an office setting. One question is if they even get out of their pajamas for work. The underlying fear is that if they don’t even bother to get dressed, they can’t care that much. But many remote workers do get dressed – they go through the morning routines of taking a shower, preparing breakfast, and seeing the kids off to school before hunkering down to work. The only difference is that they avoid the long commute/drive through horrible traffic. That is a major win for everyone if you ask me. More remote workers mean fewer vehicles on the street.

And then there’s the myth about poor communication – that somehow remote workers are harder to get a hold of than office workers. This belief can easily be addressed by communication software. Meetings via teleconferencing through Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, or other tech is just as or dare I say, even more, effective than face to face office meetings. It eliminates delays because there’s no need for running around to find a meeting room, invitees can join in at any time, and participants can join in from anywhere in the world and at any time zone.

A remote workers workload doesn’t change, they still have to finish the task that they have to attend to even if they’re outside of the office setting. This means they tend to overcompensate by having more structure in place since they more time and more autonomy over their schedules.

Are you a remote worker? How is it working for you so far? Share your experiences with us in the comments. Stay humble, hustle hard.

 

Written by Jaie O. The Help