Virtual assistants often deal with numerous responsibilities and a multitude of tasks every day. Whether it’s to answer phone calls, reply to emails, perform data entry, or any other time-consuming administrative tasks. Virtual assistants typically spend long hours dealing with whatever assigned task needs to be finished.

 

An important part of effectively dealing with a long list of tasks is to learn how to properly manage or organize your responsibilities. You should know how to prioritize so that you will be able to complete the task on time. However, this can be challenging when your tasks start to overflow.

 

To help you deal with this, here are some effective strategies that you can use to better manage your tasks as a remote working virtual assistant.

 

Importance of Task Management

Whether you’re working on your own or working with a team, it is essential that you learn how to properly manage your tasks. Task management for team leaders or managers revolves around prioritizing tasks, communicating and collaborating with others, as well as effectively delegating tasks to team members. 

 

On the other hand, employees need to learn task management to strategize their workload, adapt to the demands of their responsibilities, as well as track their progress and development over time. Effective task management can boost productivity and increase overall efficiency while avoiding stress or burnout. 

 

Effective Task Management Techniques

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Project or task management techniques allow people to properly plan, manage, and organize their tasks depending on importance, difficulty, and urgency. However, there are different task management strategies that people can choose from. Here are some of the most popular and effective techniques that you can use to better manage your tasks and increase productivity.

 

Kanban Board

A Kanban board is a relatively simple task management tool that features visual elements such as cards and columns to keep track of tasks and progress. Kanban boards have five essential elements that make them effective – the visual signal, columns, work-in-progress limits, commitment point, and delivery point.

 

The visual signal element, often referred to as the visual card, features the individual task or responsibility. Each card should encapsulate what the task at hand is which allows the user or users to keep track of what needs to be done.

 

Kanban boards include columns that represent the project’s workflow. Each column indicates the task’s progress through its completion. The most basic column tags are labeled as “To Do”, “In Progress”, and “Completed”. However, users can add other columns to mark their position in the project’s workflow. Some examples include tags such as for revision, editing, and the like.

 

The work-in-progress limit (WIP) is a crucial element in Kanban boards. It is the set limit number of cards the “In Progress” column can hold at any given time. Users need to move the cards forward to the next column before adding a new card to the in-progress list. 

 

The WIP limit helps prevent users from multitasking, avoid bottlenecks, and even keep them from overworking. 

 

The commitment and delivery points mark the start and finish lines of a Kanban project. The goal is to bring a card from the commitment point down to the delivery point which is when the project is completed. 

 

Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is one of the most widely used project management strategies. It is a highly versatile tool that can be used to plan, schedule, and track different projects at different stages or phases of completion.

 

Gantt charts emphasize creating a realistic project timeline that allows those involved to see the tasks that need to be done, when they should be completed, as well as the progress for each task. 

 

Gantt charts are perfect for planning big projects that are set over a long period of time. With this task management strategy, you can set deadlines, track task dependencies, and monitor progress in relation to the project’s completion. 

 

Eat-the-frog Method

The eat-the-frog method is perfect for people who struggle with procrastination as well as those who find it difficult to stay productive and accomplish the most important tasks. The idea behind this technique is fairly simple – deal with the most important or hardest task.

 

This technique encourages people to determine the most important or hardest task at hand (the so-called frog) and do it first. Eating the frog encourages people to prioritize accomplishing high-impact tasks before diving into smaller less urgent matters for the rest of the day. With this strategy, you can get more things done in terms of value while also completing smaller tasks on the side. 

 

Helpful Tips On Proper Task Management

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Avoid multitasking

There is a common misconception that working on multiple tasks simultaneously allows you to accomplish more. However, that is most often not the case. While some people believe that accomplishing parts of several tasks is more valuable than completing one, multitasking often leads to poor productivity and efficiency. 

 

This is because multitasking makes it difficult for people to focus completely on one task. Your mind would shift from one task to another which can make it hard to think creatively or logically. The less focus and attention you put on a task, the longer it would take to process and conduct what needs to be done.

 

Break projects down into smaller tasks

Working on humongous projects can sometimes be daunting. Seeing the bulk of tasks that needs to be accomplished, virtual assistants can sometimes feel overwhelmed with their responsibilities. One way to better handle this situation is to break projects down into smaller and more manageable tasks. 

 

Doing this provides you with a different perspective and allows you to look at whatever big or difficult task is on hand as something workable. Taking on smaller tasks bit by bit can also be a way to prevent procrastination and feelings of stress and overwhelm. 

 

Aside from that, continuously working and completing tasks, despite being easy or small, allows you to gain momentum to deal with the more challenging tasks for the day. 

 

Set realistic deadlines

When working as a VA, your client or boss would likely set deadlines for tasks so that you will accomplish them in due time. However, there are instances where the deadlines they set are too far out which can be a reason for you to procrastinate. To avoid this, consider setting realistic deadlines for yourself when managing your tasks and schedule. 

 

Using time-tracking tools can provide you with accurate information about your productivity and efficiency at work. Strive to finish your tasks as soon and as fast as possible. This will not only boost your productivity but will also be a way for you to develop and sharpen your skills.

 

Mentally prepare yourself

Some VAs struggle with being productive as soon as they clock in to work. Some spend several minutes getting into the zone while others find it difficult to stay focused on the task at hand. To help with this, it is important that you spend a couple of minutes mentally preparing yourself for work. 

 

As much as possible, avoid distractions minutes before you sit down to work. Put your phone down, turn off any music, or get yourself a fresh cup of coffee. It is important that you are mentally prepared to work and completely focused on accomplishing the tasks you have for the day. Establishing a pre-work routine can help prepare your mind and body faster and more effectively. 

 

Bottomline

Virtual assistant jobs are often accompanied by a vast range of responsibilities. You can find yourself working on some graphic design while also performing social media management, email management, and so on. In situations like this, work can feel overwhelming despite your years of experience and skills.

 

Learning how to properly manage your tasks can help you with this. You can keep track of your various track and monitor your progress for each one. You can also categorize and prioritize your responsibilities based on importance, urgency, and demand.

 

Using task management techniques and practices allows you to increase your productivity and boost your work efficiency.

 

 

Want to find ways to increase your productivity? Sidekicks is an on-demand virtual company, and we’re eager to help visionaries and entrepreneurs like you. Get a free ebook and learn more about how we can help you by signing up for our newsletter. We also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you prefer something more personal.

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