How do you manage your time and energy as an executive assistant?

1. Prioritize tasks. High priority takes precedence for me. 2.Set boundaries. Establish clear boundaries for work & personal time. 3.Time blocking. Block off time for admin tasks & electronic folder filing, helps me stay organized and productive. 4.Delegate what you can where possible. 5. Politely say no if it's not within your JD and it exceeds your capacity at that time. 6. Take a break, go for a walk , change of scenery does wonders.Dont skip tea and lunch!. 7.Self care and time management.

In this role, it's important to take care of yourself and avoid burnout at all costs! There's always work to do as an EA, and at an earlier stage of my EA career, I would work massive overtime and never take PTO. Seven years in now, and supporting a CEO, of course I still work overtime (lol), but I do take PTO for personal time and holidays. I try to remain available to my Chiefs, but thankfully I work for incredible people that respect my time, just as I respect theirs. I am a big lister and tasker! I use various tools to track my progress and check off as I go. I also try my hardest to finish something once I've started, though in this role, that is not always possible. I take breaks and walk my dogs. I work to live, I don't live to work!

EAs and PAs are naturally helping others to plan and protect their time and therefore promote wellbeing in others. So practice what you preach for self care. Allocate time for yourself for breaks and lunch and use them selfishly. It will help focus your tasks throughout the day.

This is key to managing your time and energy as it allows you to ensure you and your boss are on the same page and are not working on things that are no longer a priority as things can change so quickly. This can only be done if you regularly communicate with your boss to find out what’s happening in their world to see if you need to make changes to your priorities align with those of your boss’.

Time is Money, you have to budget well, put time where it is needed and delegate where someone else can support you. Prioritization is key, what is urgent and can't wait and what you don't need in your intray. Keep your eyes on the ball. Organization, take advantage of slow days to clear your docket, plan ahead and always be a step ahead of your executive team, help them be organized to make everyone achieve

Establish sensible limits to safeguard your mental well-being, and don't carry guilt for it. Frequently, there's an impractical belief that Executive Assistants possess superhuman abilities and can instantly fix any issue, when, in reality, the situation often just demands their expertise. Meeting your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the standard expectation, while going above and beyond is a voluntary act of selflessness. However, problems arise when going the extra mile becomes an anticipated requirement. Straining to be a superhero can deplete you. Prioritizing self-care and occasionally declining is a reasonable step to prevent burnout.

Delegating tasks is a game changer, but not all assistants have a team around them to delegate to. In this case, I would learn to use productivity tools and apps to streamline repetitive tasks by using calendar apps and email filters to help you stay organised and efficient. If your organisation doesn't have a particular time-saving automation app/power-up function associated with a business licence for Outlook (for example) - why not learn how to use them on your personal accounts and form a business case to present the efficiencies you can bring to the company and to your role? As our roles are evolving quickly, we need to show what value we can bring to our organisations in an ever-changing, tech-orientated world.

As EAs we are frequently given a lot of tasks and asks from numerous people as well as the leader. Keeping an individual OneNote notebook or Teams 1x1 channel between you and the associate who gives you work to be done can be a valuable tool in tracking the work as well as prioritizing it and getting it done. Make sure you are always asking: "When do you need this done?" Always under promise and over deliver!

I got to work on time and so did my assistant to whom I delegated as my secretary. I planned to do my boss's work and made sure I didn't call him at home because that could be misconstrued. I knew what had to be done and between me and the one I had set up as my "secretary" we always got the work done.

Consider delegation opportunities that will give your assistant an opportunity to develop their skills and experience. That way, you are creating a win/win situation that helps both of you out.

I find that blocking time on my own calendar to work on tasks by type (Ie. email management, scheduling/calendar management, meeting prep, etc) helps with productivity.

Time management and setting boundaries are absolute key to managing interruptions and distractions. I apply Stephen Covey's quadrant to most of my tasks, and have a detailed action list I tick off for the day. I know what my priorities are, what's urgent and what's not. Clear communication and transparency with all stakeholders is also paramount, so there are no false expectations. This is also a great foundation for trust and mutual respect. I never over-promise, but always try to overdeliver! Sarah :)

My colleagues know that when I’m in the zone, they usually don’t bother me. However, in my role it’s very difficult not to be interrupted. There are just too many people that I support to ignore. How I handle these interruptions, is keeping conversations short and just being efficient. Besides, I naturally enjoy the distractions.

Time Block! There's no way around it; this is more than just taking a breather; when you time block and complete them within those windows of time, it becomes second nature.

I’ve found that this field comes with the unexpected interruptions. What I recommend is knocking out your non-negotiable tasks within the first 2-3 hours of your work day. This allows you to handle these unexpected interactions in a timely and stress-free manner. Plus schedules time for other tasks and or projects. I think coming in each day, knowing that the unpredictable will happen, makes the situations much more manageable. Being able to communicate your schedule and progress with your stakeholders is essential to having great communication, flow, and working relationships.

As I've got older I have found that my energy levels have changed significantly. Whereas earlier in my life I would definitely have considered myself an early bird, I find now I am more an 8 - 9 riser but have a lull late afternoon but then peak again in the evening. Automation has had such an impact because I can schedule emails/messages without effecting other peoples working schedules but making sure I stay on track.

