The hallmark of an exceptional administrative professional is their ability to stay on top of their work. We are the backbone of our office: we know what needs to be done and when, we keep track of projects and tasks, strategies and policies, and above all, we are trusted to be true to our word: if we say we are going to do something, we do it. However, it is not possible to do that unless you have a streamlined system in place to stay on top of everything, the most important piece of which is maintaining a centralized, comprehensive task list.

One of my biggest pet peeves as an administrative professional is being repeatedly asked for the same document, as I experienced for four months with a colleague who constantly requested the same PDF. This underscores how administrative professionals are often seen as the information repository, responsible for collecting, organizing, and retrieving information.