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4 Ways To Take Time Off as a Virtual Assistant

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4 Ways to take time off as a virtual assistant

The holidays are just around the corner! You know what that means… a lot of family and friends sharing their stories from the past year.

Particularly stories of the things you missed out on because you were too busy working at your 9 to 5 job. 

But 2020 is a new year and youโ€™re starting to finally plan for that trip to the Philippines youโ€™ve always talked about taking with your childhood best friend. You havenโ€™t had a vacation in what seems like YEARS and you want to enjoy yourself (and for your family to know you have a life outside of work) without the stress of worrying about your job.

Girl, I feel it. Good thing you work as a virtual assistant now and can take that time off whenever you want… but how?

There isn’t an official “time off request” calendar or an app where you can block the days you don’t want to be scheduled. Technically, you are your own boss now, so you make the rules, but your clients pay the bills.

Still, your clients understand that you want to have a life too. Being professional about taking time off will ensure that you will have clients to come back to.

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Here are 4 different ways to take a vacation while working online as a virtual assistant:

1. Expanding your online services into an agency

The first way you take time off while working as a contractor is to actually expand your services into and agency. At first glance, that might sound daunting but itโ€™s easier than it sounds. 

Hereโ€™s how it works:

You have a set of tasks you do day-to-day as a contractor that your client pays you, letโ€™s say, $30 an hour to do.

But sometimes, life happens. Maybe youโ€™re out sick or you want to take time off to visit your family but you still want to get your work done. You can hire someone to help you for a percentage of what you make, like $15 an hour.  

By doing so, youโ€™re subcontracting your work to other contractors underneath you to take over your usual tasks.

Sounds easy, right? Now you donโ€™t have to stress about your work waiting for you when you get back! 

FUN FACT: legally, you donโ€™t actually have to let your client know that someone else will be taking over your work for some time. As a contractor, you have the right to hire help at your own expense.  If youโ€™re worried about a breach in confidentiality or access to sensitive data then definitely tell your client that. 

Hereโ€™s an easy way to bring it up: โ€œHey, Iโ€™ll be out of town for a bit but I have this amazing person whoโ€™s already been trained ahead of time taking care of all my regular tasks. Feel free to reach out to them if you have any concerns.โ€

Most likely, your client will totally be okay with this and you get to be offline for as long as you need. 

If you would love to have someone take over your tasks for a bit but donโ€™t know who to ask or struggle with trusting anyone else with your work (like me), itโ€™s always a great idea to make friends with other online contractors. 

Joining a community of other virtual assistants like the 90 VA program or the Work From Anywhere Facebook group is a great way to expand your network.

Having someone else to cover your work when youโ€™re drowning in it is EXTREMELY valuable. Chances are youโ€™ll find someone you can rely on to help with other projects. 

Two women working on laptops

2. Write your time off into your contract 

Another option to take time off is to write it into your contract and onboarding documents. This is super simple but sometimes it can be forgotten how easy it really is.

Say you want to take that well-deserved vacation or see the town your parents grew up in. You decide you need at least 2 full weeks to do that. You can simply block out those 2 weeks in your calendar and write into your contract that you have those weeks already set aside.

Yes, itโ€™s really that easy! 

However, be aware that you probably wonโ€™t get paid for the 2 weeks you are gone. Before you go and spend all your money on food and lodging, be sure you set aside money to balance your monthly income.

You can also do this by putting a small amount into your savings each paycheck or use an app that automatically does it for you. Budgeting your trip is also really helpful. You can feel comfortable splurging on things you like (food is my go-to) or saving in other places, like lodging. 

But donโ€™t forget to set aside a percentage of money so you have some income to come home to. If youโ€™re not sure how much you should set aside, check out this FREE step-by-step freelance calculator! 

Calendar on a desk

3. Communicate with your clients. Seriously, just a simple email will do. 

While you arenโ€™t necessarily required to let your client know when you will be out of town, it’s a courtesy to let them know when you will be.

You want to build a lasting relationship with your clients. The client definitely relies on you. 

Be sure to send your client an email at least one month in advance. You donโ€™t have to disclose too many details; just the basics will do.

