Laura 5

Nicole Wilson

21 Apr 202202:22

Summary

TLDRThe speaker reflects on their growth over the past two years as a virtual assistant, learning to balance workload and choosing clients carefully. Initially, they overcommitted, working with multiple clients and facing burnout. They realized the importance of managing their time and focusing on better-paying, manageable jobs. The speaker also learned to avoid U.S. and Canadian clients due to the challenging time zones. They highlight the variability in client experiences, from supportive to exploitative, emphasizing the need to recognize and disengage from clients with unreasonable expectations or poor treatment.

Takeaways

🌱 Significant personal growth over the past two years, especially from working as a virtual assistant.
💼 Realized the importance of balancing work hours after initially juggling four clients with excessive hours.
💡 Learned to prioritize quality over quantity by opting for fewer, better-paying clients.
🕰️ Discovered that working with U.S. and Canadian clients was challenging due to time zone differences and decided to focus on European and African clients.
🤝 Encountered a range of clients, from wonderful to difficult, including some who were rude or disrespectful.
🚩 Identified red flags in clients who offer low pay for extensive work, which helped refine client selection.
🛑 Let go of clients who undervalued her work and set unrealistic expectations for deadlines.
💵 Initially driven by high earnings but learned the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
🗣️ Gained insight into handling client relationships and setting boundaries for healthy professional interactions.
📝 Became more selective in client choice, focusing on fair pay and manageable work hours to avoid burnout.

Q & A

What is the speaker's biggest area of growth in the last two years?
-The speaker mentions that their biggest area of growth has been in learning about themselves, clients, and the online work environment, particularly after working as a virtual assistant.
What lesson did the speaker learn after working with multiple clients simultaneously?
-The speaker learned that working for too many clients at once, even if the money is good, can lead to burnout. They realized it's better to take on fewer clients with higher pay rather than overworking with many clients.
Why did the speaker stop working with U.S. and Canadian clients?
-The speaker found it frustrating to work with U.S. and Canadian clients because the time zone differences required them to work late hours, which negatively impacted their schedule. They now prefer clients from Europe or Africa with more manageable time differences.
What has the speaker learned about the types of clients they encounter?
-The speaker has encountered a variety of clients, including both good and bad ones. Some clients are respectful, while others are difficult to work with, such as those who offer low pay or make unreasonable demands.
How does the speaker deal with clients who make unrealistic demands?
-The speaker has learned to let go of clients who try to take advantage of them by offering very low pay for a large amount of work or having unreasonable expectations.
What change did the speaker make to improve their work-life balance?
-The speaker decided to reduce their workload by focusing on jobs that require fewer hours but pay better, allowing them to maintain a healthier work-life balance.
Why did the speaker resign from working with multiple clients after two months?
-The speaker resigned because working with multiple clients, each requiring about 10 hours a week, became too overwhelming and unsustainable, leading to burnout.
What types of clients does the speaker now avoid?
-The speaker avoids U.S. and Canadian clients due to time zone issues, and also avoids clients who offer low pay for high amounts of work or make unreasonable demands.
What was the speaker's initial reaction to earning money as a virtual assistant?
-The speaker was initially excited by the amount of money they could make in a week and applied to multiple jobs to maximize their earnings. However, they quickly learned that this approach was not sustainable.
What does the speaker say about clients who offer low pay for large workloads?
-The speaker mentions that such clients often write overly detailed job descriptions but offer very low pay, expecting a lot of work for little compensation. These clients also tend to misunderstand delays in work delivery.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Growth and Learning as a Virtual Assistant

The speaker reflects on their personal and professional growth over the past two years while working as a virtual assistant. They learned valuable lessons about themselves, their clients, and the nature of online work. Initially, they were excited by the financial opportunities and took on multiple clients, which became overwhelming. This experience taught them the importance of balancing workload and choosing the right clients. They also decided to focus on clients from Europe and Africa to maintain a manageable schedule, avoiding those from the U.S. and Canada due to time zone challenges. Furthermore, the speaker gained insights into recognizing exploitative clients who offer low pay for extensive work and emphasized the importance of setting boundaries and letting go of difficult clients.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is someone who provides administrative support remotely. In the context of the script, the speaker has grown through their experience working as a virtual assistant, learning to manage multiple clients and tasks over the past two years. This role is central to the speaker's personal and professional growth.

💡Clients

Clients refer to the individuals or businesses that hire the virtual assistant for specific tasks. The speaker mentions both positive and negative experiences with clients, highlighting the variety in their expectations, work demands, and even cultural behaviors, such as facing racism from some clients.

💡Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is the equilibrium between work responsibilities and personal life. The speaker struggled with managing multiple clients and long hours, which affected their well-being. Learning to prioritize fewer, better-paying clients helped the speaker improve their work-life balance.

💡Time Zones

Time zones refer to the differences in time across various regions. The speaker found it challenging to work with U.S. and Canadian clients due to time zone differences, as it required them to work during inconvenient hours, leading them to prefer working with clients in Europe and Africa.

💡Resignation

Resignation means voluntarily leaving a job. The speaker resigned from working with multiple clients after realizing the toll it took on their well-being. This decision was part of their personal growth, learning to value their time and energy more.

💡Job Description

A job description outlines the tasks and responsibilities expected from an employee or contractor. The speaker discusses how some clients would provide overly long job descriptions but offer very little pay, illustrating the imbalance between work expectations and compensation in some situations.

💡Compensation

Compensation refers to the payment for services rendered. In the script, the speaker realized that some clients would undervalue their work, offering as little as $3 an hour for extensive tasks. This led them to seek better-paying jobs with more reasonable workloads.

💡Learning Curve

A learning curve represents the process of gaining new knowledge or skills over time. The speaker reflects on the steep learning curve they faced while managing multiple clients and navigating different work environments, especially when starting out as a virtual assistant.

💡Boundaries

Boundaries are limits set to protect one's time, energy, or well-being. The speaker learned to set boundaries by choosing clients that respected their time and not taking on excessive workloads, which ultimately improved their work experience and personal satisfaction.

💡Racism

Racism refers to discrimination or prejudice based on race. The speaker mentions encountering racist clients, which is a reflection of the broader challenges they faced while working remotely. This added another layer of complexity to their virtual assistant experience, beyond just managing workloads.

Highlights

Growth in virtual assistant role over the past two years, learning different things about oneself, clients, and the online environment.

Realization about managing workload after handling four clients at once, leading to burnout and the need to scale down.

Learned the importance of focusing on fewer, higher-paying clients instead of taking on many smaller jobs.

Adapted to time zone challenges by deciding not to take jobs from the US or Canada due to scheduling conflicts and stress.

Developed a preference for clients in Europe or Africa where the time zone difference is manageable.

Gained experience working with a wide range of clients, from supportive ones to challenging ones, including difficult, racist clients.

Encountered situations where job descriptions were overly demanding for low pay, leading to the need for better evaluation of client offers.

Learned to recognize clients who try to take advantage by offering very low pay for extensive work.

Realization that not all clients value the amount of time and effort needed for certain tasks.

Developed the ability to let go of clients who were unreasonable or created stressful working conditions.

Improved ability to balance work-life needs by focusing on jobs that fit within preferred working hours and lifestyle.

Started prioritizing well-structured job offers with fair pay over chaotic or exploitative clients.

Gained confidence in negotiating better working conditions and identifying fair job opportunities.

Learned to set boundaries with clients, reducing the risk of burnout and improving job satisfaction.

Discovered the importance of self-awareness and managing personal limits to maintain productivity and mental health.