LJM VA Services’ Post

🎁 Christmas Countdown Day 2 🎁 I’m back in the office today, following a sneaky winter getaway to Spain and as we embark on the final three weeks of the year (work wise), here’s some tips on how you can stay focused, amidst the Christmas lights, gift guides and fuss of the festive season. ✔️Set your daily tasks- I love to write a list every morning, but I love crossing off the tasks even more ⏰Block your time. Creating blocks in your calendar and setting mini deadlines helps to ensure you stay on track and focused. 🎉 Resist the urge to over-commit. Christmas is a time of plans, seeing friends and closing out the year with clients, but you can only do so much. Prioritise who you want to see and what plans are most important, and leave some catch-ups until January! ⏳ Use your time wisely. Seeing the Christmas lights in Central London on a Saturday when 10,000 other people are shopping, taking photos and let's be honest, walking slow is not a great use of time! Use your weekends to recharge and rest and stop by the lights on your commute home during the week! 📱Limit social media and online distractions. Christmas brings lots of content and sometimes oversharing. Set a limit on the amount of time you spend on social media and make sure you're living in the moment and not through the eyes of Instagram reels! Share your top tips for staying focused in the comments too!

🎄 𝟕 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬! 🎅 The countdown is on! With just 7 days until Christmas, it’s time to ensure your business is prepared for the festive season. Here are 7 key steps to keep operations running smoothly and stress-free: 1️⃣ Review Out-of-Hours Support Don’t leave customers hanging over the holidays. Ensure your helpdesk is covered for those urgent queries when your team is off. 2️⃣ Communicate Holiday Hours Update your website, social media, and automated messages with your Christmas opening hours so customers know when you're available. 3️⃣ Prepare for the Last-Minute Rush Whether it’s orders, emails, or support tickets, make sure you’ve got the resources to handle those festive surges! 4️⃣ Give Your Team a Break Plan your rota carefully so your team gets a well-deserved rest while ensuring key operations are covered. 5️⃣ Spread the Cheer Send holiday messages to clients and partners—it’s the perfect time to show appreciation and strengthen relationships. 6️⃣ Check Systems and Processes Double-check your tech, stock, or support lines to ensure there are no festive hiccups! 7️⃣ Plan for January While celebrating the year’s successes, don’t forget to hit the ground running in January. What’s your strategy for the new year? The holidays are about joy, but preparation is the gift that keeps on giving. If you need help with festive support or out-of-hours cover, we’ve got you! 🎁 Are you ready for the Christmas countdown? #BusinessTips #FestiveReadiness #Outsourcing #CustomerSupport #ChristmasCountdown #BusinessGrowth

🎄 3 Tips to Keep Your Email Inbox Tidy Before Christmas 🎄 The holiday season can be hectic, and a cluttered inbox doesn’t make it any easier! With Christmas just around the corner, here are 3 simple tips to help you stay organised and stress-free: 📧 1. Unsubscribe from Unwanted Emails Take a few minutes to review your inbox and unsubscribe from newsletters or promotions you no longer need. This will reduce distractions and help you focus on the emails that matter most. 📥 2. Create Folders for Organisation Set up folders or labels to categorise emails. For example: “To Action,” “Awaiting Reply,” or “Post-Christmas.” This system keeps your inbox manageable and ensures nothing important gets overlooked during the festive rush. ⏳ 3. Schedule Time to Check Emails Instead of constantly checking your inbox, dedicate specific times during the day to review and respond to emails. This helps you stay productive and allows time to enjoy the holiday season! 🎁 Bonus Tip: Use an auto-responder for the holidays to let people know when they can expect a reply—it’s a lifesaver for managing expectations while you unwind! Take control of your inbox now, so you can fully relax and enjoy the festive season. Ready to go inbox-zero? Start today! ✨ #HolidayProductivity #InboxTips #ChristmasOrganisation #VirtualAssistant #BusinessSupport

