The Trusty Oak Post

Productivity isn’t doing more; it’s doing more of the right thing.

There’s an outdated notion in business that just won’t die. It’s the idea that productivity means doing more things faster, marking off mile-long to-do lists and plowing through tasks all day long. According to this mindset, a productive person multitasks, moves quickly, and never stops.

The thing is, science and our day-to-day experiences show this is exactly how not to get work done. The multitasking, Bluetooth-wearing, fast-talking businessperson may look and feel wildly efficient, but how much of what they’re doing falls into the category of busywork?

As we head swiftly into Q4 and our third year of business at Trusty Oak, I’m feeling a strong urgency to take pause and evaluate some of our successes and failures so we can keep the positive momentum swinging as we enter 2018. We’re identifying the strategies that are working, moving some backburner projects to the front, and dropping some systems that haven’t served us well or that we’ve outgrown.

The summer before I turned 30 was full of self-reflection. I was looking back on my 20s and noticing all the things I wanted to do differently in my 30s. I wanted to be healthier, happier, and more content, and I wanted to be less selfish. One of the changes I wanted to make was to say “I” less. One letter. One thin stick of a word in the ocean of tens of thousands of words. In a sentence, it hardly took up any room; but in my life, it took up a lot of space.

It has been our experience that the biggest factor business owners consider in deciding to hire someone to support operational and administrative tasks of business all comes down to one important word:

Have you ever woken up full of energy, ready to tackle your workload and clear out your schedule, only to stutter and fall into procrastination come 2pm? Yeah, it’s a bummer - you can be using the best apps on offer, but if your head’s not in the game then you’re not getting anything done.

Entrepreneurs and business owners are driven people who aren't scared to work hard, burn the midnight oil, and sacrifice to make their dreams a reality. They're skilled and ambitious, and frankly, they're our favorite kind of people to work with. On the other hand, entrepreneurs often share the same Achilles heel: their greatest strength has a flip side that can be their greatest vulnerability. This strength is a work ethic that doesn't quit; this vulnerability is the tendency to do it all alone.

Trusty Oak virtual assistant, Elisabeth Chin (formerly Elisabeth Kelso – very recently married!) had the opportunity to sit down with "coworkers" at her co-working space, Trailhead Boise in Boise, Idaho. If you are curious to know what motivates a member of our team to become a virtual assistant, read on!

Have you ever written something and submitted or sent it, only realizing afterward that your message contained an embarrassing typo or mistake? I certainly have, and the worst times are when you can't hit edit! Whether you consider yourself a writer or you just need to send a professionally worded business email, I think I've found a tool that could help us both avoid some grammar related errors and up our writing game.