by Kara | Feb 14, 2024 | Outsourcing
Sometimes it feels like life is a parade of drudgery.
There are so many things we have to do, and there’s not enough time for the things we want to do. If you feel like too many mundane tasks are making it difficult to devote your energy to the things that truly make your life worth living, maybe you could pass a few to us.
Pepper’s Personal Assistants are here to take some responsibilities off your plate so you don’t have to waste any more time on them.
Here are a few ideas of what we might help you with, but we’re always down to hear your ideas, too!
Dry Cleaning and Laundry
You need clean, pressed clothes every day, but nothing drains your time and energy quite like dealing with laundry. We can help you make sure your closet is full and your hamper is empty by handling dry cleaning and laundry..
Grocery Shopping
Hitting the grocery store after work on a weekday is great at sapping your time and patience. Wouldn’t it be better if you could just open your fridge and find it stocked with all your favorite foods? It might sound like magic — but it’s Pepper’s Personal Assistants.
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Dog Walking
Most pet owners love spending quality time with their animals. But when your schedule is full, you shouldn’t have to choose between letting your work or your dog suffer. Working with a personal household assistant takes some of the pressure off and makes sure your pet gets plenty of exercise and is ready to relax with you later.
Prescription Refills
You just took your last pill, so you’ll need to go to the pharmacy before it closes at 5 in the afternoon. That is … you will unless you’ve hired Pepper’s Personal Assistants. We’re always happy to do emergency pickups for you, but if you’re a client, we probably called in and delivered your prescription days ago!
Gift Shopping
Uh oh — your coworker’s baby shower is tonight! Instead of showing up empty-handed, bringing something as gauche as a gift card or skipping that last meeting to snag something, let us select a thoughtful gift for you!
Reservation Making
The in-laws are coming to town, and you need to make a dinner reservation for tonight at a place with low-sodium, gluten-free options and plenty of ambience. Rather than spend half an hour scouring Yelp and calling around, we can find you the perfect table.
Bill Paying
Roughly one in four U.S. adults fail to pay their bills on time, and 61% of those who do blame forgetfulness, not financial need. If you’re one of the many people who struggle to keep track of their payment deadlines, let us take over.
We can help you automate payments and organize what you have to pay and when. Your credit score will thank you!
Doctor’s Appointments
Nothing makes an experience feel like a waste of time quite like the music that plays when you’re on hold. If you’re trying to schedule an appointment, let us wait for you!
Unfortunately, we can’t go to the doctor on your behalf, but at least you don’t have to hear three (or four or five) rounds of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.”
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Home Improvement Supervision
Have you ever noticed that if you wait around for furniture delivery (or appliance installation, internet or cable help, a home repair or remodeling crew, etc.) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., they’ll come at the last possible moment? Other times, they’ll show up at the exact time you need to run a 15-minute errand.
Let us wait for the handyman or delivery person.
We promise to be there to greet them and supervise while they work — and we’ll also take care of the rest of your to-do list as we wait.
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Contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today!
For these services and many more, 
! If you’ve got a problem, we bet we’ve got a solution.
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 | Apr 3, 2023 | Organizational, Outsourcing
Even if you’re a meticulous scheduler, certain appointments can sneak up on you and really throw a wrench in your daily plans.
Luckily, personal assistants like those at Pepper’s Personal Assistants are experienced in coordinating routine lawn maintenance, last-minute dental appointments and everything in between.
In fact, a personal assistant can not only make sure these appointments make it on your calendar but also prepare and send relevant information beforehand. Then, they can follow up on your behalf with any questions or concerns afterward.
[Related: How To Reduce Your Stress in the New Year]
Personal Assistants and What Appointments They Can Handle
A personal assistant can help you organize all sorts of appointments. Here are just a few of those nagging-but-necessary items on your to-do list.
Medical, Dental and Vision
It’s crucial to take care of your health. Of course, with a busy schedule full of work obligations and family activities, your well-being can easily fall by the wayside.
A personal assistant can ensure you keep up with your annual medical, dental and vision exams so that you stay confident in your health.
Hair, Nails and Spa
Whether you’re a working parent or a single entrepreneur, your busy days might not fit moments of relaxation and pampering. Self-care is essential in lowering your stress level and balancing your mental health.
So let a personal assistant keep you feeling (and looking) great by helping plan salon and spa appointments.
Pet Checkups and Grooming
Our furry friends are always there for us, ready to play, snuggle or simply sit by our side in front of the TV after a long day of errand-running. A personal assistant can help you be there for them, too.