🎄Power Up Your Christmas as a Small Business Owner🎄 The holiday season is here, and it’s one of the busiest times of the year for small business owners. From managing sales and inventory to planning festive marketing campaigns, your to-do list is probably as long as Santa’s naughty and nice list! You don’t have to do it all yourself. Delegating tasks to a Virtual Assistant (VA) can give you the time and headspace to focus on what matters most—growing your business and creating precious moments with your loved ones. 💖 ✅ How a VA can help this Christmas: 🎄 Streamline your operations so you can handle the holiday rush with ease. 🎄 Take over admin tasks, so you can focus on decorating the tree with your kids or baking cookies with your family. 🎄 Manage your social media and emails to keep customers engaged while you enjoy holiday dinners and laughter. 🎄 Handle those last-minute business details, freeing you up to make memories you’ll cherish forever. The result? More time, less stress, and a holiday season filled with magical moments and memories. This Christmas, don’t just hustle—savour the season. Spend more time with the people who matter most while still hitting your business goals. Ready to unwrap the gift of time and family moments this Christmas? Drop me a message to chat about how I can help you sleigh your business goals this festive season! 🦜 DM me or book a free chat here: https://lnkd.in/ePSe52fU #SmallBusiness #VirtualAssistant #ChristmasSuccess #DelegateAndElevate #MacawVA #FamilyTime

🎄Power Up Your Christmas as a Small Business Owner🎄 The holiday season is here, and it’s one of the busiest times of the year for small business owners. From managing sales and inventory to planning festive marketing campaigns, your to-do list is probably as long as Santa’s naughty and nice list! You don’t have to do it all yourself. Delegating tasks to a Virtual Assistant (VA) can give you the time and headspace to focus on what matters most—growing your business and creating precious moments with your loved ones. 💖 ✅ How a VA can help this Christmas: 🎄 Streamline your operations so you can handle the holiday rush with ease. 🎄 Take over admin tasks, so you can focus on decorating the tree with your kids or baking cookies with your family. 🎄 Manage your social media and emails to keep customers engaged while you enjoy holiday dinners and laughter. 🎄 Handle those last-minute business details, freeing you up to make memories you’ll cherish forever. The result? More time, less stress, and a holiday season filled with magical moments and memories. This Christmas, don’t just hustle—savour the season. Spend more time with the people who matter most while still hitting your business goals. Ready to unwrap the gift of time and family moments this Christmas? Drop me a message to chat about how I can help you sleigh your business goals this festive season! 🦜 DM me or book a free chat here: https://lnkd.in/eteRKfSv #SmallBusiness #VirtualAssistant #ChristmasSuccess #DelegateAndElevate #MacawVA #FamilyTime

I get it. It’s Christmas, and it’s a slow month. Ultimately you can't force people to close on your timeline. But as someone who works in Sales, you gotta do what you gotta do to fill in the gap. Professionally, of course. So here’s my blueprint: 1️⃣ Don’t Be That Person 🎄 (Re: Read the Room, it’s Christmas) Let’s face it, most people won’t sign. And if you push too hard, you’re not closing deals, you’re closing doors. Send a laid-back Christmas wish instead: “Hope your holidays are stress-free and your 2024 inbox isn’t scary. ” Smooth. 2️⃣ LinkedIn Is the Party 🎉 Nobody’s checking emails. People are “OOO until Jan 5th” (translation: doom-scrolling LinkedIn, cause it’s still a social media afterall). Slide into DMs like you belong there: “Hey, popping in to wish you happy holidays. Let’s tee something up before Q1 kicks off?” No cringe, just connection. 3️⃣ Deadlines, But Make Them Festive 🎁 You still have a week before Christmas actually come, so squeeze it while it last. Sprinkle in some magic and emphasize the good benefits if prospects signs before EOY: “Let’s wrap this up before EOY. I’ve got some solid perks waiting under the tree.” Think of it as a holiday gift from you. The Move? Be helpful and keep it festive. Deals might come later, but relationships? They’re forever. What approaches have worked for you so far in this festive situation? #SeasonsSellings #RelationshipFirstSales #AuthenticBizGrowth

