Block Off Time in Your Calendar

October 19, 2007

Another productivity tip for my fellow virtual assistants.

If you want to avoid the problem of having eight phone calls a day and no time to get actual work done, block off chunks of time in your calendar and call it NO CALLS TIME. I do this and I actually block off at least three hours per day of uninterrupted, no phone calls time.

Don’t fear the stigma of being unavailable.

The thing is, no one but you knows what your calendar actually looks like. You don’t need to say, “No, sorry, that time is No Calls Time so I can’t book you in then” but instead just simply say, “I’m sorry, I’m all booked up on that day, what about Thursday?”

Your clients will appreciate the amount of work you will get done in that time and time spent off the phone is much more productive.

Be flexible with your new schedule (to a degree).

If a client or potential client is in a different timezone, feel free to be flexible in your No Calls Time. Simply move that block of time to another section in that day and schedule the person into the time slot they need. Don’t be afraid of moving the blocks around - if you use a service like Outlook, it’s really easy to drag and drop your calendar appointments.

However, don’t book clients into your No Calls Time and then wonder why you don’t have any free time left. Only do that when there are major exceptions to be made. Otherwise, stick to your schedule and learn to love the free, uninterrupted time.

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