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Fitting fun and self-care into a busy schedule

Apr 5, 2022 | Accountability, Delegation, Mental Health, Productivity, Uncategorized

I don’t have time for Yoga. I don’t have time to learn Pickleball. I don’t have time to see my parents. I don’t have time for a lunch date with a friend. Someday when I have more time, I’ll be one of those people.

Is that you, or something like you? Some weeks, is this the case? It was for me, for a long time.

There may be many ways to solve this issue. I’ll share with you what made the biggest difference for me .

First it has to be an issue or a problem for you. Not visiting your parents, or not taking time to talk to them has to first become an issue for you. Your current level of fitness or health has to occur for you like an issue, or a problem that you’re out to solve.

(Side note: If you’re 50+ I recommend this book to motivate you about fitness over your next 30 years: Younger Next Year.)

Once you’re committed, once you see something as a problem that you’re out to solve, then what? How to get things that feed your mind or body into your schedule. Your calendar is full. There are only 24 hours in a day.

What to do? SCHEDULE IT & HONOR IT

Put it in your calendar. That thing that you “don’t have time to do” that would really feed you – SCHEDULE IT in your calendar. Your schedule may be so full that you can’t see a space in your schedule to put it for a few weeks. That’s fine. For example you may schedule yourself to go for a walk for 30 minutes every day, starting 2 weeks from now.

Now, here’s the key. HONOR IT. Work around it. When someone asks if you’re available at 3pm on Tuesday and you are going to go for a walk then, you say, “I’m not available then, how about Wednesday at 10am?” You do not need to say anything more than “I’m not available then.”

If you schedule it and honor it, here are some discoveries you may have:

• You can do that 60 minute meeting in 30 minutes
• You can talk to that co-worker, staff person or friend while you’re going for a walk
• You can not always be the one to raise your hand and say, “Sure I’ll do that.”
• You can delegate more and allow those around you to contribute to you more

Once you start honoring the items in your schedule that feed and nurture your mind, body or spirit, you will find that you have more energy for the rest of life. You will find that who is now working, attending meetings, making sales calls, or making dinner is a much happier, more effective human being. You will get better at producing results with less time and less effort.

Gina Cotner, CEO

 

 

 

 

Hooked On Delegation

Mar 25, 2022 | About Athena, Business, Delegation, Getting Started with an EA, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

For the first few years of owning and operating this business I didn’t have an assistant. I was running a firm centered around the great benefits of having an Executive Assistant, but I had never had an Executive Assistant myself. It wasn’t really a problem, because I knew how to be a great Executive Assistant and I knew how to train others to be great in that role. However, the tailor had no clothes; the cobbler had no shoes.

A few years into the business, we had enough money that we could afford for me to utilize the services of one of our executive assistants. “After all,” I said to myself, “you could have one at wholesale pricing!” In the beginning it felt a little bit like stealing from the company, like I was taking office equipment back to my home to use it for myself.

I started slowly, delegating a little here and a little there. Soon I was hooked.

Now that I was no longer just the receiver of what others were delegating, and I was now the delegator, I got all new perspectives on the world of delegation! I understood the hesitance and the reticence of delegating. Should I? Shouldn’t I? Should I pay for somebody else to do this, or just do it myself? Should I take the time to explain this to my assistant? Will my assistant be able to figure this out? Will she hate doing this?

Over time, I began to delegate more and more, from all different areas of my life, and particularly from the key areas that I most recommended to the Executives we work with:

1. Things that you dislike doing
2. Things that are not in your zone of genius, not one of your superpowers
3. Things that, while they may be fun and enjoyable to do, are not the highest or best use of you
4. Things that you know in reality are going to take more than the 10-minutes you think it’s going to take

Here are some things that I’ve delegated to my EA that fall into those categories.

• Researching and ordering gifts for clients and staff
• Sending cards, emails, or gifts (birthdays, condolences, new baby, anniversary)
• Updates to the website
• Booking an airline ticket
• Going to Amazon to buy those “one or two” things
• Social media posts
• Invoicing clients and running credit cards
• Parts of onboarding a client
• Parts of onboarding a new contractor
• Researching vacation elements (hotel, airline, excursions, rental cars, where will you be able to play pickleball while you are there?)
• Ordering flowers for mom; Easter baskets for grandkids
• Getting off of company mailing lists

I often say to myself, “Don’t go there Gina; delegate it.”

That means don’t go to Amazon to buy one or two things, because before I know it, I’ll be there shopping around for something else that I just thought of, and something else. It’s better to have my EA shop for me, and then send me two or three options of what to choose from. Similarly with shopping for airline tickets. She does the research, then texts me “Gina would you like this option or that option?”. Then I pick and don’t get mired in “shopping around”.

~ Gina Cotner, CEO 

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Looking for an engaging guest for your next podcast? Gina enjoys being a podcast guest and discussing items such as:  

  • Effective Delegation
  • How to turn over entire segments of your business process to someone else (so that you have more time off!)
  • How to have the balance in your life that you want

Click here to learn more about having Athena CEO Gina Cotner on your podcast or inviting her to present at your next virtual meeting, workshop or event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a Team Member Leaves the Nest

Mar 3, 2022 | About Athena, Business, Getting Started with an EA, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

If you’ve listened to any of the podcasts where I’m interviewed about our company and the VA industry at large, you’ve likely heard me answer the question, “So, how did Athena come to be?” And then I tell the tale. In the tale you learn that the first two people on payroll once we were officially incorporated were Dorian and Alison.

