Ever wonder what it’s like to be a virtual assistant? What does a typical workday look like for a VA? What is it like to work from home? Is it really the perfect job? While we at Emerald Virtual Assistance can’t say with certainty that being a VA is the “perfect job,” one thing is for sure: we clearly think so! Let’s take a look at what all our VA’s have to say about a day in the life of a virtual assistant.
Emerald Storm: I recently moved to the West Coast but still work in the Eastern time zone. I wake up early, around 4:30 AM PT. Take Tonks (my pug) for a walk. I have a goal to read 115 books this year and my morning walk is the best time of day to listen to books on Audible, working towards that goal. So far I’ve read 44 books in 2023. Yoga. Meditate. Breakfast: coffee, toast, yogurt. Start work around 6:00 AM PT. Morning meetings (mostly external): sales calls, networking, client meetings, mentoring. Get up and move a few times throughout the morning. Lunch. Heads down time with as few meetings as possible (usually internal). I currently live in student housing (long story) and the apartment building has some amazing perks like study rooms and tables outside to soak up the springtime sun. Funnily enough I work the same way my Anatomy and Physiology teacher said was best. Five min. warm up, forty mins. steady work, five min. cool down, ten min. break. I’ll use this rhythm to do client work, EVA back of house work, move the needle to reach our team OKRs.
In the afternoon, I’ll use my breaks to work around the house too. Usually laundry (10 mins is perfect to switch the load & fold what was in the dryer!) or dishes. Or I’ll play with Tonks and Cinder (my cat)—I have to keep them busy so they nap well in the afternoon and don’t become destructive tyrants! This is also when I’ll throw something into the oven for dinner or knock up a batch of banana bread for an afternoon snack. I try to stop working around 2:00 PM PT. Then I’ll take an hour or so and work on my own career development. I’m always reading something new or taking a course to try and better my work skills. Then it’s time to hop offline and spend time with the family. Work on cleaning the house, cooking, walking the dog some more. I play D&D every Wednesday online with my family, near and far, and it’s such a great way to spend time together, laughing and hunting vampires. I head to bed pretty early so that I can get up the next day and do it all again.
Becka Goings: My mornings are slow and quiet—and I love it that way. I have RA, so it takes me a while to get going with my joint stiffness. I wake up about 6am, shuffle into the kitchen first thing, and make my coffee—nice and strong. After pouring a (large) cup, I take a couple of hours to read my Bible, pray, and write a devotion or two. After my shower, I wander into the kitchen again to make my breakfast (which is likely a fabulous veggie/sausage scramble) and my second cup of coffee, then settle in to “go to work.” I usually log on between 9am-9:30am.
I (try to) do all my copywriting in the morning as that’s when my mind is the freshest. I take an hour lunch when it’s a good time for a break. Afternoons are usually reserved for editing tasks, research, classes, or busy work as I don’t need as many brain cells to focus. I try to wrap up my day around 3pm-4pm. If I have any more work to do that day, I can work in the evenings if it behooves me. I absolutely adore being able to set my own hours and count myself deeply blessed to have the freedom to do so. If I need a day for an appointment, I just write “out of office” on the calendar and go. If there’s an event to attend, I can log in earlier or later as I need. My job fits into my life rather than my life taking a back seat to my job.
Eufemia Melendez: As a virtual assistant and mom of three, my days are filled with new challenges and memories I get to have with my girls. Each day for me is different, but one thing stays the same; I wake up at 6am every day. I get up to make some coffee and have some quiet time to gather my thoughts and outline all my priorities for the day. Working from home can be challenging at times but I find that dividing my day by working blocks helps me out a lot so I can spend time with my girls too. I work from 7am to 10am, which is usually the time my daughters get up. I take a break, make them breakfast, and then we do something together. This might include arts and crafts, story telling, or catching up on clean up. We sit down for lunch together and I get to hear the amazing stories they come up with.
Once everyone has eaten, I either put a movie for them to watch or they go to their playroom and play, I then go back to work. By this time it’s usually 1 or 2pm. It varies but I take meetings during the second half of the day. If I don’t have any meetings then I put some focus music on and get my remaining to do list items completed. I like to end my work day at 5pm at which I trade in my VA hat for a chef’s hat and a homeschool mom’s. I am super-appreciative of the opportunity to work from home because none of this would be possible if I wasn’t a VA. I truly feel I am doing what I love!
Gracesyn Powell: I start every morning with a cup of coffee and a snuggle session with my daughter. Those morning snuggles are the sweetest, and help me remember that she really is the best baby, and I really am so grateful to be her mama. One of the reasons why I love EVA is because they accept me as I am, including me as a mother, so my baby girl comes to work with me in my living room every morning like clockwork!
I check my emails first – first my EVA email, and then I tackle emails from the clients, prioritizing tasks, scheduling, and sorting out receipts and expenses. The majority of my morning is spent going back and forth between tasks, handling top-priority items first, and then going down the list. I like to do research in the later portion of my day, when the aforementioned baby girl is sleeping peacefully on my lap for her afternoon nap. Afternoon time is when my energy is the highest, so I like to use that time for research, data entry tasks, or other things that require a bulk of my attention. The evening is full of wrap-up or meetings, including social media work or graphic design.
Linzy Carothers: A day in my life as a VA & busy mom-prenuer:
*eyes open*
6am: I get up, get ready, get my coffee and laptop going. I always say a little prayer and get worship songs in.
6:30am-8:30am: Get ready, eat breakfast, check emails, and plan for the day, get the kids off and out to school.
9am-11am: Back from school drop off, baby is napping, and ready to get some work done—checking emails, following up on tasks, getting a good handle for the day.
11am-3pm: Meetings, phone calls, training, document creation, business research—you name it, I probably do it. *I’m also a full-time stay-at-home mom so in-between and during most of this, I’m managing a kiddo or two.
3pm-7pm: Usually school pickup, extra curricular activities, outside, and family time.
9pm: Catch up on anything outstanding or urgent that cannot wait until the next day.
10:30pm: Ahhh, bedtime.
Shamanee Willis: My day as a VA: Working as a VA comes with so many amazing perks! No two days look exactly the same and the unique tasks that come my way make for an interesting and never boring week. A typical day looks like me waking up, making the coffee (because I have to have the coffee in order to do the things), and logging into all of my work systems to get started on my tasks. The thing I most love is not having a commute and I get to work from home, the park with my kids, the library, the sky’s the limit!
If you’ve been interested in how a VA does their job, whether or not it’s worth it to hire a VA, or even wondered about becoming a VA yourself, perhaps our testimonies will help you make these decisions. Whether you decide to hire a VA or become a VA, we know from our own experience…you’ll never look back!
At Emerald Virtual Assistance, our team of experienced VA’s will help you sort through your monumental tasks. Schedule a consultation today to learn how being a VA is the perfect job.