You’re Going to Be Overwhelmed. Do You Have a Plan for It?

I used to say get a virtual assistant to avoid being overwhelmed. 

As a CEO who has understood the importance of delegation and has enlisted support for operations, administration, and marketing…I now know how silly it was to ever pitch the idea that you can avoid overwhelm. 

You’re ambitious. 

You’ve got goals. 

You’ve got a million ideas. 

You’ve got sh*t you want to do. 

No assistant - in person or virtual - or Rockstar chief of staff or out of this world operations manager is going to change that. 

So what’s the point of having an assistant? 

They can manage your inbox but it’s never going to actually stay at zero for too long. As Oliver Burkeman says in Four Thousand Weeks, zeroing out your inbox can just encourage people to email you more often. 

They can filter requests on your time but you’re never going to ever feel like you have enough time. The more time you have available, the more likely you’ll feel the need to fill that time. 

They can handle those little tasks but your to-do list will always repopulate other tasks to-do. Your ambition is going to want to fill your “empty time” with more things to do. 

You might have some stress-free days but it’s not going to stop a “fire” from happening ever again. Things going haywire sometimes is inevitable. 

So, why does an assistant matter? 

Because on the days that you are overwhelmed, there’s a plan to get you out. Here’s how a virtual assistant helps you manage the overwhelm:

Having an assistant forces you to think through priorities and processes. 

Understanding where your priorities are helps you refocus when you feel distracted from overwhelm or stress. It gives you something to work on, a direction to follow instead of giving into the overwhelm. 

Having an assistant helps you feel better about unplugging.

Not that I recommend running away from your problems…but sometimes the best course of action when you’re feeling overwhelmed is to just step away and clear your mind. Knowing that someone else is tracking the to-do’s, priorities, and meetings makes it easier to unplug without worry. 

Having an assistant means someone else is putting out the fire with you.

Your assistant is your right-hand person, just behind the scenes. Granted, your VP’s, managers, and other staff are likely able to pitch in with big fires. Overwhelm sometimes consists of lots of tiny fires happening at the same time - having someone listen to you, understand what’s needed, and tackle the little problems without disrupting your entire team is invaluable.