When I was still in the classroom, one of the worst parts of being out was coming back to an email inbox that had gone unchecked for at least 24 hours. Between parents, admin, other teachers, and even kids the last few years, the number of emails was always overwhelming. You see, when I was not at work, I tried my best to be present with my family and friends, so checking email at home wasn't a thing after my first couple of years.
Many business owners feel the same way- if I step away for a day or two to get some much needed you or family time, things will get out of control. Here's the great news though: it doesn't have to!
How much time is email taking from you?
We all know that work-life balance is important, but it can also be incredibly tricky to achieve as a small business owner or busy professional. Think about the amount of time you spend in your email a day. Drafting, replying, searching. A survey done by Adobe found that American professionals spend about 15.5 hours a week in their email inbox. That works out to just about 20 full weeks a year!
Now imagine what else you could do with that time during the work week. Would passing most of your email tasks off to a virtual assistant mean you had more time outside of work? I'm betting you are realizing it would.
That's where people like me come in. There are so many different levels of email support that a virtual assistant can provide, but I'm going to focus on two main things I do for clients.
Here’s how I can help:
Clean Up I always try to clean out as much of the emails that aren't needed. This could mean you hire someone like myself to come in and do a one-time clean up of your inbox or maybe you don't want to spend the time maintaining it and you want monthly check-ins. Either way, cleaning out all of the unnecessary emails is a great place to start.
Customer Support Maybe your inbox woes come from an overwhelming amount of emails from customers. A virtual assistant can help you by responding to the simple emails, leaving the ones that need your attention to you.
If you pass off even a little bit of your email related tasks, you have more time for the parts of your business that require your attention. If you have more time for your business, during business hours, you end up with more time for your life outside of work. You can take that break. You can spend time with your family.
Most virtual assistants will not only complete these tasks for you, but help you set up systems for new incoming emails as well. My one time clean up package comes with a list of tips for continuing to keep your inbox manageable. My monthly package includes a one time clean up and monthly follow ups to spot clean.
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