A Day As A Virtual Assistant

Life as A Virtual Assistant

It's not all Gin, pyjamas and Jeremy Kyle, you know!

Moving from secure paid employment to becoming a Virtual Assistant and not knowing where my next pay cheque was coming from has been one of THE best decisions I have made. Ever!  I can't pinpoint exactly what made me make the leap but I only wish I had made it years earlier.  I love the fact that I dictate how my day is going to pan out and that I don’t have to ask for permission to take my son to the orthodontist or say “I’ll catch-up tomorrow” if I need to drop everything to make a mercy dash to school to pick up the other one if he’s feeling icky.

So, what does my day look like?  Well, it goes something like this:-

• 06:45 – Alarm goes off.  Hit snooze.
• 06:55 – Drag myself out of bed, get washed and dressed.  Wake the boys
• 07:00 – The kettle’s on and breakfast is on the way for two hungry teenagers
• 07:10 – Sit down and have a cuppa and contemplate what the day is going to bring and make a list
• 07:45 – Wave said teenagers off to catch the school bus
• 07:45 – 08:30 – Get the house in order (plump cushions, dance with the Hoover, fill/empty the dishwasher, stick a load in the washing machine, do the recycling) which in turn gets my mind in order
• 08:30 – I’m at my desk (okay kitchen table – it has a nice view so I can see the comings and goings of the village {Nosy, me?! Never!} - and everything is to hand)
• 08.31 – Logon to all my email accounts (I have one for Virtual Girl Friday and one each for the clients I work for)
• 08:35 – Check each account one by one.  Sometimes this can take up a lot of time depending on the day of the week and whether one or more of my clients are travelling

And so the day goes on … I won’t bore you with any more of what happens minute by minute as I’d like you to be still awake by the end of this post 😊

A typical day is chock-full of the following tasks:

My clients’ businesses:

Inbox detoxing (sorting out the chaff from the wheat and flagging up what is important and archiving what is not), checking best price flights and booking hotel accommodation, pulling together an itinerary of flights/hotels/taxis/contacts etc., posting on social media, replying to emails on behalf of a client, making diary appointments, raising invoices, chasing outstanding invoices (being a business owner, I appreciate how important the last two tasks are),

My own business:

Scheduling Facebook posts, marketing, creating blogs, updating SEO on my own Squarespace website (it needs to be bang up-to-date), invoicing, marketing and some more marketing.  I can’t specify how important marketing is to your business and I've learned to keep on top of it and not do it just because I'm busy with a client.  It feels like the goals change on a daily basis so you really need to be on top of your game when it comes to marketing.

What I love about being a freelance Virtual Assistant, apart from the freedom, is that no one day is the same.  it's so varied and interesting.  Did I mention that I quite like what I do?!

You might think it’s lonely working on your own - but I don't mind and have never felt alone.  I regularly speak to my clients, walk with friends and, once a week catch-up with the lovely girls at my Friday Pilates class which keeps me on my toes (metaphorically and literally speaking).

So there you have it; that's a typical day at Virtual Girl Friday HQ in deepest, darkest, leafy Surrey.  What does your day look like?  I'd love to know...