2024 has been, by far, my most challenging year. On a personal level, I had to prioritize my health, got married (transitioning to a new life with my husband), and faced the realities of the housing market and financial challenges we all experience in this economy.
On a professional level, my client went through a major reorganization and a rebranding process, which resulted in 90% of my tasks and responsibilities changing. While this was incredibly rewarding, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t come with its share of stressful moments.
During our honeymoon, my husband and I talked about the many changes 2025 would bring, as he will also face significant challenges this year. That conversation made me reflect on my goals and intentions for the year ahead. What can I do differently? How can I do better?
Below, I’ve outlined three key areas where I plan to focus my energy and efforts in 2025.
Comfort
1- Invest for comfort and productivity
When people think of virtual assistants, the first image that often comes to mind (and one I admittedly shared a few years ago) is of someone relaxing on a beach with a laptop, sipping a cold drink, and somehow being incredibly productive.
For me, however, this couldn’t be further from reality.
After nearly four years as a virtual assistant, I can count on one hand—actually, on one finger—how many times I’ve worked from the beach.
Spoiler: just once.
The truth is, while the flexibility of working remotely is fantastic, I don’t find myself working from exotic locations very often. Why?
For starters, much of my work involves handling detailed reports, and it’s hard to fit all that data on a small laptop screen. On top of that, I frequently take calls, and controlling background noise in public spaces can be a challenge.
new office equipment
That said, I absolutely love the setup I’ve created at home. But this year, I want to take it to the next level by investing in a comfortable chair—something that will keep me cozy and focused during those 3–4-hour work sessions (with a few snack breaks, of course!). I’m also considering buying a portable monitor. This will give me more flexibility to explore new work environments like coffee shops, hotels with day passes, or coworking spaces. These changes would allow me to break away from my usual routine, enjoy a change of scenery, and maybe even find inspiration in new settings.
2- Be more intentional with my time off
Last year was incredibly hectic for me. At work, my client underwent major organizational changes, and on a personal level, I was busy planning a wedding. As a result, any time off I had during the second half of 2024 was completely focused on wedding-related tasks.
I did take one full week off during the week of December 23 for my honeymoon, and it was an amazing break. My husband and I had planned a mix of activities ahead of time while also leaving space to rest and enjoy simply doing nothing. (I might write a separate blog post about what we did and how we made it work!)
For 2025, I want to replicate that experience by being more intentional about my time off. Even if I’m staying at home, I think planning one or two fun or relaxing activities in advance can make all the difference. Without a plan, I often end up running errands or tackling house chores, which completely defeats the purpose of “time off.”
Close to volcanoes and coatepeque lake.
a great option to explore in a one day trip.
Some ideas my husband and I have discussed include planning one-day trips. Since El Salvador is a small country, there are plenty of activities we can enjoy in a single day, like hiking a volcano, visiting the beach, or exploring the mountains. We’re also considering stay-at-home activities, such as trying out new recipes (my husband loves cooking) or finally following through on that movie marathon we’ve talked about for ages but never done.
By being more intentional with our downtime, I hope to feel more refreshed and balanced throughout the year.
Growth
3- Professional development
This year, I joined an online course on Data Analysis to learn the basics of SQL and Tableau. In my role as an Operations Analyst at my client’s company, I rely heavily on my Excel skills to handle most of the reporting. Additionally, an important aspect of my work involves creating presentations and visualizing data in a way that is both impactful and easy to understand.
Although my client has a performance evaluation process and development plan for 2025, I’ve always valued the importance of self-development and goal-setting—something I embraced as a former team manager. Even if my current role doesn’t require certain skills, I recognize that technology is constantly evolving. Staying updated and proactively learning new tools like SQL, only helps me remain competitive but also aligns with my long-term professional goals.
4- Personal Branding
I’ve had this blog for a couple of years now. It took me some time to learn the basics of WordPress, set up the initial configuration, create a custom email with my domain, and start writing. Along the way, I also created Instagram and Pinterest accounts and even designed my own logo.
However, I haven’t been consistent in creating content for either my website or social media.
