How to Be a Productive Volunteer

Woman holding a vase with a flower bulb

Wondering how to be a productive volunteer so you can make the most of helping others?

Do you enjoy helping others in your local community?

Are you looking for ways to make the most of your time while volunteering?

All it takes is a little bit of thought and preparation.

In this post, you’ll find several tips on how to make the most of your volunteer sessions.

Set a budget of monthly volunteering hours.

We’ve all heard of budgeting money, but why not budget your time?

Keep your personal and work schedule balanced by budgeting a specific number of volunteer hours for the month.

You can choose any number of hours you like.

However, once you’ve reached your maximum allotment, it’s time to hang up your volunteering hat for the time being.

This exercise allows you to help and invest in others, without sacrificing your health, time, and energy.

Switch off or silence your smart phone or cell phone.

Those social media status updates, texts, and messages can wait until after your volunteering session.

You carefully and thoughtfully volunteered your precious time, so make it count!

Completely switch off or silence your phone, or log out of email and social media accounts. 

You’ll get more done if you’re not constantly checking your phone every few minutes.

Carefully follow instructions.

When you volunteer, you’ll probably be given a set of instructions or guidelines to follow.

Read these instructions carefully, and make sure you understand everything that is being asked of you.

You don’t want to run the risk of working on the wrong project, or incorrectly performing a task.

If, for some reason, you haven’t received instruction as to how you should proceed, don’t be afraid to ask those in charge.

Speak up about your skills.

Are you a whiz at spreadsheets? Can you collate, fold, and stuff envelopes in record time?

Do you speak and write more than one language?

It’s worth thinking about your skills, and how you can apply them to your volunteer sessions.

Even if your skills don’t seem all that remarkable to you, they can be extremely valuable to an organization or aid group.

Ultimately, your skills can be used to improve someone else’s wellbeing.

How about you? How are you going to show up the next time you sign up to volunteer? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!

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About the Author

Rashelle

Rashelle Isip is a New York City-based productivity consultant who helps successful entrepreneurs and business owners manage their time and energy so they can reduce stress, work less, and make more money in their businesses. She has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, NBC News, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Atlantic. Get her free guide, 5 Unexpected Things You Need to Organize a Work Notebook, by clicking here.

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