organisation tips, PA Services Blog

How Flexible Working Can Improve Health and Wellbeing

28 November 2018 by Vicky

Take the first step towards improving your health and wellbeing when you join our team of Pink Spaghetti virtual PA Franchisees.

The modern world is hectic and many of us are guilty of trying to keep too many balls in the air. Trying to juggle earning an income, running a household, looking after a family and a social life can put you at risk of burning out both mentally and physically.

Flexible working opportunities like those offered by Pink Spaghetti can help you to find a healthy work/life balance that keeps you feeling centred, puts you back in control, and makes you happier and healthier whilst still earning an income.

Here are the top four ways that flexible working can help to improve your health and wellbeing.

Spend more time doing what you love

Whether that’s more time out with friends, at home with your family, or spent on your favourite hobby, we all need time to put our feet up, connect with those we love and do what makes us feel happiest in order to feel content with our lives. When you decide your own working hours, you can give yourself as much or as little ‘me time’ as you require at the times that best suit you.

Work around family life

Working rigid full-time hours when you have a family can be stressful and leave you feeling plagued with guilt about not being able to drop your children off at school, attend their Christmas concert, or be at home to hold their hand when they’re not feeling well. Flexible working allows you to tailor your working hours to your family life, which can be great for reducing stress, improving mental wellbeing and the overall happiness of everyone in your household.

Work at times when you feel most motivated

If you’re a morning person who tends to lose motivation in the afternoon, or vice versa, then flexible working allows you to work during the hours when you feel at your most productive, reducing fatigue and helping you work more efficiently.

Make time for exercise

Whilst some people can muster up the energy to exercise after a full day at work, for others, lifting a glass of wine at the end of the day is as energetic as it gets. Choosing your own working hours gives you the option to make time to exercise when you have the energy and motivation to enjoy it!

Find out more about our virtual assistant franchisee opportunities here at Pink Spaghetti or request a detailed prospectus here.

How to balance running a business and children

17 May 2018 by Vicky

Vicky & Caroline

This blog post, written by Vicky Matthews, one of the founders of Pink Spaghetti, was first published on www.workingmums.co.uk.

Running your own businesses is hard work, however, when you throw into the mix your children, the challenges can be even harder. However, before I moan about how short school days are and how frequent the school holidays are I need to remember that our children are the reason why we set up our franchise Pink Spaghetti. We wanted the flexibility to do the school run, be at every sports day and not have to put our children into holiday clubs all of the time. Largely, we have managed to achieve this and here are my top tips on how to do this:

Be super organised.

I love lists and I have a list for everything. I know exactly where my children, my husband and I are going to be each week; what we will be eating and who will be picking up who and from where! I have a spreadsheet of potential activities for the school holidays and when friends are available to swap children for play dates so I can work. This means that I know when I can arrange client meetings, when I will be in the office to be with the team and what work I can commit to and by when.

Find out if you are an early riser or a night owl and work accordingly.

School days are short and during the school holidays I always try to switch my working hours so that I can have time with the children. I am an early riser so I am happy to bring forward my working day and then pick up emails later in the day.

Use your technology to its best effect.

I am never without my iPhone these days. My phone enables me to check my email, access my files on Dropbox and generally work from anywhere. When my children were very young I could be sitting in a play barn, children happily playing whilst I checked my emails.

Use your networks.

There are times when I am franchise training or out with a franchisee and this can mean I can’t be back for the school run. I have friends who work full time and who struggle to get their children to a party or a club and so we all work together to help each other out. I will offer to take a child’s friend somewhere or have them to play during the school holidays and I know that I can rely on them too when I need them. The real bonus of this that the children love having their friends with them too!

5 Key things we didn’t know before starting a small business

5 June 2017 by Vicky

1. Outsource
Entrepreneurs often feel they need to be able to do everything on their own, but this can lead to you wasting precious time doing mundane tasks that someone else could do better and faster. Look for ways to automate or outsource repetitive jobs, and you’ll have more time for the important things. You’re also only as good as the team you have behind you. Make sure you have the right people in place to deliver the service you want to deliver.

2. You’ll spend a lot of time running your business
So you’ve started your business because you’re passionate about what you do, but as a business owner you’ll spend the majority of your time on administration, marketing, selling, business planning and answering a whole load of emails. To make any money out of your new business these are things you need to get to grips with, even if admin’s not your first passion.

3. The importance of making friends with the media
However fantastic your product or service, you need to tell people about it if your business is to succeed. Local press can often have space to fill and will welcome newsworthy stories about your new business. Editorial will often seem more credible to the general public than advertising, so make friends with your local media and harness the power of free publicity.

4. It’s about solving a problem, rather than making money
Obviously you’re looking to make a profit, but your first goal should be to provide a product or service that solves a problem for your customers. If you get this right, you’ll attract more customers and create a profitable business.

5. It’s like running a marathon
You can burst off the blocks at a fast pace, but you’re not going to be able to keep that up for the whole race. There will be intense sprints, followed by periods of jogging along to stay in the running. It’s not the destination that’s important, unless that marathon finish line is somewhere you particularly need to be, it’s keeping going for the whole journey.

