Working Safely In Your Home – COVID19 Guidelines

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!

Pepper’s Personal Assistants Featured in Redfin!

by Kara | Jan 9, 2023 | News

Check out the recent Redfin article we were featured in:

If you’re considering living in Seattle, you might be familiar with the city for its bustling waterfront, lush evergreen forests, and the picturesque San Juan Islands. Seattle is also known as the birthplace of Starbucks, the Space Needle, and the flying fish at Pike Place Market. But these are just a few of the things that set Seattle apart from other major metropolises. So what else is Seattle known for?

From waterfront activities and beautiful green spaces to the incredible art scene and access to nature, you’ll quickly discover countless more reasons why Seattle is such a desirable place to live.

Maybe you’ve just moved and are renting in one of Seattle’s many neighborhoods, perhaps  Phinney Ridge or Montlake, and want to get to know your city better. Or, maybe you’re curious about what it’s like to live here before relocating to the Emerald City. Either way, this city has so much to offer.

Read the full article here: What is Seattle Known For? 22 Ways to Get to Know The Emerald City | Redfin

How to Reduce Your Stress in the New Year

by Kara | Dec 20, 2022 | News

While holiday celebrations begin to fade to memory, the New Year forges on ahead. Reality can hit you like a ton of bricks as the new year (and your calendar) begins to fill with responsibilities and commitments. Even if you enter the New Year feeling refreshed and ready to tackle it all with an optimistic attitude, life stressors have a way of weaseling in. 

Feeling stressed out frequently can not only create mental blocks to relaxation and happiness, but it can also trigger an ongoing physical response that can bring about chronic pain and inflammation, as well as a lowered immune system. 

Don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to reduce your stress levels this year and enjoy peace and balance.

[Related: Overcoming Stress: A Guide to Better Communication Within Your Home]

Practice Self-Care

Between your professional and personal life, some stress is inevitable, but practicing regular self-care activities can help you avoid burnout and take the edge off in a constructive way. Many quick self-care habits can fit easily into your daily to-do list without taking up more than 30 minutes of your time.

Regardless of the time commitment, effective self-care takes several aspects into consideration: some may be fitness-oriented (such as a cardio routine), while others may aim to boost mindfulness (meditation) or simply provide some pampering (a weekly massage or movie night). Self-care can be practiced solo (reading a book or taking a bath) or with others (a group meal, book club, or yoga class).

Be Mindful of Noise

Is your office next to a busy city street, or are you working from home in the midst of family chaos? Loud noises can trigger your stress response and make it hard to focus and be mindful. Try wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones to reduce upsetting noises, or play soothing music to help with your relaxation.

[Related: Burnout: What’s At Stake and What Can You Do About It?]

Take Care of Your Body

We’ve all got one body we must live in — so do what you can to make yours a habitable, comfortable, and healthy place! Physical stressors directly impact your mental and emotional health. Limit these and your general stress level will improve proportionally. Plus, taking care of your body is a crucial part of self-care!

Start by ensuring you’re getting enough sleep. What is considered “enough?” According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults age 18 and over require a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night to function at their peak. Keep in mind this number can vary, with some adults needing up to 9 hours of sleep per night. 

Regular exercise is equally as important, especially since physical activity is a great outlet to channel and extinguish existing stress. 

Finally, make sure to eat a balanced diet with plenty of nutritious foods, and minimize those that ultimately bring your energy crashing down (excess caffeine or alcohol, sugary drinks, and other empty calories).

Be Intentional With Your Screen Time

We know it’s difficult, but try to limit the time you spend looking at your phone or laptop as much as possible, especially in the hours leading to bedtime. While these devices are often an unavoidable part of life, they can also be a big trigger for stress. Studies have linked excessive smartphone use with increased levels of stress, and it might also be negatively affecting your sleep quality. Try to set a timer or a schedule for when the best time to scroll is. 

[Related: 6 Signs You Need a Personal Assistant]

Improve Time Management

Maintaining the foresight to stay organized in your day-to-day life will cut stress drastically. Operating on a schedule can help you improve your efficiency at work and at home, and reduce your stress. 

