✍️The moment I realized I couldn't do it all alone

There are certain seasons of the year where I scale back a bit in my freelance writing and other seasons where I really up the amount of work I take on.

Earlier in 2023, a deadline completely dropped from my radar — as in, the editor followed up a week later to ask when I was going to submit a piece. 

[cringe 😬]

My stomach clenched when I realized I hadn't added the deadline to my project tracker or paper calendar. Luckily, I had worked with the client for a while and she was totally understanding. I quickly moved things in my schedule to prioritize her piece. 

But it made me realize that I needed to get my shit together a little bit more. And that's when I started letting go and tapping my virtual assistant to help with managing my project tracker.

Now I give her full access to my project Google Sheet and whenever a new deadline comes in, I forward her the email. She fills in all the details so all I have to do is check my deadlines each day and week to determine what's next in my writing queue. 

4 more ways my VA helps me each month

• Drafts (not sends) invoices (I had to put on my big girl pants to ask for help with this, but I did!)

• Inputs data in Google sheets for a recurring monthly assignment with lots of manual data entry

• Creates calendar templates for my social media clients

• Helps with various research projects

⏰ This year, one of my goals is to do a time audit and identify more ways my VA could help my business. I'm not maximizing the amount of hours I budget for her services.

🗓️ I've also scheduled a meeting with her to find out what other services she offers that could help grow my business and free up some of my time.

Do you use a VA? If you do (or if you want to hire one), what kind of tasks do you get help with?

Happy freelancing,

Lauren

When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you with your freelance business:

1. Organize your business with my income tracker or pitch tracker.

2. Read The Fully Booked Freelance Writer to follow my exact process for keeping a full schedule (whatever that looks like for you).