I Feel Sick Today

Things have been going great in your new Virtual Assistant business. Client work is pouring in and you’re feeling amazing about your success until … you wake up one Tuesday morning not feeling well.

Your throat hurts, you’re congested, and your head starts to pound as soon as you sit up in bed. You think, “Oh no. Now what?”

You drag yourself to your desk, telling yourself you’ve got this. But within an hour you realize that you’ve got to lie down.

When you’re a Virtual Assistant, being sick is very different from having a job where you just call in sick and don’t think about your work. As a business owner, you need to be proactive.

Here’s what to do when you’re down for the count:

1. Evaluate your deadlines. Ask yourself, “What do I really need to do today?” Not what were you were planning, or what you think your client wants, but what was actually promised to be delivered today.
   
   
2. Tell only the people who need to know. There’s no need to tell all of your clients that you’re out with the flu - only those who are impacted. Many of my clients need me for just a few hours a month. If they don’t need you right now, there’s no need to alert them.
   
   
3. Manage your deadlines. If you have a deadline, and you’re not able to fulfill it, let your client know as soon as possible like this: Hi client first name, I’m sick in bed today and not able to finish XY and Z. I know this is important to you and I’ll do my best to handle it tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted about how I’m feeling. Thank you for your understanding.
   
   
4.  Reprioritize your work. If you’re like me, you always have lots of ideas about how to work on your business to make it better. When you’re sick, put these ideas on the back burner and focus only on getting better and meeting as many client deadlines as you can.
   
   
5. Ask for help. If it seems like you’re going to be out for more than a day or two, and your clients need you, talk to them about bringing in a fellow VA to help them while you’re recuperating. There are many reasons to have friends who are also Virtual Assistants and this is one of them!
   
   

When you are sick, take time to care for yourself and your health so you can get back to your work as quickly as possible.

Virtual Assistants have a tendency to want to play the superhero no matter what's going on in their lives. Let’s leave that to Wonder Woman and Captain America.

If you’re not already a member of our Facebook Group, The Virtual Assistant Connection, and would like to join, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevaconnection/