The past few months I have let this blog and my business in general fall by the way side. Between making much-needed repairs to my house, awaiting the birth of my newest grandson, moving 88 miles to be with him, his brother and sister and their Mom & my oldest daughter, and extra client work, I have just been neglecting myself AND my business.

I had even missed TWO months of doing my ezine, which had never happened in the 11 years I have been its editor!

I am settled in now, new grandson is 6 weeks old and it is time to get back into the swing of things. Look for regular posts to this blog and to my others and help keep me accountable to never again let my personal and business needs slide to the point where people think I have disappeared off the face of the net

I am a who strives to help my own clients keep their lives in balance and need to remember to do the same for ME!

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing and proofreading
assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

Before you can start your own home business you should designate
a place for you to work. The area that you work in should be free
of distractions and have a computer,a desk, a phone, a connection
to the Internet, and, if possible, a bathroom and coffee pot or pitcher
with your favorite drink. ( I always have a cup of tea next to me -
it is the one thing that I love hot, cold or in between temps. )

This way you will have everything you need until you take your lunch break.

Something to remember is that you are ‘at work’ in this area. An ideal solution is to have
every distraction taken care of. This means that you have someone looking after your child or children, if possible. If your children are younger than school age, hire someone to look
after them during the day.

This may seem strange since you are working at home, but would you take a baby
into your office with you? Probably not – your boss wouldn’t allow it. Having someone
look after them while you are working ensures that you will get everything done during business hours.

If your children are school age and old enough to understand, let them know that you are working, and that you should only be disturbed if it’s an emergency. If they are still young, have someone watch them after school.

This may seem like an unnecessary expense, but if you are talking to someone on the phone, they won’t take you seriously if they hear a crying baby in the background, or children fighting. You want to make yourself seem as professional as you can so that people know they can trust you.

I learned all of this first hand when I started my home based office services business 13 years ago. I had, at that time, a 16 year old girl, a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old girl. I had to set limits once they were home from school – they had their special “Mom times” and I had my “Mom is working here!” guidelines. It took some work but we did manage to survive it.

Like I told them, they wanted me to work at HOME instead of going out to another “job” when I got laid off from being a telemarketer – and in order for me to do this, they had to understand that this WAS a job and that I was working. If I had a “real” job, they could not run in and out bothering me with silly snitching, fighting and whining and they had to learn to pretend that I was NOT here.

It worked – they are all grown and here I am, still working at home!

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

One of the things that I do as a Virtual Assistant is help other VAs.
I happen to be a member of Sophie Zollman’s team. She is a very savvy
business woman and here is one of her great articles from her ezine.

VA Tip: Are You Doing What You Love?
Guest Post by Sophie Zollman
of SophieZo, LLC Virtually There For You

Many business owners start their own business to do something they love, something they have great passion for. Those same business owners end up spending more time running the business instead doing the part they love. Why? They try to do it all. When they do it all themselves, they spend more time on running their business.

Many of the tasks required to run a business are difficult, time consuming and even a drag. When you get mired in that, you lose focus on your passion. You can no longer do what you love. You are too busy doing the “daily grind” stuff. One of the best ways to get out of that “mess” is to hire a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager.

VAs and OBMs are not employees. They are independent contractors working from their own home office. In many cases, they are small business owners, too, but running a business is their specialty. They can generally do those things faster, more efficiently, and they actually enjoy doing it, too. You don’t pay them for vacation or sick time. They have their own equipment. The best part of this is that you only pay for the work they do. They are not on the clock from 9 to 5 waiting for work to come in when things are “slow.” You have less overhead and better productivity.

If you are in business to do what you love and find yourself NOT doing what you love, it’s time to talk to a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager. By delegating the business tasks to a VA or OBM, you can return to doing what you love. When you’re doing what you love, you’re growing your business, making more money and enjoying life again. You will have more time for everything you love both in your personal and business lives. Talk to a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager today and get back to doing what you love most!

Thanks, Sophie, for both this wonderful information and for allowing ME to be a happy member of YOUR team.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?