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work life balance

Taking Care of You, the CEO of Your Business!

Your Virtual Assistant business depends on you as a service professional. Your clients buy you. Your work, generally speaking, gets done by you. You are the CEO, so all decisions are made by you. If you are not working at near 100%, your business suffers. Your clients suffer. Your bank account suffers. So why aren’t you taking better care of yourself? This past week I was lucky to attend a VA conference. There were about 70 of us who descended on Myrtle Beach to share ideas, learn, teach and generally build relationships. It was a fabulous conference – one of the best ones I have ever been to. The women who come to it are real friends – they understand… Read More »Taking Care of You, the CEO of Your Business!

5 Tips for Better Health as a Virtual Assistant

Do you ever get to lunchtime and realize you have been sitting at your desk since 8? Or worse, do you chat away on Facebook on IM with your colleagues and when lunch comes you realize you haven’t done any work yet? Both scenarios are not good for you. Physically, I mean. When you don’t take regular breaks, it is hard on your body. When you waste too much time, it is too. You have to catch up at some point, right? And when you are not actually working (like being on social media) your body language is completely different – watch yourself next time – your posture is probably suffering when you are just playing online versus when you… Read More »5 Tips for Better Health as a Virtual Assistant

What Are You Tolerating?

I attended a Virtual Assistant conference several years ago and I listened to Mary Lou Ashton speak about tolerations. It was one of those talks that stays with you, at least it stayed with me. I refer to it all the time when I am in conversation with people who are struggling to focus and move forward in their business. Tolerations are those things that are around you that you probably don’t even consciously notice. A toleration can be a broken step as you walk into your house, or an unfolded basket of laundry, or dishes on the counter, or an unanswered email, or a stack of filing that needs to be done. A toleration is something that you notice,… Read More »What Are You Tolerating?

Got Stress? Here’s How to Relax

With spring in the air, a common topic is spring cleaning. I started my own spring cleaning a couple of weeks ago when I downsized the piles and the storage in my office. I moved on last week to cleaning out our clothes closets. Spring seems to make you want to pull everything out and start with a new slate. But it doesn’t have to be spring to do this kind of stuff. If you find yourself under stress for any number of reasons, getting tidied up and organized can really help you alleviate that. Stress is one of those things that others point out to us. Not something that we often notice ourselves. Being a small business owner is… Read More »Got Stress? Here’s How to Relax

The Never Ending Balancing Act

As a business owner, no doubt you have had some experience trying to balance your home and work lives at some point. The key to doing this well is to put some rules in place that you follow, and that others follow as well. For work-life balance there can sometimes be a fine line that needs to be amplified – so you don’t lose sight of what’s important at that time. On the one hand, you want to be sure that you don’t immerse yourself in work every waking hour of the day. My son has seen me using the laptop while we watch TV at night and he asks, ‘Mom are you working?’ but I’m really just on my… Read More »The Never Ending Balancing Act

Stop, Drop and Smell the Roses

Summertime is one of the busiest times for most small business owners. Kids are home from school, maybe there’s a cottage, and certainly there is more activity in general as everyone tries to enjoy the nice weather. With any luck, your clients will take holidays and the work pace will slow down so you can incorporate the new level of activity in your household. But even if there is more client work than you anticipated, don’t forget that burnout comes easily when you’re not paying attention. How to handle this? First of all, be aware of your limitations. If you know you are taking holidays, let your clients know with plenty of notice. Be sure that anything they need in… Read More »Stop, Drop and Smell the Roses

Is Your Life a Balancing Act or In Balance?

I recently met some new colleagues at a live event, and many of them were healers and practitioners of healing methods. Not my usual crowd, so I took the opportunity to learn something! We were taught at the event we were attending, that it was important to focus on your feelings, your thoughts and your mindset. It is an important part of life, of course, but it’s also important in your business. While I consider myself to be a good decision maker, sometimes I probably am a little hasty in deciding something, simply to get it done. I enjoyed taking the time to address how I felt about the things I was thinking, and to spend a little time acknowledging… Read More »Is Your Life a Balancing Act or In Balance?

You Take Care Now!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I always loved that expression from the movie The Shining, even though the film scared the heck out of me! Working as a solopreneurs can really take its toll on your personal life if you are not careful. If you work from your home, you may be guilty of working ‘all the time’. It’s important to avoid burnout by balancing your work life with your home life. There are several ways that you can do this: Set a work schedule and keep it. It’s important for both your clients and your family to know when you are going to be working, so that they can help you plan things around… Read More »You Take Care Now!