Rather than digging into office tasks at random, start the week with a basic to-do list and experiment to determine the best way to prioritize projects. Instead of running errands haphazardly, create a route that minimizes driving time. 

Finally, cut procrastination! Putting off responsibilities only serves to create more stress down the road. Hiring a personal assistant can help you focus on getting the important things done as soon as possible.

Set Realistic Goals and Expectations

When you’re overworked and overtired, it’s easy to feel like you let people down, or aren’t doing your best. Understand that you can’t be 100% successful at everything all at once, give yourself some grace, and be mindful of what you can and cannot control. Setting realistic goals and expectations can help eliminate some of the pressure that you may be putting on yourself.

[Related: How a Personal Assistant Can Help This Holiday Season]

Outsource Responsibility Where Possible

Pepper’s Personal Assistants believes what matters most when outsourcing tasks to a third party is that doing so ultimately saves the client time, and can even increase their happiness. Time saved on generic daily maintenance tasks equals more time to spend on your personal and professional priorities and less panic when examining your to-do list.

Our top tips for deciding which personal tasks to outsource include:

• shifting your focus to the hours you’re saving instead of the specific tasks your PA is doing;
• thinking in terms of daily operations;
• and collaborating with your PA on your personal priorities.

For example, you can save up to an hour of your time when you assign your daily (or weekly) laundry-folding duties to your PA. Instead of stressing over unfinished work projects or missing yoga class while you’re stuck in the laundry room, collaborate with your PA to lead your most efficient (and stress-free!) life.

How Pepper’s Personal Assistants Can Help Reduce Your Stress

At Pepper’s Personal Assistants we offer a great resource for helping you fight back against stress. A personal assistant can help take a lot off your plate. This includes meal planning, paying the bills, running errands, grocery shopping, and more. 

Interested? Visit our website to learn more about our services.

We’re ready to help you regain your time, reduce your stress, and increase your happiness. Our personal assistants offer long-term, recurring household support in the Puget Sound Area. 

Contact us today to get started.

The Pepper’s Way

by Kara | Sep 7, 2021 | News

The Pepper’s Way has been developed over the past ten years. We’ve learned how to bring ease into our clients’ lives quickly, what makes a great personal assistant, and how clients and their personal assistant can build a successful long term relationship. 

The Pepper’s Way

• We believe the best personal assistants find joy in making your life as easy as possible.
• We believe communication is the key to success.
• We believe in respecting client’s privacy and conducting ourselves with integrity. 
• We believe in managing up and taking ownership of completing a task.
• We believe our employees are our biggest asset and take care of them.
• We believe in Radical Candor; supporting improvement through direct communication.
• We believe feedback is a gift and an opportunity to course correct.
• We believe in hiring based on shared values.
• We believe in vetting vendors and sharing our experiences with the team.
• We believe in continuous learning and ongoing training.

What Does the Pepper’s Way Mean for Clients?

1. We listen to your needs and put the time and effort into finding the right personal assistant for you. 
2. We have a rigorous screening process with 3 interviews, background checks, and reference checks. 
3. We make it easy to get started by supporting the relationship and providing the tools and documents that have been proven to work. 
4. We train our employees on effective and efficient communication, and require a weekly 15 minute meeting between clients and their personal assistant. 
5. We request continuous feedback from our clients to make sure you are set up for long term success. The sooner issues are dealt with, the better. 
6. We’ve built a Preferred Vendor List over the past 10 years. Vendors are given a rating based on our team’s experience and dropped from the list if they don’t meet our standards. 

What Does the Pepper’s Way Mean for Employees?

1. We are on your team and here to support you in being successful.
2. We offer a competitive wage as a W-4 employee, and benefits for all employees including paid time off and retirement matching.
3. We help set boundaries to avoid burnout, such as business hours, last minute cancellations, and safety policies. 
4. We have a positive team culture, supporting each other and celebrating wins together. 
5. We listen to your feedback and suggestions. Our anonymous feedback form is always available. Some of our best improvements have come from employees. 
6. We provide ongoing team training including leadership, tech tools (Google Workspace, Trello, Pinterest, Lastpass, etc), meal prep and cooking, safety, and self care. 

Contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today!

To find out more about The Pepper’s Way and what we’re all about, contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants today!