When to hire a personal assistant

​​By: Bayou Trésors Staff

You have a business that is small but slowly expanding. You also have a full-time job that helps to pay the bills. On top of this are family responsibilities.

Life is a lot, and you’re tired.

Quite frequently, friends approach you with wide eyes and say, “I don’t know how you do it all!”

You smile and change the subject. But their comments linger. And they make you think to yourself, “I have no personal time and I’m ignoring the fact that I’m burned out. That’s how I do it.”

Quitting your job would mean losing the ability to pay your rent, mortgage, and other monthly bills. Giving up your business would mean giving up the plan you’ve built to help you escape from the full-time job that doesn’t bring you joy or pay enough to truly support your long-term goals.

So, it seems you have only one option. You’ve got to keep pushing through the burnout.

But is this your only option?

Many experts say it isn’t.

“Ten years ago, a mentor told me to hire a personal assistant. I was dubious. Today, I can't imagine myself getting the job done without one,” Lou Carlozo said in Money Under 30.  

A personal assistant may be the answer to your problems.

But how do you know for sure?

​Listed below are four signs that it may be time to hire a personal assistant.

1/Routine Tasks Have Become Time Vacuums
You’re spending hours knocking out routine tasks instead of big-picture activities that will boost your company’s long-term goals. Routine tasks can include but are not limited to: managing your daily calendar, screening and answering phone calls and emails, attending meetings of minimal importance, meeting with other colleagues or clients to discuss minor concerns, grocery shopping, picking up the dry cleaning, cooking for the family, and running other errands. 

2/Key Duties Go Undone
You notice that by the end of your 16-hour day, the major items on your daily checklist have not been completed. Essentially, the most important tasks are falling through the cracks because you’re too busy focusing on minor tasks. You simply can’t keep up with everything.

3/You Spend All Day Working
Sometimes we take on the mindset of a martyr and feel proud as we say, “I spent 16 hours working today. Wow!” That, my friend, is unhealthy. It’s a sure ticket to poor mental and physical health. Everyone needs “me-time.” So, if you don’t have any time to enjoy a relaxing activity or fun with family and friends during your week, this is a major problem.  

4/You Can Hire One Employee
If your company is bringing in enough to allow you to hire one person, it might be time to explore that option.
                                                                                  *****
If the four signs above apply to your situation, there’s another step you can take to see what sort of assignments you might give a personal assistant.
Write a list of every task you carry out on a daily basis. This includes things like gassing up the car, cleaning the pool, cooking dinner, and answering the seventeen text messages that your neediest client sends you every day.

Now, once you’ve examined that list, grab a highlighter, and mark the tasks that only YOU can accomplish.
For example, only you can knock out the one-hour weekly coaching session that each of your clients have been promised. So, that task would be highlighted.

​Once you’ve marked all of the things to be done that require your personal touch, look at the duties that are left over. Imagine if you didn’t have to do any of them because you delegated them to a personal assistant.

A trusted personal assistant can free up your time, so that you’re working a 10-hour day instead of 16. You’ll be free to focus on major tasks that will grow your business, while they knock out daily duties.

As your business grows and brings in more money, you’ll be able to hire more key employees, and eventually you’ll no longer need your full-time job.

This may whittle your workday down to seven or eight hours, instead of ten. Who knows? Maybe even less.
So, think about your situation and ask yourself if hiring an assistant will help your business to grow and allow you to improve your well-being.