Take Advantage of Holiday “Downtime”
My first holiday working as a Virtual Assistant, I had a client gift me their hours for the month to spend with my son. Still paid but told me to just enjoy the time.
My other clients had me help with some holiday gifts and their regularly programmed calendar management but for the most part, things remained fairly slow.
MOST clients slow down over the holidays. Some all month of November and December, some all December, and some just the two weeks around Christmas and New Year...no matter what, it can be a slower month because clients are busy enjoying their personal life.
Things you can do during this time:
Get organized
Evaluate your processes
Make content!
ENJOY things slowing down, you deserve it!
Get organized
Now, I’m sure you are already organized...at least I hope so! But I know how things can get cluttered in the heat of being heads down and working/being a mom. Use this downtime to go through your inbox and get it to zero (or at least below 10), get rid of all of those random files in your Drive or file them away.
Make sure your client’s info is up to date in your files! Have you learned a new preference about them that you haven’t recorded anywhere? Make sure you have it all added somewhere.
Evaluate Your Processes
Don’t have your client’s preferences and general info stored anywhere? Create a spreadsheet, Google doc, or profile in LastPass for them and start entering everything you can think of.
Don’t like your password manager? Do some research on new ones!
Have your onboardings been smooth with new clients? Maybe you need to send an email when they sign with the next steps and layout expectations.
Are you having weekly check-ins with your clients? Get those on the calendar for the coming year!
What’s not been running smoothly in your business? Think through your day-to-day and see if you can find ways to automate and run more efficiently!
Make content!
Are you looking to scale in the new year? Now would be a great time to start a content plan for January and even get to work on putting it together.
Need content ideas? Start researching other Virtual Assistants and duplicate what you like about their content layout. Come up with your own content! But take time to find inspiration from others out there.
Also, if you’re looking to scale in the new year, make sure to ask your clients for referrals! Since things are slowing down for them, they will have time to consider and make introductions.
ENJOY Slow Seasons
You deserve to slow down with the clients you work with. Don’t feel like you have to hustle 24/7, especially through this time of year. Make sure you reflect on how you’re doing and what you need in order to hit the ground running come January 1.
Don’t burn yourself out right into the new year. No one will blame you if you do less this holiday season. It’s supposed to be a time for you to recharge too!