Be More Organised in 2017

2 February 2017 by Vicky

If you are one of the 5.3 million small businesses, how you grow your business is key. We know from experience you have to ‘work smart’ so here are our top tips to be more organised. Once you’re organised, you can pack more of the right stuff into each and every day and cut out the tiring and frustrating bits which make you feel hassled.
Follow these straightforward steps and see what a difference they make.
1. Know what’s importa virtual administrative assistant nt to you – we all have long to-do lists, but what items on it are really important? What would you regret not doing…
2. Conversely, know what’s not important to you. What can you stop doing or delegate to free up time?
3. Just get started. Break the task down and set some parameters for when you’d like to achieve certain aspects. What simple steps can you take right now?
4. Set a time frame for finishing – and commit to it.
Accept that you don’t have to do it all yourself. With a bit of imagination – and some support from Pink Spaghetti – 2017 could be your best year ever!

From Christmas Fear to Christmas Cheer – Christmas Day Lunch Planning

1 December 2015 by Vicky

It’s your turn to have everyone for Christmas this year but there’s one slight problem – you’re working up until Christmas Eve, the kids will be running amok and you haven’t a clue where to start! Well don’t despair just yet as Pink Spaghetti has a few handy hints on how to make life a little bit easier so you won’t be reaching for the sherry before midday like last year!

The first thing is to get organised and plan ahead and there’s no time like the present.

1. 3 weeks before Christmas, start your festive food shop by ordering non-perishables like nuts, sauces and of course wine and beer! Part-baked bread is also a great standby and ensures nice fresh bread with starters or for nibbles. Also make sure you book your online grocery delivery shop for the Big Day as dates will no doubt be booking up quickly!
2. 2 weeks before the Big Day, you can even start cooking a few recipes to save you time on the day. Make your stuffing, mince pies and perhaps even the starter as things like pate and soup freeze perfectly – just remember to defrost them thoroughly on Christmas Eve!
3. 1 week before, start buying fresh vegetables as these will keep well in the fridge or in a cool garage, leave yourself plenty of time if you need to defrost a large turkey too! This is also a good time to stockpile a few family meals to keep in the freezer. With everything else you’ve got to do leading up to Christmas you may not have time to cook but everyone still has to eat, so grabbing something from the freezer is ideal and saves a fortune on takeaways or eating out! You may also want to boil a large ham a few days before Christmas, this is perfect for rumbling tummies or as part of a boxing day buffet. Boil in cider and glaze with dijon mustard and demerara sugar – yum!
4. Congratulations, you’ve made it to Christmas Eve – nearly there! This is a great time to cook your turkey, parboil potatoes for roasting, prepare the parsnips and defrost anything you’ve pre-made as well as setting your table if you’re not going to need it beforehand. Chop up any herbs and parsley and cover with clingfilm to keep in the fridge overnight.
5. It’s here – Christmas Day at last! Hopefully all the preparation means that you can relax and have fun with friends and family without feeling like you’ve run a marathon!

So all that’s left to say is a Merry Christmas to you all from the Pink Spaghetti team.

How to Get Organised…the Pink Spaghetti team’s Top Tips

18 December 2014 by Vicky

So much to do – so little time! Here at Pink Spaghetti a big part of what we do is help clients save time every day by instigating small but powerful time-saving techniques for home organisation…and to help ease you into the New Year, we thought we’d share!

1. Meal plan! Once a week or fortnight; it clears any further thoughts for the rest of the week, reduces shopping trips, cuts spend, ensures yummy meals and delivers happy families.

2. Once a week double up on meal portions of an easy-to-freeze dish such as fish pie, beef stew or curry and freeze the extra portion. Then you always have a home cooked meal you can pop out of the freezer the following week without any cooking needed!

3. Spend an hour typing your address book into a labels template, ready to print out a few copies, that way you are ready for Christmas cards, thank you notes and birthday cards throughout the year. (Actually – you could ask us to do this one for you, then you’re saving even more time!)

4. To save a lot of last minute trips to the shops, invest in a birthday card book that has storage for cards for every birthday. Next, go online or make a detour to your local card shop and populate your card book. Add a few extra ‘for emergencies’ and you’re sorted!

5. Create a ‘get rid’ storage box, drawer or section of the wardrobe and use it for everything you no longer use but still has life left in it. Unwanted gifts, last year’s school coats, bags that you don’t like – pop them all in. Once a month or so, throw it all in a charity bag or take an hour to list it all on eBay. This way you clear as you go and never have to undertake a major de-clutter.

6. Keep a chart on your fridge showing what each of your children need to take to school each day. This not only helps keep your mornings sane, but if ever (heaven forbid) you are poorly, your other half can manage the morning rush without bothering you!

While these top tips are ideas for you to implement at home, we are always here to take on the tasks that cost you time and energy and you could quite simply do without, whether at home or the office. Visit our website now to see what we can do for you – it’s bound to be more than you imagine!