This episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast features Nick Ginsburg, who is Executive Assistant to the Provost and Senior VP at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. I've never met Nick before (he's in Australia, I'm in Missouri), but he took a risk and "raised his hand" to be a guest on the podcast. Because we are both EAs, it felt like we'd known each [...]
There are times when my to-do list and calendar and inbox are all so cluttered and jam-packed that glancing at them for 10 seconds makes my head hurt. It’s in moments like this where paper suddenly becomes useful. In today's episode I rant a bit about why I hate paper but I end up giving paper mad props for being useful for at least [...]
Each day we wake up to face tens, hundreds, or even thousands of them. No matter where we are, they find us and try to drain the life out of us. Some of us feel sick just thinking about them. No, I’m not talking about zombies. I’m talking about emails. Ah, your inbox… the never-ending stream of digital text, images, attachments, sales pitches, and [...]
In case you couldn't tell by the title, this is a story rant about why I hate paper and believe paper is a waste of space. Hate may be too strong of a word... nope. Hate is the perfect word to describe my feeling toward paper. In my opinion, paper is a waste of time. I can’t stand having paper on my desk, or [...]
Have you ever thought about how you and your assistant set up meetings, or do you just wing it? I’ve talked to several executives, pastors, and business owners who don’t have a system. They just pick a random time that works and put it on the calendar – assuming they keep a calendar. Source: Gratisography Some of you may like that system [...]
If you've ever wasted a ton of time scrolling through your Facebook news feed, or have ever wished you could take back an email you sent, seconds after sending, today's post is for you. I'm always hesitant when someone says, "Check out this new tool I use to stay stay focused and increase productivity!" Why? Because generally not having a tool isn’t what keeps [...]
Why am I here? How am I going to get through this? Shouldn’t I be doing something else with my time? Will I ever eat again? These are the questions I ask myself when I’m sitting in a meeting I don’t need to be in. As the meeting progresses, the inner dialogue continues… How did this happen? Did I think about my priorities when [...]
All sorts of headlines promise to show us how to enjoy life, be better, set goals, get more done, and so on. But often times, behind these headlines are posts with vague thoughts on work and life. They might inspire us to be more but do they actually help us day-to-day? My goal with this post is to give you something you can apply to your job today. [...]
Are you on the fence about whether or not you need to hire an assistant? Do you have an assistant, but aren’t sure what tasks to delegate to them? The following list of tasks will help you equip and empower your assistant – or hire one – so you can free up your time and energy. After all, wouldn’t you rather focus on tasks [...]
I hate meetings. Long or short, large or small, food or no food, outside or inside, morning or afternoon – it doesn’t matter. Meetings drain the life out of me, and I’m guessing most of you feel the same. There’s even a book called, Meetings Suck. Unfortunately, meetings often resort to nothing more than a group of unproductive people, sitting around a table with [...]