I wake up at 5 AM to prepare breakfast for me and my family. I prepared the things for my baby’s need for the day, rush for a shower, get myself ready for work, and eat. I start work at 8 AM, however, to get there on or before the time, I must be waiting for a public utility vehicle (PUJ) around 6 AM otherwise I will be stuck on the morning rush hour. I arrive at the office, do my 8-hour work, 1-hour break, and clock out. I then battle through another crowd of tired and hungry people eager to get home. I arrive home exhausted (understatement of the century) seeing my son tucked to bed already and too tired to do anything with my husband other than eat and sleep. Then come tomorrow, Repeat the unending cycle. In total, I just wasted 4-5 precious hours of my life in traffic jams that could have been spent with my family or other productive activities.

Realization and Acceptance

"This frustrating cycle has to stop!". I still need a job though. What to do? I prayed. Literally balling my eyes out and begged Him to steer me where to go. Dramatic I know but desperate times call for desperate measures. Then I saw a Facebook ad about Virtual Assistance. Reading through it I realized it was right on my face all along. I worked before processing orders for an online store. But my brain was wired to be the technical and standard employee that the positive implications of my being already there did not sink in on me. I found out my former boss from that same company I worked for became a Coach at Filipino Virtual Assistant. I decided to enroll in her Freelancing Course and embrace the idea of me transitioning from an office-based worker to Virtual Assistance. Life throws in a lot of distractions and setbacks but here I still am moving ahead with learning and paving my own way to the freelance working world.

Embracing and Adapting Change

The emergence of modern technology’s never-ending innovations paved the way for business growth. Process flows are imposed where and employees are expected to hit their metrics and team KPIs no matter what. However, because of the daily time struggles of the employees, it adds to our distress and inability to produce excellent output. The guilt of a mom having to leave her month old baby for work. The regret of a dad missing time spent with his kids because he is away from home too much. We are human after all and it weighs us down. We work for them but money is not just everything. Lossing the time that we should spend with them on their childhood is just devasting.

I migrated to Portugal with my husband and son last year and finding work here is just near to impossible given I don’t speak Portuguese. So, after we settled a bit, I continued on my online lessons and now I have a part-time Transcription job. It’s a start and I am hopeful. I still continue to learn more skills and apply to other jobs that can sustain the family finances. I did have reservations at first pursuing working online because of the stereotype of a university graduate. You are expected to work and excel in a company. But this works so well for me and even more.

Benefits of Freelance Working

The little things are what matters most. I could not stress enough this saying that I have heard ever since my childhood. Here are the things I benefit from so far ever since I delved seriously trying to find an online job:

Spending time and being there through all your child milestones is very precious. Influencing and cultivating their personalities personally will feel very rewarding.

1. Time-efficiency. You have time to do the things that matter most to you rather than spending it sitting through traffic jams.

2. Boost productivity. There is a great amount of stress reduced through working at the comfort of your own home thus encouraging us to do more than just exist.

3. You are in control. This type of working empowers us to deliver quality work outputs without having the tight leash of a boss.

4. The sky is the limit. The search engine is only the tip of the iceberg and there are many more still to discover and chances to upskill. It will now be a matter of perseverance and following through your goals.

The freelance course I enrolled in had a huge variety of lessons that helped me upskill and be efficient in my job. You can check out my profile here: http://bit.ly/2ReYvA5 and send me an email should you need a Virtual Assistant for your business.