You’re Not On Call

When you have a JOB and you’re at the office, the boss can walk over to you at any time and ask you to do something right now.

When you have a JOB and work from home, the boss can send you a message at any time and ask you to do something right now.

When you have a JOB, you’re expected to be available for requests from your boss from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Sometimes, even after regular work hours.

When you have your own business as a Virtual Assistant, life is very different. Now you're the boss. You’re not on call – you decide what your schedule is. You decide where, when, and for whom you’ll work. You decide how much money you’ll make.

Instead of the boss walking over to your desk, you’ll get an email message like this:

Hi Belinda,

I am wrapping up the draft of my next newsletter today and expect to send it to you by tonight.

Will you have time to do your magic and schedule it to go out via MailChimp next Tuesday or Wednesday?

Thank you!

Emily

You look at your calendar to see if you can meet the request. Then you let your client know.

If the timeline doesn’t work, you can make an alternative suggestion. Let’s say I had plans on Tuesday; I would send the client a note like this:

Hi Emily,

Thanks for letting me know that you’re working on your newsletter. I would be happy to help you with this. I’ll be out of town on Tuesday, so let’s plan on Wednesday.

Thanks!

Belinda

Every client will not be this organized, but either way, you are 100% in charge of your schedule, not them.

If, on the other hand, to please your client, you jump the second you get an email from them, one thing is sure to happen: The client now knows that you’re available 24 x 7 and last-minute requests are ok. Don’t do that.

Instead, set yourself up for success from the start, so that you can enjoy the Virtual Assistant lifestyle that you want and deserve.

Need help with boundary setting? Check out this article on our blog.

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/