usa job typing

The way I work is to get things off my plate as soon as possible and move on to the next task.  The problem is it is now filed in the back burner of my mind.  It is still hovering in the background somewhere, but I've completed the work, done whatever I needed to do with it and diarized whatever needed to be diarized and moved on until I need to know it again.  My boss may come out a month or so later and ask me questions about it and sometimes my mind initially draws a blank.  I need a minute to go back and check and then I am completely up to speed again. I find with the volume of work admins deal with throughout the day, week and month, we need some system to keep things straight.  For me, the thing that helps is to document everything .  I put items in my calendar as a reminder, but the problem with calendar reminders is unless you know which day you put it on or what you named it, you can't easily find it....

I finally launched my new website and am open for business.  If you want to take a peek here is my URL address Boomerangvirtualassistants.com It's very exciting!  Sometimes you just have to do it and quit trying to figure everything out.  My esthetician, who opened her own shop about a year ago, said she is learning the business side as she goes.  Of course you need to know the basics, but some things you really do learn on the go.  I have the right resources to help me along: a bookkeeper to handle that part of the business.  My website is hosted on another platform so I have the security of being under someone else's umbrella and they have to do all the security work.  I bought a new computer and subscribed to a plan for IT support so I have an IT person at my beck and call.  I upgraded to the professional package offered by Dropbox so I can receive documents and recordings (I was already running out of space).  So I thi...

Recently, my sister (a long-time assistant) retired.  We were doing some work together and because she knew how busy I was at my day job, she immediately took over and started to do the small tasks she knew I didn't have time to do.  I appreciated all over again how nice it can be to have an assistant, and not only an assistant, but a very experienced one.  I didn't have to worry about a thing because I knew she was taking care of it.  It took a real burden off my shoulders.  Unfortunately, this arrangement will be short lived, but it did remind me again how important our role can be. I have also seen what it is like when it doesn't work.  If a boss and their admin are not communicating expectations, that can create more work for both of them.  It is important that you both know what the other does and where the assistant can take over and the boss can leave it.  This way it can work beautifully. For instance, I have a flagging system with my...

I always enjoy Anita's insights.  This is a good read on ways to handle passive/aggressive colleagues .

I have recently been doing some online work and it has opened up a whole new world for me.  Of course others have been on the bandwagon for some time and are doing quite well.  What do they know that I don't and why have I not moved on this before now? Striking out on your own can be frightening.  Especially when you are used to the traditional workplace of going to an office, getting a steady paycheck, being on the company pension and benefit plan, etc.  There are definitely things to consider, but the opportunities can be limitless. I always thought the ideal situation would be if you had two incomes, as in a spousal relationship.  Then if the other partner had a 9 to 5 job with all the trimmings, striking out on your own would not be as risky.  But what if you are on your own like I am?  I think I just answered my own question about being an entrepreneur.  The definition of an ent...

It is always good to be prepared when meeting with your boss.  The purpose of the meeting should be to ask questions, get direction, provide and/or receive information. I would suggest the following: If you have access to your boss's email Inbox, go through it as that will be a good place to start.  As you go through the items, you will have questions about meetings he or she is attending, questions about events they may or not be attending, etc.  Also check their Sent items in case the answer lies in there.  Sometimes I have checked the Sent items to see my boss has already emailed the organizer to send her regrets to a meeting. Review the items you want to discuss before the meeting with your boss.  Sometimes you may have a list of items, but don't get to see your boss face-to-face for a few days.  It is better if you go in prepared.  It will be a better use of both your time.  You do not have to spend a lot of time reviewing, but...

When I create a table in Word I like to see the gridlines (the faint lines that tell you there is a line there, but if you print the document you won't see any lines).  I like this especially for minute taking as I use a minute template with tables.  I prefer creating it this way because I don't want to be fussing with formatting while in a meeting.  The end product will look like it is one area on the document, but really it is many rows of cells.  By doing this it makes it easy to jump from cell to cell.  Setting the gridlines is done by clicking on the View Gridlines button under the Layout Tab, which is in the Table area (located at the bottom on the ribbon).  See screenshot below: This is a toggle button so once you set it, it will be on for all your documents, which is what you probably want if you like this feature.  To take it off you just click on it and then it will return to having no gridlines. I go through this every time I chang...