The crusher kit 101.
Personal assistants are charged with handling anything and everything the day brings, and the best ones handle even the wildest requests with incredible calm, cool and collected-ness. So how do they do it? Our GYST assistants have an arsenal of tools they swear by, read on to find out the top five.
Pimped out iPhone. GYST assistants rely on their iPhones for everything since they are on the go all day long. They swear by Mophie charging cases since there is seldom time to stop and plug in, and love UrbanEars headphones for their noise minimizing feature for on the go calls. Topping the list of must-have apps are Trello for to do lists, project management, and to communicate status updates with clients; Boxed for keeping clients’ homes stocked, and Resy for grabbing a hard to get table with one click. The GYST team communicates, collaborates and troubleshoots all day long on Slack, and we love Harvest for time tracking.
Superhero Kit. The Superhero Kit contains solutions to common daily drama, and is so called because items within almost always save the day. GYST assistants love these West Elm leather pouches, or these monogrammed pouches from Mark and Graham – both hold just enough items and fit well into an oversized tote. Pro tip: get your pouch in a bright color for quick locating in your Mary Poppins bag. What to put inside? Ibuprofen, Bandaids, blister stick, safety pins, binder clips, Tide to go pen, granola bars, post its, and nips of your client’s favorite cocktail ingredients. Don’t want to make your own? We love these Mini-Emergency Kits from Pinch Provisions.
Fancy Footwear. When your to do list is full of errands from SoHo to the UES to Brooklyn and back, it is mission critical to have comfy shoes. Our GYST assistants are stylish and savvy, and love these throw back Adidas kicks and All Birds, deemed the world's most comfortable sneaker.
H2O. Staying hydrated is essential to keep mind and body in the game all hectic day long. Our favorite is the lightweight and chic Kor One Water Bottle, because of the flattened shape made to fit perfectly in an already overstuffed tote.
Paper and pen. We may be the last ones on the planet to let go of good old paper and pen, but PAs have to be ready to jot down a note in seconds and may need to reference information on their phones while taking down new information. Pro tip: GYST Assistants only use retractable pens because caps get lost when taking notes at the speed of light. Among our favorites are Poppin’s soft cover notebooks and gel luxe retractable pens, and just about everything at Muji (seriously, when we can’t find a GYST assistant we just call Muji.)