Handing Off Tasks To A Personal Assistant To Reduce Mental Clutter
You Probably Have More Tasks Than You Think
A client reached out recently and said she didn't feel like she had enough work to fill three hours a week for her assistant — and honestly, it made me realize I need to do a better job educating people on what a personal assistant can actually do.
So let's talk about it.
What Is a Personal Assistant, Really?
A personal assistant is someone you offload low-impact tasks to — both recurring ones and one-time projects. Recurring tasks look like changing your air filters every three months. One-time tasks look like getting that sagging shower door fixed (currently on my own list). A good personal assistant can handle everything from cleaning out your inbox to paying bills to scheduling vendors. The list is genuinely endless.
Most people assume personal assistants are only for high-maintenance celebrities with full-time staff. And sure, some people need that. But 99.999% of people just need a few hours a week. That's exactly what we offer at Friday Personal Assistants — part-time, right-sized help that fits your life. Whether it's one hour a week or forty (we offer full-time, too), we can help.
A Day in the Life of My Own Personal Assistant
Yes, I have my own part-time personal assistant. Best decision I've ever made.
She comes in on Mondays. We use Todoist to keep everything organized. Her recurring tasks: she grabs my grocery order from the store on her way in, starts meal prep for the week (dicing or slicing depending on the menu I've dropped in Todoist), refills the cat food, and refreshes the water bowl. Anything I need mailed or dropped at the dry cleaner, I leave by the front door. She handles it. I give her a credit card so she's never stuck waiting on me.
Once the recurring stuff is done, she moves into bigger projects. Right now, we're building an asset list of everything over $1,000 in my home — for my Trust & Will, (highly recommend LegalZoom) so I can be fair with my kids down the road. It's one of those things that would never get done without help. Now it's getting done.
We also have a rotating list of home maintenance tasks: changing air filters, scheduling HVAC service, waxing the car, organizing the kids' clothes, running a sanitizing wash on the washing machine. When she checks something off in Todoist, the next occurrence auto-populates for a year out. Nothing falls through the cracks.
The Part I Want You to Hear
I don't pass these tasks off because I'm lazy or because I don't want to do them. I actually enjoy most of them. But they're not the best use of my time. My time is best spent building this company, being present with my kids, and — yes — writing this blog.
So when someone tells me they don't have enough tasks for a personal assistant, my honest response is: you're just not looking hard enough. And that’s where we can help. Besides providing personal assistant support, we can also help you figure out what tasks you can off-load to your personal assistant. The goal is for you to get at least three hours back every week. And the only way you are going to do that is to hire a personal assistant.
If you want an exhaustive list of what a personal assistant can do, send us a message. We will send you our downloadable guide on all the things a personal assistant can do.
FAQ
Q: How many hours a week do I actually need? Most clients start with 3–6 hours per week. That's enough to cover recurring household tasks and a few ongoing projects. We can always scale up as you get comfortable delegating.
Q: Can my personal assistant run errands and leave my home, or are they home-based only? Both. Our personal assistants can run errands, drop off dry cleaning, pick up groceries, schedule and meet vendors — whatever you need. Tasks don't have to happen inside your home.
Q: Do I need to have a list ready before I start? Nope. That's part of what we help you figure out. Most clients are surprised by how much they're carrying once we start mapping it out together.
Q: What kinds of tasks are off-limits? Pretty much anything legal is fair game. We're not a medical or legal service, but day-to-day home management, admin tasks, scheduling, research, vendor coordination — all of it is on the table.
Q: How does communication and task tracking work? We use tools like Todoist or Asana to keep everything organized and transparent. You can drop a note, add a task, or leave something by the front door — your personal assistant will handle it.
Q: What if I want to try it but I'm not sure I'll have enough work? Start small. A few hours a week is all it takes to realize how much you've been carrying on your own. Most clients end up wishing they'd started sooner.
Q: Where can I learn more about what a Personal Assistant can do? Send us a message and we'll send you our downloadable guide — a full list of everything a personal assistant can take off your plate.
