How to Get Yourself Out of Burnout Mode as a Virtual Assistant

You are working hard on multiple projects with multiple clients, working almost all day every day because you need to juggle all the things around your business and personal life and it feels like it won’t wait until the next day or week. You are going weeks without having a proper day off and you feel guilty if you are not doing something for your clients and your business. But guess what? You are getting closer and closer to the burnout point and once you experience it and the stress level is an all-time high, you don’t know how to get out of this circle and get back to a healthy routine! Here are 3 tips on how to step up your ground and manage your time to prevent burnout!

Stop Being a YES (WO)MAN

Quitting saying YES to everything can really make a big difference! Especially at the beginning of your VA business, you might want to take any job to get the testimonials or experience. You don’t have many ground rules with your client about working hours or time you spent on each task and after a few months of commitment to continuous work, you feel overwhelmed and not appreciated for what you do. You need some boundaries and know what’s the crossing line. Some clients keep adding more and more tasks, deadlines are getting shorter and you can find yourself under a lot of pressure.

Wave goodbye to current clients that you are not happy working with or who are not treating you well. They are not worth your time and energy! I know it can be frustrating not having a client but sometimes it’s better to keep looking for the right one rather than taking on any wrong clients and wrong work that you know you won’t even enjoy doing and it will only make you stressed and miserable. 

Give Yourself Time

Give yourself time and space to figure out how you want to scale your business but also what you put your time into during the day. Success doesn’t happen overnight, and each step of the way takes time. Be patient with yourself and with the results! If you are scaling your business, divide some time for all your behind the scenes work and give yourself enough time to have clear goals and to finish all the tasks before you move to the next step. Set up a realistic time frame for each task and plan your days ahead.

It’s very important to schedule a time for your own business each week, not just for client work, in order to stay motivated and nourish yourself and your business. Be strict but fair and celebrate even small wins. However, most importantly, take regular breaks and allow yourself to have some ‘you time’ when you can re-energize and do something else without thinking about work. No one can work 24/7 and by trying to work as much as possible, you will end up being less focused and less productive!

Do What Makes You Happy

Sounds like a cliche, but hear me out! What do you enjoy doing as a VA and what do you not enjoy as a VA? By asking yourself these two questions, it will be easy to determine whether you are at the right place or it’s time to change something in your business. Start booking out and do what you enjoy as a VA, which will then give you a better work/life balance. If you are waking up every morning unhappy, thinking about all the things that you need to do throughout the day, and how unmotivated you are, do you think you are in the right place? 

You didn’t start your VA business to feel this way and to have zero freedom on decisions you are making. If you are not happy with what you do right now, take a step back and re-evaluate your business and clients you are working with. Get rid of energy drainers and find yourself job opportunities that will bring back joy to your working days and do activities that will make you happy. You love writing, do more content creation. You love Instagram, do social media management. Focus your energy on something that will make your work more enjoyable and get the clients you’re aligned with. 

BONUS TIP – Outsource

If you feel like you have too much on your plate but you love what you’re doing, it’s time to outsource some tasks. You can’t do it all on your own and to avoid burnout mode, you need someone who can help you! It’s an investment into your business, and trust me, you will have much more time not just for other tasks but also for yourself.

Conclusion

No one wants to get to burnout mode, but sometimes we don’t even realize we are heading that way. We want everything to be working well and smoothly in our business, yet we are forgetting about ourselves and the reasons why we started our VA business. If you get to the point, when you feel overwhelmed and exhausted, it’s time to change something in your daily routines. 

Stop saying yes to everything and stand your ground. If you are not feeling happy with what you’re doing or with clients you’re working with, say NO MORE! You don’t need to work with people who don’t appreciate your work! Also, give yourself some time! Time to figure things out when you are scaling your business but also time for yourself that is very much needed when you are a VA. Take regular breaks and find time to re-boost your energy. But mainly, do what makes you happy and focus on all the activities around your business that brings you joy. Get back to your WHY you started your business and take your time back to organize it the way you want. You are your own boss and therefore you can choose what you’ll put your focus and effort into.