Professional Help...For Your Personal Life

We as business owners or professionals know that time is our most precious commodity. That’s why some of us are choosing not to spend time on the less rewarding details of life, like picking up the dry cleaning. I have contemplated hiring a personal assistant for my personal life for some time. I am finally getting around to doing this. As I travel every week, I need someone who can organize my daily personal tasks as well as my household. I have been interviewing other women business owners to ask them, “If someone could be hired to make life easier for you, what job would you want them to do?”

Here are the top 3 responses:

1. Personal Assistant. Someone to do the errands, pick up prescriptions/mail/dry cleaning, put gas in the car, and be available at your home for household maintenance issues. (Can you really afford to wait at home during that "four hour window' for your cable guy?) Your assistant could do your grocery shopping or gift shopping, schedule your doctor/dentist/hair appointments, etc. You get the idea. I have an ad running in our community newsletter advertising for a stay at home Mom who is looking for part time work while the kids are in school. Money in her pocket and stress relief for me—a win-win!

2. Driving Miss CEO. Think of the amount of work that could get done on a commute if only you did not have to drive! Plus, if you are like me and hate driving, it would be perfect. I could understand the serious professional having their own driver, couldn’t you? Professionals in Paris hire the same taxi drivers to take them back and forth to work every day!

3. Soup's On. Dinner’s on the table and it wasn’t due to your sweat equity or McDonald’s. Business owners I interviewed loved the idea of home cooked meals either made in advance for them to be reheated or by a personal chef who actually comes in and prepares your meals. I know a woman in my hometown that does this as a business. She is an excellent cook and is doing what she loves. There is a waiting list of women professionals who want to use her services. She prepares fresh, homemade meals every day based on her clients dietary needs and just drops them off with heating instructions. Imagine coming home and with a click of a few buttons, dinner is done! I know women who have never eaten so well since they hired Jennifer. Check out the local catering company in your area or Google personal chef in your town to find a company in your area that does this.

Of course, there are many other services to choose from that may ease your burden—from dog walker to stylist, to personal shopper to an organizing specialist. The choices are endless. Do all you can to make more time—a commodity you can never recoup. If you can afford it, do it. You will be a lot happier in the long run and so will your loved ones!