A couple years ago, Dorian was hired away by a client of ours and now the same ending has happened for Alison. In our client Master Service Agreement there is a Conversion Clause, which explains how a client can hire their contract EA as a full-time employee of their own company if they like (and if the EA would like). This has happened four times so far.

As I share here about Alison, you will learn new facets about our firm and the way we work. Meanwhile I couldn’t acknowledge and appreciate her enough!

Over the last almost-six years, Alison has served over 10 clients. They have included an attorney, a sales manager, a business coach, a website and brand designer, a CPA firm, a financial advisor, a couple of CEOs of small companies, a couple of executive directors of non-profits, and some others that I’m sure I can’t recall.

Sometimes prospective clients come to us simply looking for a Virtual Assistant (VA). They are shopping the VA industry. Some business owners come to us specifically because they have heard about the caliber of our services, and they are now in search of that (usually after another VA hasn’t worked out for them). Often times an executive comes to us because they have been interacting with one of our EAs who works for someone they do business with. They see this other professional and how they have an executive assistant making their business really hum. So, they come to us and say, “I need one of those!”

Finally, other people come to us and say, “I love what Alison provides for Matthew. Could she come work for me also?” They want that exact person. We usually have to say no, and then they say, “Do you have someone like her?” And why yes, we do!

And . . . that is our business for the last nearly-six years . . . finding another Alison and another Alison.

I’m proud of what people get to accomplish in their personal life and in other areas of life that are important to them while they are a part of our team. We know that if people are thriving in their personal life, then they will be a much stronger support for a swamped and successful executive.

Some fun facts about Ali’s life in her time with us:

• She continued to be a successful photographer while working with us. Over the years she raised her rates and started taking only the specific jobs she wanted. She started making more money for less work.

• Her son just turned 8. He was 2 when she started with us! So hard to believe! She was thrilled to be able to afford private school for him ever since pre-kindergarten.

• She separated from her son’s father and went on to create a really great co-parenting relationship with him. They are inspiring co-parents.

• She bought her first ever “brand new” car.

• She took nicer and longer vacations and went to a lot of great concerts.

Ali told me recently, “G, what I got was to be able to live a comfortable lifestyle on a single income.”

Needless to say I’ve been honored and privileged to have Ali on this team and to be someone whose performance as an EA was so strong that it was a large contribution to building the size and reputation of our firm.

 

 

 

 

Gina Joins the Authentically Successful Podcast

Feb 25, 2022 | About Athena, Business, Delegation, Podcast Appearance, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

Gina was recently featured on the Authentically Successful Podcast, joining Leadership coach and podcast host, Carol Schultz, to talk about her journey through various entrepreneurial ventures to arrive at Athena Executive Services. 

Gina and Carol speak about the barriers when growing a business, as well as the differences between what Athena offers and what inexpensive VAs are offering overseas.

Listen here: Follow Link

 

 

 

 

Effective Leadership and Remote Teams

Feb 3, 2022 | About Athena, Mental Health, Productivity, Remote Work

Knowing and empathizing with whatever your remote workers are dealing with is critical. As someone who has always had staff who work from home, I have always been interested in what’s going on at home. Why? Because that’s the environment in which they are working (for me and our clients). It gives me a sense of how hard or easy it is for them right now to be working from home.

Staying connected to your people is an ongoing job. You can’t assume that how they were last week is how they are this week. People and their circumstances are always changing. As a leader it serves you to always be interested in what your people are dealing with in life and with their work. If you have more attention on listening than speaking, you’ll be amazed what you will learn.

This recent article from Financial Management Magazine has some great tips and suggestions on how to successfully manage a remote team.

Alone Time is Quality Time

Jan 13, 2022 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Mental Health, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

I need to be alone sometimes. I’m not mad. I’m not upset. It’s just one way that I refuel and rejuvenate. Once an only-child, always an only-child. And I think when you’re a Gen X only-child, that somehow makes you even more independent and seeking some alone time. Every afternoon like a good Gen X latchkey kid I had a couple of hours after school to myself. Sometimes I went to a friend’s house or there was soccer practice, but those couple of hours with Happy Days, Scooby Doo and Brady Bunch were fabulous! Never mind the graham crackers and orange juice snack I made myself.

I often came home to a list that mom had made in the morning before she went to work, of things I needed to do after school. Mostly likely defrost protein and other prep work for dinner. Then there were my general chores: bring in the mail, walk the dog, etc. But the name of the game was to do all that as fast as possible, so I could chill out in front of our 13” portable black and white TV that I moved all over the house.

This is a long way of saying, alone time can be very rejuvenating. I’m heading down to my place in Pismo Beach, CA next week by myself for a week. (Thank you awesome life partner John for having that be ok for you and your life.) I know other CEOs who rent a local AirBnB for a day or two just to hole-up and have quiet time in a different environment to think about, ponder and work on the future of their company.

There’s a lot less to think about and coordinate when it’s just you. That means more brain power can go to other areas of life that need your attention, creativity and focus. I encourage you to give it a try!