Boundaries, Burnout & the Beauty of Office Hours: A Friendly Reminder from Your VA

It’s 9:42pm on a Tuesday. I’m in my pyjamas, face masked, with one hand in a packet of Maltesers and the other mid-scroll through Netflix — when my phone rings.

It’s a client.

“Just a quick one,” they say. (It never is.)

Here’s the thing: Virtual Assistants are professionals running businesses — not 24/7 hotline operators. If it’s outside the hours of 9–5 (Monday to Thursday, thank you kindly), it can wait. I promise your email won’t evaporate into the void. I’ll pick it up first thing.

💡 Solution: Respect office hours. I’ll always make sure to respond promptly when I’m working — but if it's after hours, expect a response the working next day. If something is genuinely urgent, we can chat about a protocol for emergencies (spoiler: very few things are).

I love a voice note when you’re out and about and inspiration strikes. But eight 1-minute voice notes on a loop while I’m halfway through scheduling your content? My brain turns to mashed potato.

Similarly, a cheeky WhatsApp every now and then is fine. But running a whole project through a string of DMs, voice notes and “quick messages” makes things messy. And trust me, no one wants their to-do list coming at them from five platforms at once.

And then there’s micromanaging… I see you 👀
You’ve hired me for my skills and experience — not to be your shadow. So let’s trust the process, shall we?

💡 Solution:

• Let’s stick to one main channel for communication (email works great — searchable, trackable, organised).
• If you prefer voice notes, fab — just keep them to key points, and not a full podcast.
• And if you’re sending me a voice note or message that I need to decipher and action? That’s time. And time = money.

A 5-minute phone call isn’t just 5 minutes. It’s the pause in what I was doing, the context switching, the scribbled notes, the follow-up work… you get the gist.

So yes, I charge for calls. Because you’re not just buying my time, you’re investing in my focus and support — even when it's just a quick chat. If we book a call, I’ll be fully present and ready to help. Pinky promise.

💡 Solution: Book in a call if you’d like to talk through something — that way it goes in the diary, and I’m not trying to balance a call while wrangling five client deadlines and a lukewarm cuppa.

Setting boundaries isn’t about being difficult. It’s about making sure we both get the best out of our working relationship. I want to support you with energy, efficiency and a smile on my face — not while stress-eating biscuits at 10pm because I didn’t say “no” to one more task.

If we stick to clear communication, scheduled time, and good old-fashioned respect for one another’s work-life balance, we’ll make an incredible team.

So here’s to boundaries: beautiful, practical, and absolutely non-negotiable.

Drop me an email at info@misskantoor.co.uk — and let’s do things properly (and politely, during office hours 😉).