One of the things I like most about Christmas, is the change of pace and the choice of how to spend time. The usual, endless 'to do' list can be set aside and normality goes out the window for a while. I even like that bit between Christmas and New Year when I always forget which day it is! Emails pretty much dry up for a while and if I do choose to do some work, it means catching up with stuff and getting organised. It's a nice feeling. After Christmas Day itself, we always get a few days away as a family. Nothing fancy, but something involving fresh air and exercise a bit further north amongst the mountains and the snow. It reminds me that, when it comes to memory-making, it's the spending of time that has the biggest impact, not the spending of money. This week's blog post covers this in more detail: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 Why not grab a few minutes and take a look at: ➡️ Why the gift of time is so precious ➡️ Spending time on yourself ➡️ Spending time with others ➡️ The power of giving time to your community How will you spend your time meaningfully over the festive season? Link in the comments below 👇 #financialcoaching #GiftOfTime #LifePlanning

One of the things I like most about Christmas, is the change of pace and the choice of how to spend time. The usual, endless 'to do' list can be set aside and normality goes out the window for a while. I even like that bit between Christmas and New Year when I always forget which day it is! Emails pretty much dry up for a while and if I do choose to do some work, it means catching up with stuff and getting organised. It's a nice feeling. After Christmas Day itself, we always get a few days away as a family. Nothing fancy, but something involving fresh air and exercise a bit further north amongst the mountains and the snow. It reminds me that, when it comes to memory-making, it's the spending of time that has the biggest impact, not the spending of money. This week's blog post covers this in more detail: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 Why not grab a few minutes and take a look at: ➡️ Why the gift of time is so precious ➡️ Spending time on yourself ➡️ Spending time with others ➡️ The power of giving time to your community How will you spend your time meaningfully over the festive season? Link in the comments below 👇 #financialcoaching #GiftOfTime #LifePlanning

We've all seen business owners get to this point... the panic in the run up to Christmas to not only get everything work related tied up before the festive break... but the "oh cr*p, we should probably get our clients something for Christmas!" moment! Most people don't think about this in November because it still feels 'too early' for Christmas chat, but when you've got to consider: 🎄 Final Christmas posting dates 🎄 Clients who might be abroad 🎄 Delivery by mid December in case clients take holiday early 🎄 Choosing what to buy 🎄 Coordinating all client addresses 🎄 Actually ordering the gifts 🎄 Christmas cards 🎄 Maybe a little Christmas gift for your employees too! ... you can really see how starting to plan this sort of thing in November is a real stress saver once December hits! Have you figured out if you're buying your clients anything this year? And what that might be? Our team of Virtual Assistants LOVE this kind of task, so if you're stuck and need an Elf (not on a shelf) to help take the organisation and stress off your plate, let us know! 🎅🦌☃️ P.S. Yes I've started listening to Heart Xmas on the radio... and No I'm not apologising for it 😁 #VirtualAssistant #ChristmasShopping #ClientLove #PlanAhead #BusinessGoals #ClientChristmasGifts

When are you finishing work for Christmas? Or have you already finished? Or do you not finish at all?   As a business owner and employer, you never really switch off.   This year, a lot of businesses seem to be finishing today (Friday) rather than make their teams work for two days next week.   The way Christmas falls this year means that many people will get at least one week off (rather that the stop-start nature of having the holiday fall on a weekend).    I’m grateful to have great clients, and me and my team have done everything we need to, to make sure there are no surprises over the festive season.   At 4pm today, my out-of-office message will be on, as will my team’s, and we’ll be taking a rest over Christmas. My retained clients know that I can be contacted in emergencies, but that’s all. We are starting the festivities this evening with pizza and drinks with our neighbours, followed by the reopening of the local pub.   I have a few plans over the next couple of weeks, and I’m sure I’ll share these on social media. However, if today is your last day in the office, then have a great Christmas.    #OutOfOffice #LastDayBeforeChristmas #BusinessOwnership