My honest answer is. . .I don’t know. But I want to help you figure out if you should because an assistant can help in so many ways. While you might be fighting the idea of hiring one now, think about it this way. When you hire an assistant, you are trading money for your time. Yes, you are paying someone to do something for you, but you’re actually getting more minutes, days or even weeks back into your day!
What’s an Assistant?
According to Google, an assistant is a person who helps another with a particular task. If you use that definition, an assistant could literally be anyone that helps you with something.
- A nanny is someone that helps you with child care and maybe some light housework.
- A personal shopper is someone that will do your grocery shopping or make purchases for you (think Instacart).
- A home or office manager is someone that helps you make sure the home or office has everything it needs to function properly.
- A cleaner is someone that helps clean your home or office.
Literally an assistant can be anything or anyone that helps you with something you don’t have time for or just don’t want to do.
Why Should You Hire an Assistant?
If you’re not sold on the idea of an assistant yet, I want to give you a few examples on how they can help you. Keep in mind, this is not a complete list.
- Time Management – An assistant can help you manage your time and your calendar. Think of the many invites you receive, the meetings and appointments you have to plan for and how complicated scheduling can be? It can be overwhelming. The person you hire can respond to these invites, say no to things that don’t fit in your life or on your calendar and make sure your calendar isn’t swamped.
- Organization – Ever tried to declutter and clean but have no idea where to start? An assistant can help with that too! Whether you need help organizing your home, cleaning up your electronic and paper files or even creating systems, you can hire someone to do that too. Once you’re organized, you can breathe a sigh of relief and continue to move forward with your life.
- Task Management – How many things are on your To Do List that you truly hate to do? I bet there’s a few items. Taking tedious tasks off your plate that you really dislike doing is something an assistant can do. If it’s a boring task or something you don’t enjoy, it still needs to get done. But that doesn’t mean you need to do it.
- Future Planning – While an assistant isn’t a magician, they can see the future and help you plan for what’s to come. In order to prevent that feeling from overwhelm from setting in, an assistant can get a plan in place and block tasks out so it doesn’t feel like too much at once. Feeling like you’re on top of things and not stressed is all about the plan.
- Forward Motion – We never want to stay stagnant so an extra set of hands to help out here and there can be a blessing. An assistant is there to help you get things done, keep your life and your business moving forward and prevent that stand still.
What About the Logistics?
Are you seeing how having someone to help out would be a good thing? If you’re nodding, then you’re probably wondering about logistics. How long do you have to hire someone for? Does everyone need someone? How do you even find an assistant? Asking these questions is a good thing.
How long do you have to hire someone for? It’s up to you and your needs. You might have a project that’s going to take a few months from beginning to end or you might need someone indefinitely.
Does everyone need to hire someone? No! If you’ve got your ish together, then you’re probably good. But keep in mind, having someone on standby isn’t a bad idea either.
How do you find an assistant? Ask around. While you may not think you do, I bet you know at least one or two people that have someone helping them.
How Do You Determine if You Need an Assistant?
The first step to figuring out if you need help is to analyze your needs. Rate your average sense of overwhelm on a scale of one to 10. If you’re regularly over seven, it might be time to consider hiring someone.
If you forget things often, it also might be a good sign. Maybe you forget to pay bills on time or you miss appointments that you’ve scheduled but ever wrote down. Heck, you might not even be completing tasks when they’re due.
Only you can make the determination, but doing a little review can give you loads of information.
How Do You Hire the Right Person for the Job?
Relationships are all about culture and compatibility so before you sign any contract, have a call with the potential person you’re going to hire. You can discuss specifics, get to know that person a little better and see if your personalities mesh.
Make sure to ask for references, reviews and referrals. Like I mentioned, almost everyone knows someone that helping someone else so you’re bound to get information. In addition to this information, check their social media pages and see if they have a website. Their work might be showcased in these places for the world to see.
The good news is, there is an assistant for everyone. People are working in these roles both in person and virtually. I’ve even started to offer services because I love to plan, help people create systems and organize everything from their time to their To Dos. Strangely enough, I even like the paperwork piece of it too. If you’re looking for someone to help you remotely, check out The Mindful Virtual Assistant. I just might be the right person for you. ?