When you switch from working a full-time day job to working for yourself from home, as a Virtual Assistant, one of the questions people start asking you all the time, besides what exactly do you do??? Is “well, what do you do with your days now?”.

And honestly, it’s impossible to answer this question for everyone because everyone has completely different life situations and work setups.

I’ll be going through my day as a Virtual Assistant as a woman in her late 20’s who lives at home, has no kids and has quite a bit of freedom.

First off, people assume that I probably do a lot less work than I did before. However it’s the complete opposite, I definitely think I do a lot more work now, I just get to choose when I do it (within reason).

I used to wake up at 7 am and then lay in bed until 7:15 (which was when I finally found the motivation to go into the office) I’d get ready, grab my breakfast and lunch (that I prepared the night before) then commute into work. 8 am I’d be at my desk ready to work and by 9 am I’d pretty much be done most of my work. I’d spend the rest of the day answering phones, invoicing and eating snacks but for the most part, I just sat around the whole day.

Eventually, this felt like a huge waste of time, yes it was a secure consistent income with benefits and all that good stuff but obviously, l wasn’t fulfilled there. And very rarely did I ever have a full day of work.

 

Now, my current daily routine as a Virtual Assistant is:

8- 8:30 am

Wake up (I’m actually usually awake earlier but I let myself sleep in to catch up on all those years of not sleeping, haha!). Then I’ll get ready for the day. I actually think it’s important to change out of my PJs even if I’m just changing into sweats, which is hands down one of my favourite parts of working from home now.

 

9- 9:30 am

I do a quick email check. Since I have clients in all different time zones, sometimes important things happen when I sleep. I also use this time to figure out if I need to adjust my plan for the day. Like maybe my client needs something urgent today that they forgot about, so that will now move to priority #1.

 

9:30- 10 am

I make my breakfast and tea, then I’ll have a quick chat with my mom as she also works from home.

 

10:30- 12 pm

I start working on client tasks. The majority of my clients work on a “just get it done by this date” timeline. So, I usually work based on due dates. While I’m working, I like to have some background noise to help the day go by faster. I usually put on a movie or listen to a podcast in the background.

 

12- 12:30 pm

If it’s decent outside (which it rarely is…) I like to go for a walk. Sometimes when you work from home and have no kids or pets, it’s hard to remember to actually stand up and get your body moving.

Don’t judge me! But even though I have a home office as a Virtual Assistant, I have a bad habit of working from my bed. So, a nice walk outside helps get me out of the bed for a bit and I get clear of my head and distress. Alternatively, sometimes I have client calls during this time or all throughout the afternoon. When that happens or if the weather sucks I try to put on a YouTube video later in the day to get a workout in.

 

12:30- 1:30 pm

When I’m back from my walk I’ll have lunch. I rarely ever do the same thing during this time. Depending on how I feel I may take a small nap, watch a show to relax, hang out with my mom or just get back to work.

 

1:30- 4 pm

Okay enough relaxing, now it’s back to work! If there are more client tasks to do then I’ll do those or sometimes I force myself to actually work on my own business. This so easily gets neglected when I’m focusing on helping my clients grow their companies but it’s important to remember to grow my own as well. This can include updating my website, checking social media, working on social media posts or working on self-development by taking courses and learning new skills in the Rebel Office Resource Library.

 

4-6 pm

At this point, I’ll usually take another break and have dinner and exercise. I might do some secret late-night work or just start on stuff to get ahead if I know I have a day coming up soon where I have appointments or I just won’t be working. I also take this time to check off tasks in Asana or whatever project management software my client uses. Then I plan out what I’ll be working on the next day and make sure I didn’t miss any tasks.

 

 

 

 

Most people (myself included) often become Virtual Assistants so that they can set their own schedules and have more freedom. I love the fact that now I can go to appointments or run errands in the middle of the day without having to feel guilty. I also still have the ability to work on tasks from my phone if I am out for the day.

 

Becoming a Virtual Assistant is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding things I’ve done because now I get to help others and live the life I actually want to live.

 

Working for yourself means that you get to work at the times that are best for you! While some people prefer to wake up super early and get things done, others might do all their work in the evening and during the night.

 

There is no wrong or right routine as a Virtual Assistant, the right routine is simply one that works for your life and the situation you’re currently in.