Is My Mask on First?
What's one of the most important instructions you hear the flight attendant tell you
when you're sitting on an airplane getting ready for takeoff? Well, besides knowing
where your exit doors are located and how to buckle and unbuckle your seat belts,
the most important one we're instructed on is probably the one we're most likely to
miss … when the air masks drop down, it's important to place the mask on your face
first before you attempt to help your loved ones (or stranger) next to you. Why is that?
Well, as my very smart coach so aptly reminds me all the time, if I don't put my mask
on first, then I could pass out and be of no use to others.
As a mother and a virtual assistant, this principle seems to elude me all the time. I'm
conditioned to take care of others first and me last. Well, this month I decided to
change that habit. I started with something as simple getting myself to the gym. Now,
the gym is NOT my favorite place to be but it is something I need to do, especially
because I sit the majority of the day and get very little exercise. So, unless I want to
weigh 200 lbs and be heart unhealthy, I've made a conscious decision to put myself
first on this one. My challenge is my schedule … it's never consistent. So how do I
put myself first if I can't always do it first thing in the day? Well, my solution was to schedule it into my calendar … LITERALLY! This seemed so silly to me but I decided to try it and you know what? It's working. Go figure!
My first step was to spend time taking a look at my calendar and determining when I could realistically fit this activity in. My second step was blocking out the time on my calendar. Now, putting it on the calendar is only half the battle. The other half of the battle is carrying it out. So, my third step was to treat the appointment like it was an appointment with my child or my client. So now I get it … wow, it's so clear to me now!
Now, you may think that I'm promoting good health here but really this principle applies to us as service professionals too. The next thing I'm going to carve out time for in my schedule is my professional development. I have several things that I'm working on for 2010 that I need to make time for so that I can offer more quality services to my clients but, if I don't make time for that first, then I'll never improve as a virtual assistant.
Hope you can make time to implement this new practice and learn what I've finally learned … put your mask on first so you can be there for others.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this language with it: Virtually With You is a virtual assistance business delivering the highest quality professional administrative support services available in today's market. Karen Schatz, the founder of www.VirtuallyWithYou.com, is an administrative professional with 27 years experience in all aspects of office administration and management including web maintenance, email campaigning, desktop publishing, communications, IT and eCommerce development. Most recently, Karen has completed the Professional Virtual Author’s Assistant training and the Social Media Marketing training programs.
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