Be Your Own VA

The cobbler’s children have no shoes!

VAs (and mamas in general) are really good at helping other people.  That’s the essence of the job.  But it’s so easy to let our own work space and systems slip as we attend to the needs of others.  Here are a few resources that I’m using to try and right the situation.

And the picture?  It’s a tiny sticker that the absolutely wonderful Melissa Wiley sent me!  I told you she was great!

Toggl

I use this time tracking app to make sure that not I’m not working every waking moment.  Because I can work anytime, it seems like sometimes I’m working all the time.  Toggl is a great reminder for me to focus on work when I’m working, so that I can attend to other things when I’m not.

Inspired Home Office

I recently bumped into this site and am totally intrigued.  I purchased the Inspired Home Office book, and even though I haven’t really dug in, I’m already inspired.  My home office is really the couch in the front bedroom.  It’s where I can turn on the lights and shut the door without disturbing people.  But I am so excited to pay a little attention to the space…and maybe even clear some of the clutter.  I’ve got filing that needs doing from before my last child was born.  That’s too long!

Taxes

My husband worked for years as an independant contractor with the local school district.  So we already had systems in place for a self-employment.  In my experience, its not as complicated as you might think to set up as a sole-proprietor and register with local and federal agencies.  It might seem overwhelming, but it will be a lot easier to deal with things sooner rather than later.  Advice from the woman who just admitted she’s got paper to file that are nearly three years old!