Think You Can't Afford the Help You Need? Think Again!

Written by Diane Hughes


Continued from page 1

Let's say you DO hire a Virtual Assistant. He/she works 20 hours a week for a rate of $35 per hour. That equals $700. Onrepparttar other hand, YOU spend those 20 hours a week making more money. That would give you an additional $2,000 per week (usingrepparttar 117476 same example above). You would actually make MORE money ($1,300 more) hiring a Virtual Assistant than you would doing it all yourself.

Where do you find good Virtual Assistants? You can searchrepparttar 117477 Web, ask your business associates for recommendations, or check out some ofrepparttar 117478 Virtual Assistant (VA) directories online such as http://www.assistu.com. I highly recommend http://www.kesslerva.com.

Whoever you choose, make sure they have experience performingrepparttar 117479 duties you want to delegate. Also, be sure they allow "hourly" work without contracts (at least inrepparttar 117480 beginning) so that you can get a feel for how he/she does business.

Virtual Assistants can free you up to do what you do best… make money. This is a very affordable alternative to running yourself ragged, and trying to do everything yourself. After all, isn't one ofrepparttar 117481 perks of being a business owner supposed to be more freedom?



Diane Hughes is an accomplished internet entrepreneur and editor of the popular ProBizTips Newsletter. Subscribe to her newsletter for more tips, tricks, and secrets of the trade -- plus get HUNDREDS of eBooks, software and tools just for subscribing! http://viralmarketzone.com/diane


Flipping The Switch

Written by Elena Fawkner


Continued from page 1

3. Establish a routine and structure similar torepparttar workplace

As stated earlier,repparttar 117475 structure and routine of an external workplace hasrepparttar 117476 advantage of allowing you to leave work behind atrepparttar 117477 end ofrepparttar 117478 day. By establishing a routine and structure similar to a place of work, you can still benefit from this advantage. Now obviously you don't have to be as regimented as you would be if you worked in a corporate office.

You don't have to start at 9:00 am, work till noon, take a one hour lunch break and then work through until 5:00 pm. You can set whatever routine and structure you like. The important thing is to be disciplined in sticking to your routine, whatever you decide it is. If you prefer to work from 5:00 am through 10:00 am and then from 2:00 pm through 4:00 pm that's fine. This structure allows you to enjoyrepparttar 117479 hours from 10:00 am through 2:00 and after 4:00 pm as your own. There is room for flexibility here. Work however is most productive for you but stop once you get torepparttar 117480 end of your allotted work time. If you haven't finished what you started, pick it up again in work time. Don't allow 'your' time to be encroached on by work.

4. Minimize distractions and interruptions

By implementing suggestions 1., 2. and 3., you will also be establishing an environment where distractions and interruptions are minimized and discouraged. For example, if you have school-age children, by scheduling your work time to coincide with their school time, you will minimizerepparttar 117481 distractions and interruptions you will inevitably face if you try and work while they're at home.

By having separate communications systems, you won't be interrupted with calls on your home phone while working (your answering machine should be getting these calls so you can return them on "your" time).

By having an exclusively "work" area in your home, and making sure that other members of your household respect this space for what it is, you can help others remember that when you're in your room you're working and are not to be interrupted for things that can wait until you're "home" again.

5. Rituals

Rituals can play a useful role in flippingrepparttar 117482 switch atrepparttar 117483 end ofrepparttar 117484 workday. For example, you may already have a routine that sees you working until 6:00 pm,repparttar 117485 time your partner returns home from work. Perhaps you share a glass of wine together at that time. Why not think of your shared glass of wine as an "end of workday" ritual. By making a habit of doing this, your mind will soon learn to associate that glass of wine withrepparttar 117486 end ofrepparttar 117487 workday and fliprepparttar 117488 switch on work in automatic response.

Another idea is to wear a certain item of clothing while working so that, when you take it off atrepparttar 117489 end ofrepparttar 117490 work day, your mind makesrepparttar 117491 connection between its removal andrepparttar 117492 end of work time. A baseball cap, a particular pair of shoes, whatever it is doesn't matter.

6. Plan to take days off and vacations

Finally, when establishing your routine and work schedule, don't forget to schedule days off and vacations. And make sure you take them. You may decide to take Saturdays and Sundays off, or your "weekends" might be Tuesdays and Wednesdays or Mondays and Fridays. Whatever works in best with your lifestyle, do it.

The same goes for vacations. Don't underestimaterepparttar 117493 rejuvenating effect of taking a week off entirely. Not only is it good for your overall health and mental wellbeing, you will probably find that you are that much more productive when it comes to getting back to work for having taken a true time out.

Hopefully you can see that working from home does not have to mean turning your home into a place of work. Working from home as a lifestyle choice should mean thatrepparttar 117494 quality of your life is enhanced as a result of your decision, not diminished. By practicing these simple disciplines day-in and day-out you can be sure that even though you are taking care of business, you are also taking care of something even more important. Life.



Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ... practical business ideas, opportunities and solutions for the work-from-home entrepreneur. http://www.ahbbo.com


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