Professors - Should You Hire Someone to Help You & Where Should You Find an Excellent Assistant?

Are you busy? Are you working on MANY projects? Do you have enough help to get your work done (let alone keep your personal projects moving forward)? Is it worth it to hire an assistant (even out of your own pocket)?

Here are four specific questions and four specific answers to help you make your own determination:

How did you find your current assistant?

My first one was the person I brought away from the university with me...(note: the VERY first assistant I ever had was when I was an assistant professor, owed more on student loans than my first year's salary, but knew I didn't want to forego tenure just so I could save a few dollars. I had a series of assistants while I was at the University, most of whom I paid for out of my own pocket...and I don't regret one dollar that I spent).

The second one was a good friend of mine who is a teacher and wanted to earn extra money...and I actually tried to get her to quit her job at the District she was so good, but alas, she didn't.

The third one (who still works for me and has now for over three years) was a referral from a neighbor. When I could see that I needed someone to replace Sue (the teacher who had just gotten too overloaded), I started telling everyone. My next door neighbor sent Lisa (who is an optometrist who wanted to stay home with her kids) to me. She also lives in our neighborhood but I'd never met her. Word of mouth/referral made it happen.

Since then, I have added others: another neighbor (connected through through Lisa), who is an accountant and a stay-at-home mom and does my bookkeeping (and more). I also have hired Heather Nelson in Seattle (Champion Assistants) who does a bunch of projects (I found her through a forum for entrepreneurs), and Kelley who is doing my webwork (and I got her through a referral from a friend/colleague at the university). You can see the myriad ways that assistants can come into your life.

How did you evaluate them to determine that you could trust them and they would be a good choice?

I give people baby projects to take on and watch them like a hawk to make sure things are done well and that the assistants are trustworthy. Part of why I like referrals is because it does assist with the trust aspect. Then, gradually, I give the assistant larger and larger projects and keep checking to make sure that we have the same work ethic, customer service, and excellence expectations. I have made the mistake of giving too much, too fast and it overwhelmed the person (given my expectations), so for a number of reasons, I highly recommend building up slowly.

What are the first three steps for me to take?

** Make a list of EVERY SINGLE THING you know perfectly well that someone else could be doing rather than you. Both personal and professional. The life of a professor is a 24/7/365 job...and you need help in all areas of your life so you can excel at your professional endeavors as well as maintaining the personal relationships and projects.

** Start telling people that you are looking for an assistant. Just get the word out and the Universe will help answer your request. You never know where the referral will come from.

** During the summer, I'd even hire teenagers in your neighborhood to do some errands or other kinds of work like that. This helps you get in the habit of knowing that someone else can pick up your cleaning, go to Trader Joe's for you, run to the post office, etc. I keep several teens well employed throughout the year.

How much will it cost?

Cost...I pay a 7-year old $3/hour to put stamps on envelopes. I pay $6/hour to teens to do a variety of different kinds of work. I pay most assistants $19 - 55/hour for higher level tasks. I know that is a huge range, but it depends on a number of factors.

Here's what you need to consider: What is it worth to get your work done, keep your life in order, and live to tell about it? A lot. Hiring someone to help you (or LOTS of "someones" to help you) is a prudent investment.

And as a college or university faculty member, you have many opportunities for success and failure. If you would like additional tips, tools, and techniques that you can use to support your successes, then access one or both of the following free resource websites:

**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)

**Articles for Professors (http://www.ArticlesforProfessors.com)

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!