Stop Wasting Time: 10 Tasks Business Leaders Shouldn’t Be Doing

by | May 27, 2025 | Productivity, Virtual Assistant

You didn’t start a business to get buried in email threads and spreadsheets. Yet here you are, spending hours on invoicing, scheduling, and customer service while your real priorities, like growth, strategy, and revenue, get pushed to the side.

If you’re dedicating more than a couple of hours a day to admin tasks, you’re holding your business back. Business leaders know their time is too valuable for busy work.

It’s time to stop wasting your precious time on the wrong tasks. If you’re a business leader, here are 10 things you shouldn’t be doing and what you should focus on instead. These aren’t just small hand-offs; they’re critical shifts that free you to focus on profit-driving work.

  1. Calendar Management

Booking meetings, sending reminders, coordinating time zones add up quickly. A virtual assistant can handle all of it so you can stay focused on the conversations that matter, not the scheduling that leads up to them.

  1. Inbox Triage

You’re wasting hours if you check email more than three times a day. A VA can help organize your inbox, flag priorities, respond to routine messages, and unsubscribe from junk.

  1. Data Entry

Updating spreadsheets, CRMs, or client records is a slow burn on your day. What to do? Delegate it. A virtual assistant can keep your systems clean and current without pulling you into the weeds.

  1. Document Formatting

Still wasting time on slide decks, reports, proposals, client materials, or contract formatting? That’s what support staff (virtual or not) are for.

  1. Online Research

Research can easily consume your afternoon, whether you’re comparing vendors, looking into competitors, or pricing out tools. A skilled VA can summarize and present options quickly.

  1. Invoice Management

Billing tasks are important, but they shouldn’t fall entirely on you. A VA can help send timely invoices, follow up with clients, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

  1. Travel Planning

Booking flights, researching hotels, comparing itineraries? Let a VA give you vetted options so you can just say “yes” and go.

  1. Social Media Scheduling>

Content planning may take your expertise—but the actual posting doesn’t have to. Let a virtual assistant handle it so you’re not tied up in routine tasks.

  1. CRM Updates

If your CRM is disorganized, your follow-up will be too. A VA can update records, clean up duplicate entries, and make sure your pipeline is accurate and easy to manage.

  1. File & Folder Organization

If finding documents takes longer than using them, it’s time to delegate file management. A virtual assistant can organize your systems so you can quickly find what you need

Work Smarter, Not Smaller

The most successful business owners don’t try to do everything themselves; they focus on what they can and build smart systems around everything else. Delegating your admin work isn’t just a time-saver. It’s a growth strategy. If you’re ready to take back your time and start working more strategically, our virtual assistants are here to help. Contact us to learn more about our support options and see what’s possible when you stop doing it all yourself.