It took me about seven months to settle with a productive routine. Even now, some days I just can’t seem to pin down the time, harness my attention and write. Thankfully though, most days I get it right and I can go to bed knowing that I had a productive day.

I try to do my household chores before my husband leaves for work at 8.15 am. As soon as he is out the door, I shower, dress comfortably and sit at my desk with a cup of coffee.

I check emails and attend to those related to writing. Those i have to read, like newsletters and reports, I save for later.

Because I always have some work in progress, there is always something to work on. I work on assignments with the most urgent deadline first and an article or two for my weekly column for three hours and then take a break for a light lunch.

After lunch I might play with ideas for blog posts or read some of the emails I received earlier.

My husband, a teacher comes home just after 3.00 pm and that’s when we have our heaviest meal for the day. I stop working at 2.00 pm to prepare lunch. After we eat, I spend time in the living room or on the porch reading a book and writing in my journal. After that, usually around 6.00 pm I come in to look at television waiting for the news at 7.00 pm.

At 8.00 pm after the news I shower and spend another one and half to two hours reading and commenting on my favorite blogs and emailing friends.

I take my writing very seriously but still try to leave room one or two days each week to spend with my other interests: art, gardening and watching the Food Network and HGTV.

At the moment, I work around my daughter’s schedule. She’ll be attending school this year so I know I’ll be able to accomplish so much while she is away. She still doesn’t understand the concept of working from home. I really don’t expect her too she is only five.?

Great post. I love your redesign. (I’m pretty sure I have said that before, but every time I stop back by I love it all over again.)

Have a great weekend!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article71516.html

I just happened into this work because a friend/business associate referred me to a business owner who needed help getting organized. I’ve been working with her for about eight years now. She has a computer for me in her office that I access through remote desktop. I can access her e-mails, contacts, calendar, and files on a shared server and keep all these records organized. She never deletes e-mails-after she reads them, I either file them in the appropriate folders or delete them. She has an office staff, but since I’ve worked with her so long, I know her business far better than anyone in the office, and since I have experience owning my own business, I understand things that the staff don’t. She can give me a few details about a proposal for a prospective client, and I can use previous proposals to create a good first draft for her to edit.

Several other clients started as as editing clients but gradually started asking me to do more – create and maintain Web sites, act as their representative with distributors and companies they advertise with, order the printing after I’ve created documents. In fact, several of my clients have given me credit card numbers to place orders as needed. Obviously, it has taken a long time to build up that level of trust.

Virtual assistants (VAs) can do just about anything, but most VAs have specific skill sets they offer clients. Many work on a retainer – a flat fee for up to x number of hours work per month. My clients prefer an hourly rate because the amount of time they use me varies from month – from as little as 4 or 5 hours for some clients to as much as 100 hours for my major client.

There are several schools that teach and certify virtual assistants, though I have no experience with any of them. You can search for “virtual assistant” and find tons of information, from virtual assistants offering their services to schools and organizations. Virtual assistants can serve clients anywhere – that’s why they’re virtual, but all of my clients happen to be local. Just like writing and editing, many virtual assistants work in India and other other countries with much lower incomes so they price their work far below standard rates in the US.

This article on starting a virtual business might be helpful to you: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article71516.html

Probably the most important attributes for success as a virtual assistant are a good skill set (administrative, organizational, marketing, creative … whatever kinds of services you want to offer), self-discipline, organization, motivation, integrity, and perseverance.