If you’re a busy business owner, you most likely have already hired help to assist in running your business. But, have you thought about getting assistance for your personal life tasks as well?
Maybe you’re a stay at home parent and have a house and family to manage. Wouldn’t it be great to get some assistance to keep everything running smoothly?
If you’re having a difficult time “getting it all done”, it might be time to consider hiring a virtual assistant part-time so you can keep up with the all the responsibilities in your personal life. Personal assistants are very accessible and have the ability to handle a variety tasks for you remotely. You can customize your personal assistant’s duties to fit your needs, lifestyle, and family.
What is a remote personal assistant?
A remote personal assistant supports an individual or family to manage their personal life so they can focus on high-level tasks at home or in the office. They are hired to take tasks off your plate so your productivity and quality of life increases.
A personal assistant should have excellent time-management skills, be extremely organized, be an open communicator, have project management experience, and can prioritize without hand holding. They also need to be discreet at all times since they are handling your personal and possibly private information.
10 personal assistant duties
The tasks that a personal assistant can manage will be different depending on their skillset and experience. You will need to find an assistant who provides the services you require. The list of duties a personal assistant can manage is almost limitless. Below are 10 general tasks that a personal assistant can provide help with and an in-depth look at each one.
1. Email management
Our personal email inbox can get filled up so quickly and can become easily overwhelming. Every time you sign up on a new website you start getting email newsletters from that company. Who has time to sift through all those messages? You don’t want to miss an important email in the hundreds of messages you receive every day. Below I’ve listed how a personal assistant can help you with email management.
- Organize and sort through your inbox to review new emails daily
- Cleanout old emails by deleting or archiving them
- Create folders and labels so every message has a place to live
- Unsubscribe to unwanted emails and newsletters
- Update your contact list when information changes or when you have new contacts to add
- Create tasks out of your emails for you to complete
- Notify you of high importance messages right away
- Respond back with templated responses
2. Scheduling assistance
Scheduling your appointments and events can be very time consuming, but it has to be done eventually by someone. Hiring a personal assistant to manage your scheduling will take this simple task off your plate and you can be assured that you keep up to date with your required appointments. Here are some ways a personal assistant can help you with scheduling.
- Doctor and dentist appointment scheduling
- Schedule family events, parties, birthdays, reunions, and outings
- Make dinner reservations
- Line up childcare
- Line up child drop-off and pickups for school, activities, and playdates
- Schedule boat docking and moving
- Schedule personal trainer appointments
- Set up reminders in your calendar
- Update your calendar when appointments change
3. Shopping assistance
It can be stressful to take time out of your day to shop for gifts, especially if you always seem to struggle to find the perfect item. It also can take up a big chunk of your day to either go to the store and browse the shelves or surf the internet for the ideal gift. Your remote personal assistant can do research to assist you with this.
- Search in stores or online for holiday, birthday, anniversary, and any other important gift you need to give
- Create a list of options for you to review before purchasing
- Purchase the gift
- Order and arrange the delivery of flowers, cookies, gift baskets, etc.
- Order food to be delivered to you
4. Travel arrangements
Planning a trip or vacation can be overwhelming. There are numerous websites to sift through to find the best options and deals. A personal assistant can do all this research, planning, and booking for you.
- Search through travel sites to find:
- Transportation options (flight, train, boat, etc.)
- Hotel options
- Car rental options
- Research cruises
- Create an itinerary of activities or suggest possible activities for you to choose from
- Find and make reservations at restaurants
- Add travel plans to your personal calendar
- Check-in to your flights and notify you of any flight delays or time changes
- Send out host gifts
- Research and provide information to you about the destination prior to trip
- Obtain visas
- Provide currency exchange information
5. Meal planning
Eating healthy isn’t always easy since it takes work and planning. How many times do you make a trip to the grocery store and once you get home you realize you forgot something? With a personal assistant’s help, you can get on track with a healthy eating schedule and keep your pantry stocked in an efficient way.
- Plan daily and weekly menus with food you request
- Make grocery lists
- Order groceries online for pickup or delivery
- Food subscription plan management
- Research and provide you with recipes
6. Household management
There are many aspects to owning and running a home. An assistant can help you stay on top of everything that needs to be done so you don’t feel overwhelmed and stressed out.
- Manage and organize the family calendar of events, appointments, and holidays
- Schedule the following:
- House cleaning services
- Landscaper services
- Pet care and grooming
- Contractors
- Laundry services
- Pool maintenance
- Snow removal services
- Pest and critter services
- Oil/gas delivery
- General real-estate maintenance (scheduling HVAC servicing, gutter cleaning, etc)
- Hire and fire household staff as needed
- Set up play dates for children
7. Event coordination
Planning an event can drain your energy and make you dread the actual event. If you’ve ever planned a gathering (big or small), you know how many details need to be sorted out and how much research is involved. If you pass off this task to a personal assistant, they can manage all of the details for you.
- Holiday, birthday, anniversary, wedding, and reception planning
- Find dates you are available in your calendar
- Research and book venues
- Create seating charts
- Select menus
- Find and hire entertainment
- Send out invitations
- Purchase decorations and favors
- Vendor management
- Keep track of costs to stay within budget
- Promote your event via website, social media, email messages, or printed materials
- Handle any contracts, permits, or insurance information
- Determine the day-of schedule so everything is under control and planned out
8. Manage your finances
Your personal finances are just as important as your business finances. There are many transactions going in and out of your accounts every week. A personal assistant can make sure everything is correct and properly in order.
- Make sure your bills are paid on time
- Manage your bookkeeping
- Create reports for you on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or annual basis
- Provide budgeting assistance and guidance
- Negotiating with companies for lower rates
- Monitor your credit
- Manage and consolidate debt
- Manage loans (car, mortgage, student, and personal)
- Retirement planning
- Estate planning
- Research and choose a bank
- Organize tax documents
- Buy and sell stocks
9. Online research
You can spend countless hours researching information online. Don’t waste your time reading through articles, consumer reports, and top 10 lists. Hire a personal assistant to do your research for you. They can research any topic that you need information on.
- Formal or informal research
- Create lists of options for you to review
- Summarize findings
- Provide links to high value resources that you should read through
- Make recommendations
10. Document & administrative assistance
There are many administrative tasks that need to be taken care of in our personal lives. Staying organized with your paperwork is extremely important. It would be smart to use the help of a personal assistant if you have a hard time staying on top of this. A skilled administrative personal assistant will keep your important documents organized and safe.
- Scan any hard copies and keep all paperwork virtually organized in the content management system of your choice
- Document your systems and workflows
- Keep track of passwords
- Take notes during important personal meetings, create a summary, and send you any action items
- Scan, fax, and mail paperwork
As you’ve read through the list above, I’m sure you’ve recognized that you would benefit greatly from hiring a personal assistant to manage many of these areas for you. Life is too precious to waste with tedious tasks that are bogging you down. It’s time to consider hiring a personal assistant so you can get time back into your busy life. Once you hire a personal assistant, you will feel less stressed and will be able to spend more quality time with your friends and family.
