The idea of working at home is enticing. The time you could have spent traveling back and forth to an office can now be given to other meaningful activities such as attending to your kids or doing other businesses that may add to family’s income. These are just some of the many privileges a Virtual Assistant or anyone working at home may enjoy.

However, although being a Virtual Assistant is fun, you must always remember to be accountable for the tasks delegated to you by your client. The privileges of working in the comfort of your home must not interfere with your professional work.

Here are four tips to apply so you can be a more productive Virtual Assistant.

Negotiate with clients about your working hours.

I’ve been telling to all Virtual Assistants I know never to hesitate to talk to their clients, ask, share insights, negotiate; the bottom line is to communicate freely. If the kind of tasks given to you does not require specific working hours, and after careful planning of your personal schedule then negotiate with your client. If your client said “yes” to your proposal, make sure you back your request up with better results.

Set a schedule and tell everyone about it.

Your friends knocking on your door is sure fun, however if they come on a time when you are working then their visit is becoming a distraction to your work. To be a productive Virtual Assistant do your best to not let anyone or anything (unless it’s an emergency) ruin your schedule. You can do this by letting them know about your schedule and how much committed you are in following it.

Physically prepare yourself.

You may have seen in the internet images of people working at home in their pajamas. Though you can do the same, taking a shower, exercising and eating your meals before engaging to work still is much better and will make you more alive in your work. And since all the VA tasks are being done online, it’s never healthy to be sitting and staring at the computer monitor for hours, make sure to do some stretching every 30 minutes for additional productivity.

Clean your desk (or not?)

Experts say that an average person spends 4.3 hours a week searching for something that was “just here a moment ago”. This kind of scenario adds stress and frustration to the workplace while reducing concentration and creative thinking. Although this may not apply to everyone, I would still go for a cleaner desk for two reasons;

First is a clean desk makes me focus on nothing else but the computer monitor and second I think having a clean and a well organized desk is a manifestation of my attitude as a person.

Do you have additional tips to add so that other Virtual Assistants will be more productive with their works? Share your comments below and don’t forget to LIKE, PIN, TWEET, SHARE this post.

Cheers!