Help isn’t always easy to ask for, and often not easy to recognise, even when desperately needed. As an association executive, you can get used to spreading yourself pretty thin and it can be challenging to admit or recognise that you need support.
The first thing to go out the window when you’re spread too thin is your administrative tasks. When you are beyond busy, keeping track of member survey responses, or scheduling that meeting doesn’t seem so important. In a world where we are constantly trying to prioritise the high-return task over the low-return ones, it can be hard to make the time to even see how far behind you are on data entry.
So how do you know when enough is enough and you need assistance with those pesky administrative tasks?
You Dream About Data Entry
The second work enters your dreams, you know you’ve got something to worry about. If you are dreaming about your member’s annual renewals or the invoices for your event, things have gone too far. Wake up from that nightmare and realise that you need a little help.
Triage your data entry tasks by clearly and concisely mapping out what needs to be achieved and when. By creating a time line with all tasks shown, you’ll have a better idea of your current progress and what resources you’ll need to access to make those deadlines.
You’re Making Rookie Mistakes
Did you accidentally tweet something personal from the work twitter account again? When you make rookie errors it’s because you don’t feel you have the time to focus and check you work. Your mind may be elsewhere, but you need to keep it in check so the quality of your work does not decline during busy periods.
Luckily, most errors can be easily fixed, but to err on the side of caution, I would recommend really taking each task one at a time and focusing. Exit Outlook, turn off your Facebook notifications and just focus on the task at hand. Sometimes we are tricked into thinking that multi-tasking is a time saver, but when you are busy it is just distracting and then leads to more time lost fixing mistakes.
You’re Frustrated Others are Having Fun
Do you ever have that feeling of frustration when everyone in the office seem to have the time to chat by the water cooler or leave the office for lunch except you? When you’re annoyed everyone seems to have more time for fun than you, you’re too busy.
If you would like to learn more about how Aptify can supplement some of your administrative tasks using our Business Support Team click on the link below. With extensive knowledge of the Aptify system and data requirements, Aptify’s Business Support Service Team can instantly step in and manage data entry, cleansing, analysis, and quality control.
