In our ever-busy schedules, hiring a virtual personal assistant is always going to be a smart move for your business. It makes even more sense that we are able to help them as well to manage their time effectively. When this is done, the executive assistant can focus on impactful tasks, freeing you to handle strategy, growth, and what you love about your business.

According to Forbes, outsourcing routine work to a virtual executive assistant lets business leaders reclaim crucial time and energy for mission-critical tasks. It’s a strategic investment in productivity and efficiency.

Whatever you do, don’t give vague requests that keep your VA guessing as to what you need. If you want something done, outline specific expectations that you would need them to do. For example, instead of saying “cancel my afternoon appointments,” give them precise instructions like “I need you to move my meeting with so and so to this time instead.” This will prevent any monumental disasters, such as cancelling every afternoon appointment, including that nice dinner reservation with the family. This type of direction helps your virtual personal assistant deliver focused, high-value work without wasting time on guesswork.

Time blocking is another powerful method of dividing the day into dedicated slots for specific tasks. This boosts focus and minimizes multitasking. Project management tools like Trello or ClickUp are especially useful for executive assistants who manage complex projects, allowing them to keep track of deadlines and responsibilities visually.

Context switching is a massive no-no as a virtual executive assistant. It is the mental process of shifting focus from one task to another, which can reduce productivity and increase cognitive load. To prevent this from happening and make them more efficient, encourage your VA to batch activities that are similar to one another, like replying to emails, preparing meeting materials, or updating reports into dedicated time blocks.

It also helps to equip your VA with communication and productivity tools like Slack for quick updates, Zoom for meetings, and shared calendars to keep everything organized. A VA with the right tools will save you time as they can work more independently and efficiently, saving both of you valuable time.

Providing constructive feedback is a great tool to help your virtual personal assistant improve continuously as they remain under your employ. By setting aside a few minutes of your time, you can realign your priorities together, make quick judgments, and give some much-needed information.

Automation allows your VA to maximize their time by automating scheduling, email triage, or report generation. It frees up hours that can be spent on receiving feedback, handling harder tasks, or even some additional rest during some downtime. As highlighted in Forbes, integrating automation into your workflows can dramatically increase productivity.

If you want to work with your executive assistant and not see them burn out, avoid overwhelming them with too many tasks at once. VAs are hard-working individuals, yes, but they are not robots. Assign work in a balanced, manageable way so they can maintain quality while meeting deadlines. Make sure that deadlines can be met in a reasonable amount of time; otherwise, you are wasting your VA’s time and energy.

In order to maximize a virtual personal assistant’s time, you must consider providing clarity, structure, and thoughtful delegation. When instructions are clear, your virtual executive assistant values their time more because there are clear expectations from you. VAs that use effective tools and maintain open communication will always give you their all to ensure you and your business remain afloat.