My life as a Virtual Assistant, one day at a time!
The concept of becoming a “virtual assistant” or “VA” was pretty new to me in 2016/17. After much research and debate, I thought what better way to do what I love, when I want to, for whomever I wanted to and still have the freedom to be a mother to my two beautiful daughters (which I had been neglecting while working in the corporate environment). So, this is a typical timeline for what I’d like to say is the best job I’ve ever had!
5:30am
Wake up, fight with my daughters to get out of bed, get them dressed, breakfast for my youngest, nothing for my oldest! In the car by 6am for the commute to school. This is done in silence while they continue sleeping and I enjoy some quiet time so early in the morning!
7:00am
Arrive at school, sit there with them and their gaggle of friends till 7:45am (during this time I go through emails and quick peek at slack to see if anything has come through for me)
8:45am
Back at home, 2nd coffee in hand and time for the long commute to my desk. I get settled at my desk, open about a cluster of computer windows, and start my work day.
8:55am
I usually have a few little jobs I like to do before I start the bigger jobs I need to focus on for longer:
- Log into Client A’s emails as I monitor these each hour and answer or file for action later for her (sending WhatsApp’s during the day for her to action)
- Post Client B’s Facebook posts for the day, maybe scheduling some to appear later in the day or week.
- Prepare and send off invoices for projects completed the previous day/week for Client A
9.30am
Start working on client C’s calling campaign
12.45pm
Drive to school – pick up my daughters!!
2.15pm
Get home, girls off to catch up with friends (very busy social lives!)
Final calls and report for Client C’s calling campaign
3.pm
Aprons on! Spoons at the ready! And we’re prepared to concoct dinner! One oversees ingredients, one in charge of putting dinner together, all responsible for cleaning up!
4.pm
Help with homework and projects!
5.pm
Sit down and eat dinner together! An overall success! (as usual! They obviously have their mother’s genes!). Talk about the day and what we all learnt!
6pm
Clean up, prepare next day’s school uniforms, lunches, get school bags & sports bags ready!
7pm
Tidy up the house, bath time with bubbles pouring over the edge of the bath!! Never tire of this!
7:45pm
Help my daughters practice their 3 dance routines (in preparation for exams in April)
8pm
Bedtime!! Good night stories, kisses & prayers!
8:30pm
Plan for next day in diary and call it a day! (in reality my day continues for another 2-3 hours and then when I’m sleeping for much longer (my brain isn’t geared for downtime and continuously works tirelessly!!)
I consider myself an all-rounder, I’m deadline-driven while being proactive. I’m great at communicating and keeping my clients updated on my progress.
As you can see, I need to be very organised with my time. Prioritising and organization are my strengths. I absolutely love my job and have a wide administrative skill set and love the variety it gives me.
Since I’ve given up ice-cream, Nestle Cappuccino’s is now my vice! (not quite sure which is worse).
