by Kara | Feb 13, 2024 | News
Proper nutrition is important for weight management and weight loss, both of which can reduce your risk of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Making informed food choices on a regular basis is also an important part of self-care and helps you to feel and perform your best.
Unfortunately, whether you’re a stay-at-home parent, working parent, or busy professional, nutrition often takes a backseat to other priorities. That’s why Pepper’s Personal Assistants provides several services to make healthy eating easy.
Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is time-consuming, especially if you go on the weekend when everyone else is out shopping. Driving to the store, finding your items, and then waiting in those long lines all eat into your precious free time on Saturdays and Sundays.
We can do your weekly shopping or coordinate regular grocery deliveries. Imagine never having to do a last-minute Sunday-night grocery run again!
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Meal Prep
Of course, if you want to plan healthy, well-balanced meals, just creating your grocery list is a task in itself.
We’ve all skipped this step before, choosing random items at the store only to realize later that we don’t have what’s necessary for the full week, or even for a full meal. This usually results in wasting food you bought too much of or having to return to the store again for forgotten items.
Your personal household assistant can relieve you of this burden by creating a comprehensive weekly meal plan, shopping for the necessary items, and even preparing each meal for you ahead of time. When you get off work, all you’ll have to do is cook the prepared items and enjoy!
Take Control of Your Nutrition
People who lack the time (or energy) for meal planning, grocery shopping, and prepping often end up just eating whatever they can find in the kitchen or ordering takeout, neither of which is healthy on a consistent basis.
Interested in learning more? 
and let’s get started.
Featured image via Unsplash
by Kara | Feb 13, 2024 | Outsourcing
As people grow in their careers, they learn how to delegate. However tempting it may be to try to handle it all, being a successful manager isn’t possible on your own.
Great leaders know how to work with and teach others to help them build competencies in key areas. In doing so, these leaders can then have time to concentrate on more strategic activities that benefit their businesses.
This article from the Society for Human Resource Management is a wise reminder of why we delegate.
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We can be leaders at home as well.
It’s an understatement to say that parents have a lot to manage to keep their households running smoothly. Especially post-COVID, with new remote work routines and online classes, it can seem like our to-do lists have grown exponentially because family members may spend more time at home.
More often than not, parents who think they can juggle their own workloads alongside their personal lives, family’s activities and household tasks quickly become overwhelmed.
Domestic Workloads and Mental Health
This New York Times survey of domestic workloads in the time of COVID-19 shows the weight of these burdens (and the differences between how men and women respond).
In recent years, it can feel like there’s “more” of everything. Seemingly small matters like groceries, meal prep, cleanup and laundry can quickly pile up.
At Pepper’s Personal Assistants, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of families needing assistance to manage extra responsibilities at home over the past few years. We’re also helping more parents source babysitters, nannies, tutors and house cleaners to aid them in staying organized.
But if you’ve always managed household activities solo, it can be difficult to let go and let others pitch in.
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How To Delegate Home Responsibilities
Here are our tips on how to delegate home responsibilities so you can decrease your stress level and get time back in your day.
Share a Task List
Start — and share — a running list. Planning is an essential first step. And one of the best ways to plan is to do a mind dump of all the tasks that require some help.
Keep the list in one place, whether it’s on your phone, in a notebook, on a Trello board or elsewhere.
Whenever you think of something new, add it to the list immediately so you don’t forget it. Share your task list with your assistant, who will help prioritize and track projects.
Plan To Check In
Set up regular check-in calls. Scheduling a weekly call can help ensure that everything is progressing smoothly and that your assistant has the tools necessary to succeed. You can also discuss any new additions to your task list and/or special requests for the upcoming days and weeks.
Give Feedback
This is vital: Give feedback immediately. If something’s not right, don’t avoid the issue or hope it eventually fixes itself. Be proactive with your communication so that your assistant can adjust to meet your requirements.
At Pepper’s, our assistants understand that feedback is an essential part of the job — it’s not criticism they should take personally. Never assume people can read your mind. Open conversations are essential to limit misunderstandings.
Keep an Open Mind
Be open to delegating more. Great assistants use their experience and skill sets to add value and offer help in areas you may not have considered. For example, an assistant who does meal prep may be able to organize the pantry or clean out the refrigerator while food is cooking.
And be receptive to your assistant’s ideas — they’re there to improve your day-to-day life!
Let Pepper’s Personal Assistants Make Your Life Easier
Delegating effectively requires some organization and communication on your part. Investing a little bit of time to help your assistant hit the ground running brings big rewards, including more quality family time, a smoother career and a lot less stress.
What household chores are you ready to give up to get more time back in your day?
We’re here for you at Pepper’s Personal Assistants. Our caring personal household assistants offer long-term, ongoing household support in the Seattle area. Interested? to get started.
by Kara | Feb 12, 2024 | Organizational, Residential
Whether you’re relocating across the country, internationally, or to a new neighborhood, moving can be a hassle. No matter how far your move, hiring a personal household assistant for moving is guaranteed to take a huge load off your to-do list as you make Seattle your new home.
Assistants aren’t only there to take care of administrative technicalities such as updating your mailing address, voter registration and much more. A personal household assistant can pick up the slack in many significant ways before, during, and after the move. This will give you time to focus on your career and personal life.
Here are some ways a personal household assistant can help ease the stress of moving:
Apartment-hunting
So you’ve decided to make the move to Seattle—but you’re currently living several states away. In most cases, it’s not realistic to constantly travel between locations as you search for the perfect pad. This is where a Seattle-based PA can step in as a local liaison.
Browse apartments online and whittle down your list of top picks. Then, your household assistant can coordinate in-person viewings at each location and can even stand in for you at any appointments you can’t attend.
