Have you ever found yourself at the end of a day, week, or month and wonder where the time went? Seriously. One moment you were at the beginning. The next moment . . .its as if Scottie beamed you up to CBD (close of business day). You review all that you did in the preceding hours and realize you could not have worked any harder. If you did, you would be dead. (Seriously. Your co-workers arriving the next morning at work would discover you sitting bolt upright in your chair, head tilted back, and mouth agape - as if your last words were not words, alas, but a silent scream.)
I don't know about you, but I've got 371 emails in the inbox I'd cleaned out less than 24 hours ago. It's like I've got randy rabbits in there making baby email bunnies. I've got 4 phones to my name, each one with voicemails demanding my attention. Throughout the day, luminaries and clients all want a piece of me. (The economy is actually working for us as employers seek better value in the search firms they retain.) And then there's the social networking, the blogging, the speaking engagements, the video and photo shoots, not to mention the fact that I head my own firm as CEO with all the requisite fiscal and leadership responsibilities that come with it.
So what's a recruiter to do? What's anyone in talent acquisition to do to meet the growing demands of our 24/7 world when you have so much you want to achieve and so little time in which to do it. I have two words for you.
Clone thyself.
Big, fat companies have been cloning themselves for years. They call it outsourcing. If the outsourcing extends beyond the boundaries of these United States, it is called off-shoring. But for individuals, I am referring to a personal assistant, in this case a virtual one. Celebrities have enjoyed the benefits of personal assistants for years. They can serve as your own personal concierge, taking care of whatever business needs tending to that can be delegated. It takes some planning and management, but as Edward Savio (The author of the book 'Cloning Yourself for Fun and Profit') points out, the rewards can be enormous. It's a way to drive your performance to new heights by getting twice as much done as you did before. You get around to doing stuff you should have been doing that wasn't because you didn't have the time. You get time for work/life balance. And because you are making oh so much more money, you get to give back and pay it forward.
Of course, The Good Search (Executive search firm of the author) is positioned to serve as a natural extension to internal search teams. In essence, we help recruiters clone themselves whenever their bandwidth is maxed out or whenever their time is better spent managing relationships with hiring managers and ushering top candidates through to offer. Clients retain us for a single executive search engagement a month at a time or to deliver candidates across a range of openings. . .we keep it easy, flexible, and affordable. And that's the approach you want in your virtual assistant.
Typically, the corporate solution for an overworked executive is to provide an executive assistant. But, honestly I believe virtual assistants offer greater flexibility. You can task them with personal as well as professional responsibilities. You can have them work overnight while you're asleep so that the task is complete by the start of your business day. You can have them manage a team of helpers . . . The increases you see in your productivity and income should more than offset the cost. In fact, I know some top executives who use a virtual assistant in addition to the executive assistant they have at work. Moreover, one keeps his personal assistant a secret -- better to keep 'em guessing on what his secret is to accomplishing so much more than everyone else. ("Does George ever sleep?")
So the next time your "To Do" list is longer at the end of your day than at the beginning, simply clone yourself. You and your newfound you will be glad you did.
