How I Free Up Time via a Virtual Assistant
And what I've learned from more than a year of working with one
In a previous newsletter, I mentioned how my husband and I hired a virtual assistant (VA) to help us with our work and family lives. Hiring a VA has been a smart investment for us, especially in a year when we made big life changes and were climbing a lot of learning curves.
According to my reader poll, most people wanted to hear more about what our VA does for us.
I’ll share that, but first, some context.
A decision born out of the need to delegate
We hired our VA one month before my book came out. The to do’s were piling up, and I was drowning in administrative tasks.
My co-author and I were dividing and conquering media requests, but in addition to doing pre-publicity, I was in charge of updating our book website, spearheading email outreach, and keeping many other technology-related balls in the air.
A few experienced authors mentioned their virtual assistants. When they shared what their VAs did, I realized that hiring one could restore something I desperately missed — the ability to delegate.
When I made the leap from corporate leader to entrepreneur, I was prepared for the disappearance of a steady paycheck and prestigious title. But after years of honing my delegation skills as I led increasingly large teams, I suddenly found myself unable to delegate…there simply wasn’t anyone to delegate to!
As a result, I was doing alllllll the things — including things that were definitely not my “highest and best use.”
I’ve loved this phrase — coined by author, entrepreneur, and leader Tiffany Dufu — ever since I first read it in her book Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less. It refers to (in her words): “what you do really well with minimal effort, combined with what only you can do.”1
I realized that in the lead-up to the book launch, my limited time was better spent focused on “highest and best use” things (such as doing media interviews and podcasts) rather than on the time-consuming administrative tasks that were bogging me down.
I made the case to Ross that we should hire a VA. He had recently started his own investment firm, and I argued it was likely that he, too, was spending time on things that weren’t his highest and best use.
I also suspected that in addition to work tasks, a VA could help us with “life admin,” an ever-growing pile that awaited us whenever we managed to turn away from our respective work tasks.
He agreed to give it a go for six months. We decided that if either of us thought it wasn’t a good investment after that, we’d stop.
A brilliant model
We interviewed a VA who had come highly recommended by another author, but we ended up hiring Squared Away, which matched us with a VA.2
Squared Away connects military spouses (who hone their organizational prowess by helping their families relocate frequently but have difficulty finding jobs on military bases) with people looking for part-time virtual support.
In my previous professional life, I led a proven workforce development program, and I loved the Squared Away model and mission. We also liked that Squared Away would provide backup coverage for our primary VA if needed, which proved helpful when our first VA went out on maternity leave and our current VA had a medical procedure.
We’ve had a great experience with Squared Away over the last 15 months. If you’re in the market for a VA, I encourage to check it out.
If you do, please mention that I referred you! Click here, select “Other” in the “How did you find Squared Away?” dropdown, and write “Abby Davisson” in the box underneath. If you end up working with a Squared Away VA, I’ll get a referral bonus at no cost to you.
What we delegate to a virtual assistant
OK, now what you’ve been waiting for — the goods on what our VA does for us!
I reviewed everything our VA has helped with (we use a Trello board to manage tasks, which made this easy) and identified the categories of tasks I’ve found most useful to delegate. I’ll share three below along with some examples of actual tasks she’s helped us do.
Tasks that aren’t my “highest and best use”
Work and life tasks that don’t require my specific set of talents.
Making website updates as new articles and podcasts are added; uploading email addresses
Researching various business platforms (e.g., electronic signing services, expense tracking platforms) and making recommendations
Adding items to our family calendar (e.g., school breaks, kid activity schedules, religious holidays, etc.)
Identifying vendors and reaching out to get quotes for projects (e.g., getting a chair reupholstered, fixing an engagement ring)
Downloading and categorizing business expenses
Event planning (e.g., arranging the logistical details for kids’ birthday parties and other events)
Tasks I’d spend too much time on if left to my own devices
As a maximizer, I can spend WAAAAY too long going down internet research rabbit holes to find “the perfect [fill in the blank]”. By having our VA do the legwork, I save myself a lot of time (because I’d spend more time than I really need to on these tasks).
Sourcing items, mostly kid-related (e.g. Halloween costume items, photo frames, Hanukkah “experiences” we gave our kids as gifts this past year, Valentine’s Day cards for classmates, ordering replacement LEGO pieces)
Researching work and family travel and developing itineraries (e.g., plane tickets, Airbnb and hotels, activities and restaurants at destinations)
Tasks that leverage my VA’s particular strengths
As with any team member, it’s helpful to get to know your VA’s unique strengths and talents. Previously, my VA had a photography business and worked for the personal styling company StitchFix. She’s a visual, creative person who knows clothing. Understanding her talents has helped me delegate things that play to her strengths.
Taking a first pass at design tasks (e.g., our annual holiday card, kids’ bday party virtual invitations, graphics on Canva for this newsletter — she made the logo and the graphics at the top and bottom!)
Posting items on Poshmark (e.g., writing descriptions, researching prices, creating drafts that I review before posting)
Editing and ordering photos (e.g., my younger son had a scratch on his eyelid on school picture day; she photoshopped it for us before ordering hard copies of the kids’ school photos)
Packing for travel (e.g., making packing checklists for the kids to use to pack for trips, body doubling to help me pack for trips before the last minute, when I’m prone to throwing in too many things “just in case”).
Bonus insights for paid subscribers
I love writing this newsletter — and it takes a considerable amount of time. Having paid subscribers helps make it a more sustainable endeavor.
As a thank you for supporting this newsletter financially, paid subscribers will get three additional juicy insights today:
Tasks I’ve learned the hard way NOT to delegate to our VA
What our VA wishes people knew before hiring a VA
An unexpected benefit of sharing a VA with my spouse