BTW, You Deserve a Work/Life Balance | Virtual Assistant

It was July 2021 when I looked up and said, I can’t do this anymore.

My work/life balance was in the trash. I only knew one speed: fast.

But there I was…feeling like I’d been run through a salad spinner and completely drained of any life. I was DONE. Burnt out. Crispy. A shell of who I used to be. I’ll never forget going on vacation that Summer, and sitting on the beach feeling numb and exhausted. It was all too much.

About 18 months prior I had my first child righhhht at the start of the pandemic. (We were those people who introduced our first kid to family members through closed windows and across distant driveways). And then I raced back to my pre-parent pace of life. And I was toast. I always talked about work/life balance, but I don’t think I understood what that would mean FOR ME. Busyness had always been my default.

Before running my own business, I had been a club swim coach with USA swimming. I spent long, long evenings on deck. Weekends at swim meets. Often working 7 day weeks on repeat. I missed family functions. I missed happy hours with friends. I worked and worked and worked. And that hustle translated seamlessly into my business.

But in Summer of 2021, I looked up and said: I can’t do this anymore.

I think it was a mixture of the pandemic and having a child that pushed me to finally STOP and make significant changes in my priorities.

I dove headfirst into finding a way to bring balance back into my life. I found childcare (which took MONTHS in the pandemic let me tell you). I decided I wanted to lean into my FAV part of business: the admin. And I started VA work in November of 2021. It felt so freaking seamless and I was completely booked solid the first month in business. I started outsourcing, which had scared me in the past but I knew I had to make a change. I outsourced as much as I possibly could, which started at only a few hundred dollars of investment a month and has since grown to thousands.

It allowed me to make $$, doing what I actually LOVED, while still enjoying my life.

Slowly, over time, my mojo came back to me. I started setting firm boundaries with my time & my clients. I found most of my clients even thrived off knowing exactly when I would/would not be working.

Work/Life balance is so different for everyone, but I can tell you that we all deserve it.

For you, the thing you want to dive into is photography, yeah? Shooting with your clients. Connecting with people. Capturing stories. I highly encourage you to consider outsourcing the other stuff. Because you deserve to have a work/life balance that makes you feel fulfilled, calm, happy and motivated.