For me, it will always come down to knowing and being clear on leaders' expectations for deadlines. From there, prioritization branches out and determines my day as fire drills or future projects pop up. Knowing what can get back-burnered and for how long reduces stress in the moment.

In my experience, I get re-energized for the afternoon by taking a walk at lunch time. The walk resets me mentally and physically.

One thing to be curious about as an EA/PA is your own Chronotype and what is your leaders. Dan Pink wrote a fabulous book on this topic called 'When'. It's about understanding the peak times for your productivity (and energy). I encourage assistants to tap into this to be more productive and effective and to enable the people or person they support to be more effective.

Set reasonable boundaries to protect your psyche & don't feel guilty about it. Most often, some people have the unrealistic expectation that EAs wear capes & solve every problem at a pin drop when in actual sense the matter at hand simply requires them to apply their heads. Performing ones KPIs is what's expected & going the extra is a choice to be selfless but toxicity starts when the extra mile becomes an expectation & demand. You can't deplete yourself trying to be the superhero. Self-care & saying "No" sometimes is reasonable to protect yourself from burnout.

"There's no greater form of gratitude than taking care of yourself." -Steven Barlett, The Diary of A CEO As executive assistants, we carry a great deal of responsibility and often prioritize the needs of others over our own. However, in order to keep up with the demanding pace of our daily lives, we must learn to take care of ourselves as well. Recently, I decided to start taking better care of myself by joining a local gym and hiring a personal trainer. The results have been astounding - in just one month, I have seen significant improvements in my physical health, energy levels, and sleep quality. It's true what they say, exercise is an effective form of medicine!

Making sure to have time away from work every day where you're not focusing on anything to do with work is absolutely necessary in order to stay fresh and do your best work. This includes thinking about work! If you're stressed or busy and find it easy to keep thinking about work, find something to distract yourself outside of the office, like going to the gym, cooking dinner for yourself, watching a TV show, etc.

Taking care of ourselves can sometimes be hard to do when we have to organize our work and home life. Taking a walk during lunch or in the morning with our dog helps me to recharge. In the summer on stressful days, I like to jump in our pool and do a few laps. Whatever works for you it’s definitely important to take that time.

There are so many free courses online you can leverage. I try to dedicate 2 hours each week for learning since my work offers some courses for free. I also signed up for a mentoring program through my work and it has been very rewarding.

Every day is an opportunity to learn and grow, take it the information to see and hear. Ask questions always. Every task can be improved, always look to make things better and more efficient but look to understand the areas of discussion within day to day business.

Staying on top of learning and development (L&D) is a penny drop moment, that can only be realised by you, when you are ready. What I mean by that is, it cannot be forced by anyone, an article or a networking group webinar, if YOU are not truly ready to take your own L&D into your own hands. This was the case for me Once you understand what works for you, your interests, your learning preferences and style, L&D really makes a difference in your role. There are a myriad of options for the administrative assistant and don't be fooled, some are repetitive and some can come with undertones of a hard sale. Controversially, there also comes a point to reduce constant learning, stop waiting to be ready and start implementing L&D into your role.

Continuous improvement is highly recommended. Set yourself targets of courses you would like to take in the year, workshops you want to attend, blogs you would like to listen to each month, etc in your area of interest. Keep learning and adapting to remain relevant and increase efficiencies.

Whenever the job offers learning and development take advantage. As different fields use different softwares and the more we know the more we grow. Professional learning is always the way to stay relevant.

Do work when it's time to work, and do rest when it's time to rest. You are a human, not robot. Push your capability to max not your energy.

The contributions on here are amazing, with lots of learning points to take away. I'm a big fan of prioritization and time management. I have 3 online lists which I use all day, every day - my own "to do" list, my CEO's "to do" list and the third list of people/things I'm waiting to hear back on with a note of deadlines. Keeps everything front and centre and we can both add to or change the list as necessary. The advice to say no to some requests for help is one we all struggle with as it's the nature of our role to be supportive. But a wise person once told me, "just because I can do something, doesn't always mean I should do it"!

Discovering your true self is the first step. Remember, your strengths can also be a weakness in certain situations. Take the time to understand when you're at your peak, mentally and physically. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Do you work better in a tidy or messy environment? Once you know your preferences, explore different time management techniques and energy-boosting strategies. Choose the ones that align with your character and make you feel more comfortable and productive. Everything changes; nothing remains the same forever, and you neither. So, feel free to try new techniques and learn. Remember, each individual has their unique way of working and finding the one that suits you best is the key.

This is a very common topic and it’s an issue faced by many. I’ll confidently tell you that overtime, I have applied a simple strategy called engaging the use of PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS. Take Notion as an example, I create my to-do list there, put all my activities for the day and week there and also do all my follow ups there. It’s seamlessly easy to navigate for me. Time management on its own is a trait every professional should have. Time is MONEY and VALUE! Let’s learn how to manage our time.

We have various productivity tools. For the purpose of this, I’ll like to talk about NOTION BOARD. Notion is something that has immensely helped me, Imagining having documents, files, travel itineraries and many more on a single page, interesting right? It enhances my productivity. Time management can also help us from feeling overwhelmed ??