Author: Akiko Design

Conferences are incredibly useful for all sorts of reasons – you can promote yourself, network and make new contacts, and find out about the latest developments in your industry. And although lockdown has put an end to most in-person conferences this year, many important events are still happening online.

If you’re planning to attend a virtual conference, it’s a good idea to be prepared, because it’s going to be different than you’re used to! The events might be pretty much the same, but you may find it tricky to get into the ‘conference mindset’ at home, so to help you out, here are our top tips for attending a virtual conference.

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As you know, Get Ahead VA never misses a chance for a party! This month, we’re celebrating the first birthday of our Berkshire and North Hampshire franchise, ably directed by Suzanne Cox and Kristy Roff. In this blog, we look back on their busy first year, and look ahead to a growing business.

Kristy and Suzanne met at a mother and baby group nearly twelve years ago and have been friends ever since, supporting and coaching each other in their careers too. Suzanne had been working as an independent VA, while Kristy was in the corporate world of IT. Both feeling they had more to offer, they decided to team up – when the GAVA Reading franchise became available, they felt it was too good an opportunity to miss.

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Keeping up with your continuing professional development (CPD) can be tricky at the best of times, and chances are that the stresses of lockdown have not made this easier over the past few months. But if you’re feeling up to it, you might find that doing some CPD from home could be beneficial for you and your business.

Of course, you shouldn’t put any pressure on yourself to be productive during this time. Lockdown is hugely stressful for all sorts of reasons, and there’s no need to add to your mental load unnecessarily. It’s essential that you take care of yourself first and give yourself a break if you need it!

However, if you do feel up to the challenge, you may find working on your CPD really valuable. Perhaps you don’t have as much to do right now and you’re in need of a distraction or something to give structure to your days. Or maybe you’re keen to feel that you’re still making progress with your business, even if your normal workload has changed. Whatever inspires you, here is our guide to doing CPD from home.

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Lockdown has forced thousands of people to start working from home, and for many of us this has meant swapping the desk and office chair for a corner of the kitchen table or a spot on the sofa. But if you’re finding that your new working situation is taking its toll on your back, you’re not alone – a poor home office setup can cause all kinds of discomfort and back pain.

Since it looks like we’ll be in lockdown for some time to come, it’s important to start looking after your back now, to prevent bigger problems down the line. So, here are 4 key ways you can protect your back health while working from home!

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Lockdown has forced thousands of people to start working from home, and for many of us this has meant swapping the desk and office chair for a corner of the kitchen table or a spot on the sofa. But if you’re finding that your new working situation is taking its toll on your back, you’re not alone – a poor home office setup can cause all kinds of discomfort and back pain.

Since it looks like we’ll be in lockdown for some time to come, it’s important to start looking after your back now, to prevent bigger problems down the line. So, here are 4 key ways you can protect your back health while working from home!

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A few weeks ago we brought you our ultimate guide to online entertainment, to help you beat the boredom during lockdown. Today we’re back with a new edition – for kids!

The latest government announcement made some changes to the UK’s state of lockdown, including allowing for more time spent outdoors. However, schools remain closed and many people are still working from home, meaning that parents continue to face a big challenge: how to keep children entertained.

If you’re running out of ideas for fun things for your kids to do, look no further! We’ve put together our ultimate guide to online fun, so you can keep your children happy, healthy and entertained.

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Virtual assistants can provide invaluable services to businesses at the best of times, and especially so right now, when many people need extra support to keep their businesses running smoothly during lockdown. Remote, flexible working is the comfort zone of the virtual assistant, and that’s why we’re well placed to help you adapt to these extraordinary circumstances. Want to know more? Here are 5 key ways a virtual assistant can help you during lockdown.

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Since lockdown turned us all into homeworkers, some of us are putting in longer hours at home than when we worked in an office. This is an interesting phenomenon, but not a healthy one. In the long run, productivity and work/life balance are more important than how many hours you spend at your desk. In this blog, we look at why working crazy hours is bad news, and what we can do to keep work under control.

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The UK has been under lockdown for several weeks now, and for very good reason. We are staying at home to protect the vulnerable and the keyworkers, and while there are many parts of lockdown life that are difficult to deal with, we are very fortunate to live in a connected, online age that allows us talk to our loved ones and support each other during this difficult time.

For many of us, one of the main things to deal with during lockdown is boredom, but thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of countless people, and the wonders of the internet, there are all sorts of things we can do to stay entertained. So, to help you beat the boredom, we’ve put together a bumper guide of fun things to do online! For many of us, one of the main things to deal with during lockdown is boredom, but thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of countless people, and the wonders of the internet, there are all sorts of things we can do to stay entertained. So, to help you beat the boredom, we’ve put together a bumper guide of fun things to do online! For many of us, one of the main things to deal with during lockdown is boredom, but thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of countless people, and the wonders of the internet, there are all sorts of things we can do to stay entertained. So, to help you beat the boredom, we’ve put together a bumper guide of fun things to do online!

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Amanda Johnson, business coach, mentor and trainer, is bringing us her advice about how to onboard a new virtual assistant in your business. Her award-winning VA business, VACT, was established in 2003, and she has been in the industry since 2012, so she has plenty of great advice to share!

I love helping business owners find virtual assistants (VAs), and people often ask me how to onboard new VAs as smoothly and effectively as possible. In this blog I’ll look at the onboarding process from the business owner’s perspective and share my advice with you.

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