Let them know how long youโ€™ll be gone for, the start date of your vacation, and when you plan to resume your normal schedule. If you have a subcontractor, let them know their contact information, and maybe do an email introduction to them before you leave. 

By maintaining a good and long-lasting relationship with your client, chances are they will refer you to their friends and help connect you to future clients. Plus, if you tell your client youโ€™ll be offline, then they probably wonโ€™t bother you.

But again, donโ€™t forget to set aside some income for when you come back! Itโ€™s the worst to come home to an empty fridge and no money to buy groceries after a long vacation. 

4. Workaround your vacation time. 

The last way to take time off when working as an online contractor is to work around your vacation time.

You still get all of your contracted time and make sure your tasks are done, whether itโ€™s working a little more before you leave or taking your laptop with you to work from anywhere.

This way you donโ€™t have to write it into your contract or let your clients know. 

This works great for a lot of people who just want to work. If youโ€™re going somewhere without wifi or if youโ€™re on maternity leave and just want to relax, then I highly suggest one of the other options. 

Writing time off in a planner

Taking time off while working online is really that easy.

You can hire subcontractors to help you during the time youโ€™ll be out or write it into your contract that youโ€™ll be off up to 4 times per year.

Donโ€™t forget to let your clients know that you will be gone and be sure to set aside a percentage of income if you do.

Lastly, you can always work around your vacation as needed and bring your laptop anywhere you go. 

As an online contractor or virtual assistant, you donโ€™t have to worry about using all your PTO or putting in a time-off request and anxiously awaiting if it has been approved or not. You can finally take that trip to the Philippines with your childhood friend and show all your family that you do have a life outside of work!

If you want to know more about how to calculate your hourly rate as an online contractor based on how much time off you want to take, check out this free calculator. 

If youโ€™re ready to join the work from anywhere without selling anything revolution, check out our FREE 90 Day VA intro class! Itโ€™s jam packed with great information about what a virtual assistant is, how to find legit work online (even if you have no experience), and the basics of getting started! Enroll now. Itโ€™s totally worth it. 

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About the Author:

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Rachelle Pierce is a virtual assistant specializing in storytelling. Sheโ€™s a member of 90 Day VA and assists with everything from social media management to content repurposing. She holds a degree in business management and marketing. When sheโ€™s not helping small business owners or influences she loves to binge-watch the latest Netflix series with her pup, Roscoe.


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๐•‹๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’ ๐•ƒ๐•†๐•‹ ๐• ๐•— ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•”๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ๐•ค๐•–๐•ค ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–, ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•™๐• ๐•จ ๐••๐•  ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ ๐•œ๐•Ÿ๐• ๐•จ ๐•จ๐•™๐•š๐•”๐•™ ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•š๐•ค ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ ๐•—๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ?

I get this question ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ all ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ the ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ time.

And I know it can be confusing ๐Ÿ˜ซ to try and figure out which ones are the best for your needs and if theyโ€™ll do what they promise to do for you. ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ

This is why I'm throwing it back to an older podcast episode ๐ŸŽง filled with little nuggets ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ that will help you to decide.

I cover:

โšก How to determine if you will actually land jobs
๐Ÿค” Whether you'll start working in a few weeks or a few years
๐Ÿค‘ If the course is going to hold you accountable 

and more! ๐Ÿคฉ

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to 5 Important Questions to Help You Decide Whether to Invest in an Online Course!
๐‘ฐ๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’–'๐’“๐’† ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’‚๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’‰๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’‚ ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’†'๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’š ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…. ๐Ÿ“ฃ

These are โœจ 13 average salaries โœจ for 13 different jobs you could do TODAY! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

๐Ÿ“Œ Virtual Assistant: $39,617
๐Ÿ“Œ Business Development Manager: $71,968
๐Ÿ“Œ Copywriter: $50,570
๐Ÿ“Œ Curriculum Designer: $61,389
๐Ÿ“Œ Customer Support Specialist: $41,382
๐Ÿ“Œ Front-End Developer: $71,145
๐Ÿ“Œ Marketing Manager: $64,500
๐Ÿ“Œ Online ESL Teacher: $43,878
๐Ÿ“Œ Product Manager: $82,916
๐Ÿ“Œ Recruiter: $49,544
๐Ÿ“Œ Social Media Manager: $49,881
๐Ÿ“Œ Translator: $47,974
๐Ÿ“Œ Web Designer: $49,649

๐Ÿคฉ ...And these are only SOME of the jobs that are out there, guys!

