Many of us are not just Virtual Assistants, but we are moms … wives/spouses … daughters … (insert your other roles here!).

We want to be there for the family but still earn what we need – like Jack Welch says – you need to work efficiently and smartly to support the lifestyle you want.

Working from home allows us many things:

• helps us lose the commute
• saves us money on lunches out
• reduces the need for daycare or child care
• helps us get kids to and from school without after school care
• allows us to go on field trips
• makes keeping kids home with illnesses easier than working outside the home
• helps us schedule appointments more easily into our schedule

While that all sounds great, you can't spend all of your time being a mom and housewife because you have to earn enough money (ie work enough) to allow you to do all of those things.

If we let the family stuff always come first, our business suffers.

Being there for family means something different for each of us.

My son is grown now but it still means being able to sit down together for dinner, have company on our schedule, not working evenings, weekends and holidays, and being able to go to appointments during the day

There are 5 things you need to manage better to make sure you preserve work life balance

1. Family
2. You
3. Boundaries
4. Distractions
5. Services

Family

First thing to think about is how to provide services that allow you to work flexible hours. You need to set business hours and hold to them. Advise your family when you will be working and when it is their time with you. Set your schedule and take breaks so you don't need to get interrupted.

Other things to do: manage child care well, meal plan, put buffers in between tasks so you don't work hours at a time

You

Prioritize your needs – what does your ideal day look like? Work towards that vision – and do whatever you can to help yourself achieve it, most days.

Close your door when work is done for the day – and that should include your 'work' phone too.

Don't work early mornings and late nights so that you can waste time during the day – this is so common! Work during business hours and do family or personal stuff after work.

Prioritize your work – it is what is allowing you to be home with your family. Don't take on more work that you have time for live and die by your to do list – get good at it. Plan your schedule well and work efficiently – don't let anyone tell you what to do when, it's your schedule!

Exercise – an hour before everyone else gets up if you can't find the time during the day (I never can!)

Know when to fire a client and when to take on a new client.

Plan time off and holidays and hold yourself to it. Even a short work day or a 4 day work week prioritizes YOU.

Work with an accountability partner to vent, get support and advice when you need it.

Boundaries

Learn to prioritize what is important. Don't be shy to say NO when necessary/more often. As I've said before, live and die by your schedule. Get really good at it.

Set and hold those office hours, and lengthen all lead times and deadlines to give yourself the best shot at getting things done on time.

Limit meetings – most of them are not necessary. Never answer your phone live – it is disruptive. Do scheduled calls only – answer voicemails. Check emails 3x a day max, not 15. Work with clients who don't need you / expect you to be available all day long.

Be tough, be in charge.

Distractions

Communicate what you need and when to your clients.

Delegate, outsource, or get help with what you need help with.

Stop getting distracted by research or gathering information. Set STOP times on open -ended projects and make sure you set an alarm to stop when you are supposed to.

Create and use processes and procedures.

Let others know when not to disturb you, especially your family. Post a schedule on the door of your important 'quiet' times.

Leave your phone in other room for an hour if you get distracted by it.

Schedule your social media breaks – and stay off of it during business hours unless you need to work in it (and then set start and stop times). Turn those notifications off! And if you need to leave them on, then that's when you definitely need to start leaving it in another room for periods of time.

Get help with child care – when my son was 18 months old I worked 9-5 business hours and put him in daycare half days to make sure I got enough time to work. He kept going before and after school till he was 12! (I guess it worked). 🙂

Services/Time Management

Set your schedule to maximize your work time – whatever works for you. Think efficiency, always!

Organize things like social media in batches – ideas one day, content one day, images one day, captions one day, scheduling one day. There are a lot of ways that you can work more efficiently – I often find that doing things in short time blasts works much better. It's easier to schedule, and you get more done every week.

Take short breaks every hour if possible – even just 5 or 15 minutes. Clearing your head makes a world of difference, especially when you are very busy.

Don't work with clients who need you in front of your computer all day long – ie service offerings like client care, customer service, scheduling, email management, and things like that may require you to be 'at the ready' more than others. If you want to manage your own schedule more, work to build other services that can be done at the times that suit you best.

Stop doing tasks back to back – put small buffers into your schedule. No one needs to bill non-stop for 8 hours a day (and if you do, raise your rates!)

There are so many things you can do to help balance your home and your work – whatever is important to you, prioritize it – and use the tips I've given you today to make the changes you need to improve yours, starting today!

Daily improvements in your work habits, mindset, productivity and more – that's how you become a ridiculously good VA!

Need Some Help?

If I can help you learn how to efficiently manage your calendar and schedule, reach out to me at [email protected]. I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to the next thing. I'd love to do the same for you. I do private coaching, and registration for my new mastermind group The Virtual Circle is open now. Maybe one of those is right for you!