As I previously shared, 2024 was an incredibly hectic year, but my goal for 2025 is to focus more on content creation and to practice consistently.
I’ve been following some experienced bloggers, and their advice often centers on embracing trial and error. They recommend experimenting until you gain traction, find your niche, and develop your unique voice.
With that in mind, here’s a rough plan of what I’d like to achieve in 2025:
- Revamp My Logo: Give my logo a fresh, professional look that aligns with my evolving personal brand.
- Develop Brand Guidelines: Define fonts, colors, images, and other visual elements to ensure consistency across my blog and social media.
- Plan Content Strategically: Schedule a dedicated planning session to brainstorm and organize a list of topics I’d like to write about.
- Streamline Content Creation: Create a system that links my blog posts to Instagram and Pinterest posts, making content sharing more efficient.
- Analyze SEO and Traffic: Regularly review my blog’s performance, focusing on SEO strategies and understanding traffic sources to optimize my reach.
By implementing these steps, I hope to grow my personal brand and build a stronger online presence in 2025.
Sucess
Over the past four years as a virtual assistant, I’ve often worried about two things: time and money—concerns that are relatively common in any line of work. While preparing this blog post, I kept asking myself, How can I measure professional success?
Ultimately, I identified two key metrics that resonate most with me: time and money. Below are my measures of success for 2025 and how I plan to achieve them.
5- Financial goals
In my previous jobs, I often found myself so consumed by work that I felt pressured to engage in “rewarding” activities to cope with the stress. Let me clarify—I absolutely loved those job experiences. Even so, I sometimes adopted the “work hard, play hard” philosophy, believing that because I worked so hard, I deserved to eat out every weekend or buy things impulsively. This mindset left me with very little financial control.
When I transitioned to working as a virtual assistant, I spent more time at home but made the mistake of not separating my business and personal expenses. After my first year with my current client, I realized that my business expenses averaged over $280 a month. These included costs I didn’t have to cover in traditional employment. I had to account for some taxes, full medical and life insurance, retirement contributions, accounting costs and equipment maintenance. Once I calculated these expenses, I realized my net pay was much lower than I initially thought.
This realization pushed me to separate my business expenses from my personal spending. I know calculate my true net pay, which I now use for personal living costs.
Thankfully, my current client is incredibly supportive and values me as part of their team. After two years, they were open to renegotiating my rate, and we reached a win-win agreement.
Now, I manage my business and personal finances separately. When I take on additional projects, like translating or interpreting, I plan ahead and allocate those one-off payments intentionally. Whether for savings, investments, or specific expenses, there’s a plan for it.
6- Work life balance
While I’ve already touched on the importance of being intentional about taking time off, another significant measure of success for me is: maintaining a life outside of work. I strive to live by the principle that we work to live, not live to work.
Working from home has given me greater control over managing stress. Don’t get me wrong—short-term stress can be motivating and even beneficial for achieving goals. However, prolonged stress can have serious long-term health effects, and I’ve experienced that firsthand.
When I first became a virtual assistant, it was due to unforeseen circumstances. My first year felt like survival mode! I was earning less than my previous job and entering a field I knew almost nothing about. My second year brought more stability as I began working with my current client. I felt more confident, though I still had a parallel translation project that consumed a lot of time and energy.
By my third year, I finally felt more established in my career. However, personal challenges, including a health scare, brought significant stress into my life.
Looking ahead to 2025, I don’t anticipate a significant increase in the demands of my current role. My focus will be on continuing to learn new skills while maintaining clear boundaries to avoid overcommitting. I’m also making a conscious effort to recognize my limits and prioritize balance.
I’m learning to be more modest and honest with myself about what I can realistically take on. My goal is to ensure I achieve professional growth without compromising my well-being.
Looking Ahead
This blog post ended up being longer than expected. I hope to look back in a few months to reflect on what I’ve learned and accomplished.
What about you? What are YOUR goals for 2025?
Feel free to share them in the comments or email me at info@pmbassistance.com—I’d love to hear from you!