There are so many opportunities for you to live your dream โ˜๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ and work from home. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป Sometimes it just takes a little investigation, ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ but it's out there! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

You can do this! ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ‡๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿคฉ You CAN be successful. 

The skyโ€™s the limit! โ˜๏ธโ˜๏ธโ˜€๏ธโ˜€๏ธ

If you donโ€™t know where to start, my signature course, @_90dayva , has everything you need to get started as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿพโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ“ฃ Doors open for enrollment on May 1st. ๐Ÿ“ฃ But if you join the waitlist, you can enroll early. ๐Ÿ˜‰ 

The link is in my bio. ๐Ÿ”—๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ
๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฃ๐”ฒ๐”ฉ ๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ฏ๐”ฑ๐”ฒ๐”ž๐”ฉ ๐”ž๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฆ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ฑ ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ณ๐”ฌ๐”ฉ๐”ณ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”ช๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”ข ๐”ฑ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ซ ๐”ง๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ค๐”ฌ๐”ฌ๐”ก ๐”ฅ๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฉ๐”ข ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ก ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ฐ๐”จ๐”ฆ๐”ฉ๐”ฉ ๐”ฐ๐”ข๐”ฑ. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ”ฅ You can step up your virtual assistant game by growing your network, โœจ getting organized, and ๐ŸŒˆ pushing your creativity with different free online tools... ๐Ÿ’ป  but the most helpful one is...

๐Ÿ’ฅ FACEBOOK GROUPS ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Facebook groups are a virtual assistantโ€™s lifeline. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

If you are seeking:

โœ”๏ธ Work
โœ”๏ธ Advice
โœ”๏ธ Fellow virtual assistants
โœ”๏ธ Skill trades

โ€ฆthereโ€™s a group for that. ๐Ÿ˜Œ

This powerful tool allows you to network with fellow virtual assistants and potential clients. ๐Ÿค

Did you know I have my own Facebook group with over 19,000 supportive and hustling virtual assistants? 

I share industry advice and post legit online jobs. You can check it out here ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

๐Ÿ”— facebook.com/groups/virtualassistantinternship
๐‘ซ๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’–๐’• ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’‹๐’๐’ƒ ๐’๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’•๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’†? ๐Ÿ˜ณ

Internet scams are widespread and can be an easy trap for people looking for online jobs. ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell if someone is trying to scam you for your personal information. ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”

This is why I'm bringing back a fan-favorite podcast episode ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽง about how to spot an online scam. ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

I cover...

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ How to identify an online job scam
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Jobs that aren't scams but you should still avoid
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Real remote job boards that won't scam you

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to Watch Out! Spot an Online Job Scam From a Mile Away!
๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ? ๐Ÿก

What if when your husband deployed or your family had to PCS you weren't scrambling? โœˆ๏ธ

What if when your kids got sick you didn't have to stress? ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿง’๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ

When those tickets to the Bahamas went on sale you could just GO FOR IT? ๐Ÿ–๏ธโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ

๐Ÿ“ฃ This stuff isn't impossible and it can happen to you. ๐Ÿ“ฃ 

A bunch of us have already been doing it for years. ๐Ÿ’ป  We work online and get paid by the hour or project. ๐Ÿ’ต  We set our own hours and do what we need to do when we want. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

In 90 Day VA, I teach you everything you need to know about starting your own business as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐ŸŒŸ I believe that you can live your dream life if you want to! ๐ŸŒŸ

If you're worried that this could be scam or you're not sure if you could actually make this happen ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Check out my free workshop and decide from there. 

Link is in my bio ๐Ÿ”—
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Copyright ยฉ2021 Esther M Inman โ€‹

Testimonials shown are real experiences from paying program members of 90 DAY VA. Their results are not typical and your experience will vary based upon your effort, education, business model, and market forces beyond our control. We make no earnings claims or return on investment claims, and you may not make your money back.