A Day in the Life of a Virtual Assistant – How I Go About My Day

Are you thinking about becoming a virtual assistant or online service provider? I’ve had many titles over the years, virtual assistant, tech virtual assistant, freelance writer, graphic designer, and Pinterest Manager. And over the years, my daily routine has also changed a lot but I thought it would be interesting to share what my workdays look like now. If you are just thinking about starting a virtual assistant business or other service-based business, you’ll want to read this one! 

Before I jump into it, it’s important to note that my schedule and organization have evolved over time. I now have a team of subcontractors and people who help me. My day to day schedule has certainly changed from the 60 hours plus per week I was doing previously on my own.

How I Structure My Day as a Virtual Assistant

I’m not an early bird, I love working late and I’ve tried making the switch to wake up earlier, but it’s not for me. There are some people that are more productive in the mornings, but I can’t really focus much before 10 am, so I’ll stick with what works for me! 

I wake up around 9 am, make a coffee, and let my dogs outside into the backyard to do their business. If it’s not too hot (or too cold, hello Canadian winters!) I might take my coffee out on the back deck to enjoy with the pups.

Around 9:30 – 9:45 am I head upstairs to my office and start my day by checking my emails and getting things ready for the day. If anything has come up in my emails, I’ll answer the email and add it to my project management software, ClickUp, as a scheduled task.

At 10:30 am I head back downstairs to give my dogs their breakfast and usually have a small breakfast for myself. Generally, a muffin, toast, or cereal is my weekday breakfast go-to choice. I’ve never been a big breakfast fan, but I now make sure that I eat something to get some fuel.

Around 11 am I’ll head back up to my office to work on my big 3 for the day.

I plan my week out on Sunday thanks to my Focus Planner and ClickUp. I list out my top 3 priorities or big projects for the day and always start with those FIRST. If I put them off to the end of my day, it will feel a lot more overwhelming. So, I focus on the most important (or time-consuming) tasks first and get those out of the way.

Afternoons and Evenings

At 1 pm – 2 pm, I usually take a break to get some steps or exercise in. I’ll be the first to admit this is something new added to my schedule, but self-care is important and I’m making myself more of a priority by taking care of my body. This usually involves either taking my dogs for a walk or getting on the exercise bike for a bit. I’ll grab a quick snack to take with me back up to my office as I tackle more of my daily workload.

Around 3 pm, my husband comes home from work so I’ll take a little break with him (and he always brings me a Tim Hortons coffee for an afternoon pick me up!) If I have more client work to do for the day, I’ll head back up to my office to finish it up before dinner.

After dinner, it’s 50/50 whether I will then relax for the evening – either watching TV or reading a good book OR if I will spend time working on MY business, instead of client work. Usually 3 days per week, I spend the evenings (7 pm – 9 pm) working on my own business growth.

Do I Work Saturday and Sunday?

I used to work every single Saturday and Sunday, except for the odd time we would visit relatives or have something to do. Not anymore! It’s hard with the pandemic happening right now not to work all hours of the day, but it’s not healthy at all. I do still work the odd Saturday or Sunday if I want to, but it’s not necessary and I don’t plan on it.

I do spend 20-30 minutes every Sunday to map out and plan my upcoming week. It helps me manage my time better, batch tasks for the week (for example, moving all pin design tasks to one day and doing them all at once for my clients) and be much more productive while working with so many different clients.

How Many Hours Per Day Do I Work?

On average, a total of 6 hours per weekday, or 30 hours per week, on both client work and my own businesses. It does vary though, some days I’ll work 10 hours and other days I’ll only work 3 hours. That’s one of the most amazing benefits of working from home and building your own service-based business! You have the flexibility to work when you want and how you want.

Are you thinking about becoming a virtual assistant? My favorite course for virtual assistants has just opened up enrollment (this only happens 2 times a year!). I took this course a couple of years ago, and definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in this field.