EA-Pros Week 43 - Helping Assistants Thrive

"Efficiency is your currency; wield it to carve paths through mountains of work. You are the architects of productivity, shaping the future with every task completed."

This edition of EA-Pros is crafted to recognize your overwhelming list of tasks and projects, that most of your strategic partners have no clue about. Use the information here to turn the overwhelm into unwavering success.

👇 Exclusive opportunity:

EA INSIGHTS

Key Insights to Help You Thrive!

The Time Savvy Assistant:  Efficiency and effectiveness boil down to doing the right things at the right time. Time is your most precious resource; manage it wisely. For example, embracing the power of 'No' to protect your time, can allow you to batch similar tasks together reducing what’s known as context switching (harmful to the brain’s productivity). If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a hectic schedule, constantly juggling multiple tasks, or your workload feels chaotic like running on a wheel but getting nowhere. It may be time to upgrade your time mastery toolbelt and we have just the solution to help you. There’s a new skillset on the horizon among assistants known as the “Time Savvy Assistant.” Here’s a free resource that will give you multiple strategies to help you streamline workflow, enhance focus, and increase your opportunities to do more strategic work, which has a greater impact on business. Thanks to EA-Pros, anyone with access to this newsletter will have 3 days to complete the mini-course and soak up all these powerhouse time management strategies. The content will be accessible for only 3 days (use it or lose it). If you complete it in 3 days you get to keep it forever. If not, you lose access. Don’t miss this window of opportunity. Click here to get access.

Automate Your Day Away

Did you know that you can automate some of those tedious yet recurring tasks that waste your time? Here’s a solution only a few assistants are taking advantage of. It’s called Zapier. For example, here’s how it works. You can choose one repetitive daily task and use Zapier to automate it. Start with something simple, like syncing new email attachments to a dedicated Dropbox folder by using the following steps: Sign up for Zapier, choose Gmail (or whatever email provider you use) and Dropbox as your apps, select the "New Attachment in Email" trigger, and set up the "Add File to Dropbox" action. Test your Zap to ensure it works, and enjoy the time you've just saved. Thank me later :).

Anticipate Needs: The 5-Question Technique

At the end of each day, take a moment to answer these five questions about your executive:

1. What will be their main focus tomorrow?

2. What information might they require first thing?

3. What potential challenges could arise?

4. Who will they need to connect with?

5. What can I prepare today to make tomorrow smoother?

This reflective practice sharpens your anticipatory skills and ensures you're always a step ahead.

Growth Mindset: The 1% Improvement Rule

Focus on improving just 1% in a specific area of your work each day. Whether it's enhancing your organization skills, learning a new feature in a software tool, or advancing your communication skills (a power skill in business). These small increments lead to substantial growth over time. Track these improvements (here’s a free template) in a journal or spreadsheet to visualize your progress and stay motivated.

COACHING MOMENT

Ask an Executive Coach

Every week I take a question from you and provide a bit of strategic advice.

How do you make your organization view an executive assistant as the executive of the administrative functions in that area versus the department office assistant?