It’s 4:26am. I just put way too much cream in my coffee. I’m awake and not wanting to be because my little girls each have their very first colds and it’s wreaking havoc in our lives! Don’t get me wrong - I’m grateful that they have never been sick a day and it’s only a cold and all the rest - but it is still a bummer when you are craving sleep and getting none.

What’s a ‘home based working mom’ to do when her days are filled with very unglamorous duties associated with caring for sick babies and her workload is massive because her business is absolutely thriving? Well, she enlists the help of her VAs, her in laws, her coffee and gets through it whenever and however she can.

I know without a doubt I’ll be pulled in a hundred directions today by my daughters (I know that’s their job - they’re 4 months and 28 months old), AND I have a lunch date which I’ve been looking forward to forever. I also have about 15 hours of billable work that needs to get done. It’s 4:31am. If I worked straight through today with no interruptions - which is impossible - I might be done by the girls’ bedtime. But I’m not going to do that. I’m a business owner and a mother. I have to balance both of those roles.

So here’s what I do:

• Get up at 4:00am, not because I want to but because both kids finally went to sleep and I can get 2-3 hours of billable time in before they wake up again. That means I’ll be less stressed today and can…
• Enjoy lunch at the Urban Eatery with my friend who happens to be a client.
• Make a detailed list of the client work I need to get done today and delegate as much as I an to my associate VAs.
• Do only the projects that will be fun for me to do, saving precious energy for later when I really need it.

If I didn’t have a team in place to help with my client workload I would be in big trouble today. I have projects coming from every direction and even though some of these things are items I want to do myself, I can have my VAs work on other things such as the documents I’ve been wanting created for my own business, checking my emails, internet research for myself and clients, etc.

It really is a wonderful feeling to have a skilled VA (or multiple skilled VAs) by your side when you’re a solo-preneur. I’m not alone. I might be up at 4:41am at my computer drinking coffee and writing a blog post because I’ll never get to it later today and wishing that my kids would sleep through the night for the sake of all that’s good and holy - but I’m not in it alone. I have help. I’ll get through the day.

What would I do if I didn’t have VAs to turn to? Well…I wouldn’t be this busy I suppose…so perhaps it wouldn’t be an issue…

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