Darina Loakman.com

I’ve just come back from holidays (well actually I’m back over a week but only in body not in mind !) and I’m TRYING really hard to get back into work mode..I can’t remember a thing !

I think one of the reasons I have found it so difficult to get back into the swing of things is because I was able to really switch off from work while I was away. No checking of emails (not particularly out of choice, but didn’t have great internet access), no worrying that something really urgent had cropped up that couldn’t wait till I got back plus an income still landing in my paypal account from my passive income streams !

When you run a business or work from home on your own it can often be difficult to get away from it, whether it’s a day or a fortnight, and I know from forum posts I’ve ready and emails I’ve received that it’s a worry for many people. Everything seems to revolve around you and just taking time off seems impossible. BUT I want to tell you that it IS possible ! (both necessary and possible !) and that’s why I am so greatful for the virtual assistant industry and specifically the wonderful Nancy from Desertvalley VA with whom I’ve been working for over a year and a half.

You’ve heard me mention Nancy before and many of you who might have contacted me through the website I’m sure have communicated with her. I know that Nancy makes my life easier on a daily basis in so many ways and I have come to rely on her so much over the past year or so (& for someone like me who has a lot of control tendencies that’s a big achievement !!) but the added benefit is that I can head off to the Southern Sinai Desert ! (you can hear all about it on Mumcentric !) for a couple of weeks and know that my business is in good hands. Emails are answered swiftly, issues dealt with and updates made where needed. The result being that I still have a lot of emails to action when I get back, but I know what’s urgent, what’s not and I know that are not going to be any yucky surprises for me !

I want to publicly acknowledge my appreciation of Nancy’s hard work and I also want to encourage any of you who are sole business owners, home-based or not, to consider working with a virtual assistant. You don’t have to hand over your life to them straight away ! A couple of simple time-stealing tasks to start with.. you’ll add more and then you’ll wonder how you managed before

The other great thing about working with a virtual assistant is the use of technology it makes no difference to me that Nancy is an ocean away in hot Nevada ! Your VA could be down the road or over the mountain ! I know that many of us WAHM’s have low budgets for expenditure but if you are thinking that maybe this is a luxury that you can’t afford right now have a look at what you are spending your time doing, look at the non direct revenue generating tasks that are eating up your day or your week and maybe you’ll find it’s not so much as a luxury but a necessity that you can’t afford not to have ! particularly if you want to grow your business.

So take the first step today and see how you can find someone to work with you and help you grow your business. Great place to start is with the super bunch of freelancers over at shelancers.com, all of these women have invested in their business and shown their dedication to it by joining the shelancers community.

http://www.shelancers.com/directory/Virtual-Assistants/

so head over and check them out.

Now I’d better go and get some real work done too !:)

Darina