You know the type. That client that is always asking you to do something now, urgently, last minute, whatever.

What do you do?

How do you handle that?

If you are like most Virtual Assistants, you will probably go ahead and do it, even if you are grumbling under your breath the whole time.

It’s hard, because we are literally in the business of helping our clients. We are service professionals. We do what they need us to do.

It’s what we think we need to do.

Our clients need something, and it’s our ‘job’ to do it.

Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not the way it works at all.

Yes … they are paying you.

But they are not your employer.

You don’t work for them. You work with them.

They are your client. You are a business owner.

There are a lot of reasons to remind yourself of this fact, but this is one of the biggest.

Your work schedule is yours. You get to determine. You are managing the work tasks and expectations of all of your clients.

And yet, we say yes.

But here’s the most important part - we don’t say yes because we are being nice.

We say yes because we think we have to.

And that’s exactly what the issue is.

For some reason Virtual Assistants far and wide think that we have to do whatever our clients ask us to do.

Not all VAs, of course, but most of us have gone through this stage. Some of you stay in this stage.

It’s very natural of course when you are starting your business to have this kind of mindset.

Maybe natural is not the right word, but it feels like the right word.

It’s not wrong to have this attitude when you first start. We don’t know how to do business when we start out.

If you have never run a business before, it’s new.

We have to learn how to be. We have to learn how to act. We have to learn how to communicate.

I give new VAs this advice all the time: when you first start working with a client, don’t respond to them immediately. Don’t turn tasks around fast. Don’t do same day work!

Did I do that? Yes, yes, I did.

But I expect you not to do it? yes, yes I do.

Why? I’m not a hypocrite - I’m trying to save you from making a big mistake that is very hard to break away from.

It’s why a lot of us veterans, or teachers, or coaches teach you anything we teach you.

Because we want you to go down the right path - a different one that maybe we took.

When we give you advice about how to handle something in business, or what boundary to put in place, it’s usually because we know from experience that you will need that boundary eventually, and we are suggesting that you think about it sooner than we did!

Anyhow let’s get to it.

You will see from the three examples I’ve described in this episode, that boundaries is the key to avoiding burnout and unhappy clients.

Managing the expectations of your clients is going to be an ongoing task - and the better you get at it, the happier everyone will be.

Burnout is a reaction to being overworked.

That happens when we don’t manage our days well.

Take control of what you do and when you do it, and you will be happier. You will be more productive.

And you will have happier clients too!

I’m going to leave it here for today. If time management and setting boundaries and policies is something that you need help with, be sure to get in touch with me. I’m here to help.

It’s the only reason I’m here at all, as you know. To help you become a ridiculously good VA.

I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving. I'd love to do the same for you.

We can work together privately, or in The Virtual Circle, my monthly mastermind group, or in my Plan to Profit group coaching program, or you can enroll in some of my self study trainings. I have lots of options to move your forward. Check them out in the show notes for this episode. Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!

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Let's work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It's the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.

The Virtual Circle (TVC) is a monthly mastermind group for Virtual Assistants just like you. We get together 3 times a month for group Zoom sessions to talk about what you are struggling with, working on, or celebrating. It's a close knit community of your VA colleagues that provides the best kind of support for your VA business. Learn more about TVC here.

My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.

Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.