Every week, I walk a fine line between organised professional and octopus with a laptop.
People often ask, “Bonnie, how do you keep track of everything when you’ve got multiple clients, endless tasks, and only one brain?”
Honestly? Sometimes I ask myself that too!
I have been an Assistant for all of my career, so a lot of it is down to experience, the natural ability to multi-task and a brain that is able to context switch easily…however, I do not sit back and just hope for the best, there are certain things I do, to help me juggle it all, and make sure everyone I am working with is happy.
The Monday Map-Out. I talked about this in another article but this is sacred time.
Colour Coding. Each client gets their own colour (I try to match it to their brand colour if I can, because I like things like that!) I use this colour in ClickUp, my calendar, any online folders I create, even in my time tracking software. Visually, this helps me to see at a glance which clients I have to work on, on a particular day, and also which of their tasks are still to-do, are in progress, or are completed. It’s quite colourful if I’m honest, but it works.
Communicate. I like to update my clients before they even think to ask. It keeps things smooth. So once something is done they get a quick update. This could be a simple tick emoji via WhatsApp, it could be a slack message or an email. Each has their own preferred method of communication but it helps to keep them up to date with what I’m doing in real time.
Reset Rituals. Once I have completed a piece of work for one client, I take a quick break to reset, perhaps make a cuppa or do a little tidy up of my own admin. Then crack on with the next client with a new hat on (in a new colour!)
Boundaries. Each client has a service level agreement. They know I will get something done within a certain amount of time. I try to remind myself of this and not put too much pressure on myself to have to do everything right away. I also have a rule of contact only between 9am and 6pm, but honestly – I need to work on that!
How do you keep your week from turning into a circus?