Perhaps you’d like to Skype or FaceTime to see each spot in real-time through your PA’s eyes? Or maybe you’d prefer a text or email with detailed photographs and notes? Your superstar sidekick is ready to help according to your needs.
Storage
Your PA can track down the storage facilities closest to your new neighborhood and reserve a space at your preferred location. When moving time approaches, your spot will be ready for you to store boxes, furniture, recreational equipment, and more. Your assistant is there to help you in any way you see fit. Whether it’s coordination or lending a helping hand as you shuffle between home and storage, we’re here.
Unpacking
Those stacks of marker-labeled cardboard boxes always seem to linger long after moving day. Both on and after moving day, your PA can help you unload and recycle boxes. This is especially handy once you return to work, as an extra pair of hands can ensure no time goes wasted. The sooner those boxes are out of sight, the sooner your new place can start to feel like home.
Homemaking
Once you begin to get settled, you’re likely either preparing to return to or start work, are busy job-hunting, or are bogged down with a million other post-move tasks. Though hunting for the best deal on a couch may not be at the top of your to-do list, it’s still a huge priority—especially if the only available living room seating is on the floor!
We can make furniture store runs, start arranging your decor according to your personal style, and run any necessary errands (after all, that empty refrigerator will need stocking!). While you’re at work, we can also be onsite during the 4-hour service and delivery window given by many furniture and internet providers.
With enough time invested daily, we can have your place spick and span by the end of your first week.
Local Intel
If you’re new to the area, allow us to make a few recommendations! Many of our professional personal household assistants are longtime Seattle-area residents. They are happy to share their intel on favorite local attractions, restaurants, markets, outdoor activities. We can even give recommendations on the more technical stuff such as doctor offices, schools, auto service shops—you name it. With a Pepper’s personal assistant by your side, you’ll be a tried-and-true Seattleite in no time.
Contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today!
Thinking of starting your journey with a new personal household assistant? and let’s get started.
Featured image courtesy of Nicolas Huk
by Kara | Aug 18, 2023 | Residential, Travel Services
If you travel often for business or leisure, you’re probably pretty familiar with the feeling of coming back after a long trip, setting down your bags and finally relaxing in your own home.
You can just kick back, enjoy a meal, cuddle with your pet and then crawl into your soft bed.
Except … that’s probably not how it goes.
The house is cold because the heat’s been off. The fridge is either empty or full of expired food that you forgot to toss before your trip. Your houseplants are parched, your garden is dry, and your things are strewn everywhere from your hasty departure.
You’d love to rest, but you have to unpack your suitcase, do laundry, walk the dog and make dinner.
Unless, of course, you’ve hired us.
[Related: How To Delegate When You’re Used to Doing It All Yourself]
Pepper’s Personal Assistants for Absentee Home Services
Two of our specialties are taking care of homes while the occupants are away and preparing the spaces for their return. We can do pretty much anything you want to get your house ready for you. Still, here’s a sampling of services we recommend for absentee home care and arrival preparation.
Kitchen
A worst-case scenario is coming home to an empty fridge — or worse, a fridge full of expired food. We’ll stock your refrigerator with fresh produce, juice, milk and other perishables and clear out the old stuff.
Additionally, our assistants can make sure a healthy, homemade meal is in the crockpot or ready for you to heat up right out of the fridge. You’ll have no need to cook right away or stop to grab takeout!
[Related: Our Advice for Getting Started With Your Personal Assistant]
Home Improvement
Have a home project you can’t seem to pull the trigger on? What better time to arrange it then when you’re out of the house! Our assistants can meet with and stick around for home-visiting vendors to arrange things like carpet cleanings, car wash or repair, gutter cleanings, and more!
Outdoors
From arranging fresh flowers on the table to making sure your cactus or Monstera thrives, Pepper’s personal assistants have somewhat of a green thumb. We’d love to help out with your plants and/or garden!
General Tidiness
Come home to a clean and cozy bedroom with fresh linens and nicely folded towels. Your home will rival the hotel you just left! We can also sweep and clean floors and surfaces to ensure you return to a spotless house after your time away.
[Related: A Personal Assistant Can Help Make Your Summer Vacation Even More Relaxing — Here’s How]
Administration
Don’t worry about an overflowing mailbox, packages piled at the door or home-related appointments needing rescheduling. Pepper’s personal assistants will collect and sort your mail and packages, as well as meet with any gardeners, maintenance people, painters or other home service providers who work while you’re out of town.
Completely Customizable Help
Our absentee home services are all about making you feel confident that we’re caring for your home while you’re away and that everything is ready when you return. We’re happy to tailor our services according to your trip length, home type, occupants and more.
Just let us know!
[Related: 10 Things You’d Love To Never Do Again]
Contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today!
To learn more about our absentee home services for people on the go, contact us today!
by Kara | Jul 3, 2023 | News
Updated: August 31, 2023
As the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, the health of our employees and clients remains our top priority. We are committed to following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 guidelines along with applicable requirements from state and local health authorities.
We recognize that guidance and requirements are constantly changing and will continue to align our processes with the current guidance.
Here is what Pepper’s and our personal assistants are doing to ensure the health and safety of our team and clients amid COVID-19 and related variants:
- Employees will communicate prior to working in client homes if any household members are showing COVID-19 symptoms, is considered a close contact of a positive case, or has tested positive for COVID-19.
- In the event that an employee tests positive for COVID, they will follow CDC testing and isolation guidance
What we need from our clients:
- Communicate with your personal assistants prior to their arrival if any household members are showing COVID-19 symptoms, is considered a close contact of a positive case, or has tested positive for COVID-19.
- Follow CDC testing and isolation guidance for household members experiencing symptoms or are close contacts of confirmed COVID cases.
- When possible, relocate household members to areas away from a personal assistant while they are in the home.
Questions? Contact us today!