With a personal assistant, make sure your pets get the regular bathing, grooming and vet visits they so rightfully deserve. After all, you want to ensure their long-lasting health and happiness as your four-legged BFFs.
[Related: 6 Signs You Need a Personal Assistant]
Vehicle Maintenance
If you’ve ever panicked when your “check engine” light popped on unexpectedly before a road trip, wasn’t prepared for your registration to expire that month or simply needed reminding when an oil change was due, a personal assistant could have come in handy.
While you’re busy living your life, you shouldn’t have to worry about how to reliably get to where you’re going!
Allow your personal assistant to schedule regular car maintenance appointments and make emergency repair appointments. They’ll also make sure you know when you need to replace important documents — like registration and insurance.
House Maintenance
Additionally, a personal assistant can guarantee your home is in tip-top shape at the hands of professionals. They can organize home repair services, yard and landscape maintenance appointments, as well as package delivery and reception.
[Related: A Personal Assistant Can Make Your Summer Vacation Even More Relaxing — Here’s How]
Connect With Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today!
Have we convinced you that a personal assistant can improve your life? Pepper’s Personal Assistants are experienced, skilled and ready to handle the tasks many successful people outsource every day.
Our personal assistants can drastically improve your daily life by giving you back the time you’ve earned.
Maybe you have a few more questions. Contact us today to learn how long-term, recurring household support can increase your happiness. Let’s get started!
Featured image via Unsplash
by Kara | Mar 17, 2023 | Organizational, Outsourcing
Once you hire a personal assistant, you’re probably ready to sit back, relax, and let them work their magic. We don’t blame you! Your personal assistant should be ready to reduce your mental load and clear your plate so that you can find more time for yourself and your family.
However, like any relationship working or otherwise, it’s important to do your part to maintain a good working environment so that your new personal assistant will feel appreciated and want to stay and grow with you in your employment.
Here are just some ways you can keep that successful relationship going and retain your perfect personal assistant.
[Related: The Best Interview Questions for Personal Assistants]
Respect and Trust Your Assistant
We know it can be hard to let someone “take over the reins” and start doing things for you. Especially if you’re used to doing it all yourself.
A little trust goes a long way. Let go a little and have faith in your assistant to do quality work and keep your best interests at heart.
Schedule Regular Check-ins
Regular check-ins are crucial in retaining your personal assistant. This allows both you and your assistant time to ask and answer questions that can help your assistant better do their job.
Check-ins should be scheduled consistently so that they are expected and normal. We recommend weekly 30 minute check-ins for the first month to make sure your assistant is feeling supported.
After a month, 10-15 minutes a week depending on current projects might work just fine. Conduct more formal check-ins at the 30, 60, and 90 day mark, and after that every 6 months should suffice.
One way to structure these one-on-ones is to ask your assistant to come with a win, a challenge, and at least one question to start off.
[Related: Do Successful People Outsource? The Answer Is Yes.]
Give and Receive Feedback
Both parties should be continuously sharing their honest feedback — not just during scheduled check-ins. To build a culture of feedback as a gift rather than a punishment, give both positive and constructive feedback and be open to listening and taking action on any feedback from your personal assistant as well.
Set Up a Permanent Schedule and Establish Business Hours
Having your PA come on the same day and time each week will create consistency in your routine, which is the best way to add balance to your busy life.
Additionally, boundaries are important for a work-life balance. Respect that your assistant has a life outside of work, and establish strict business hours for communication. Let them know that they’re not required to ever respond to any messages outside of those hours unless it’s a true emergency.
Be Transparent and Over Communicate
No relationship will work out in the long-run without communication, so clear communication and transparency from day one is important. Have conversations about your preferences and expectations in order to set up a long and happy partnership with your PA.
Moreover, let them know when they’re doing great, as well as what they can improve on. For example, if you’d prefer they store clean, folded linens in the laundry room cabinets instead of in the bathroom, or if you like each meal prep container labeled in a specific way, don’t hesitate to let them know! If you aren’t sure whether they’re comfortable doing a particular task — such as taking your dog to the dog park — just ask.
Your PA is on your team and wants to do everything possible to make your life easier (even the small stuff).
[Related: Our Advice for Getting Started With Your Personal Assistant]
Set Goals to Maintain Focus
To respect the time of both yourself and your personal assistant, it’s crucial to set goals and work off of lists of things you’d like to see done.
Start a “bucket list” of things you’d like to get off of your plate. You and your PA can prioritize these tasks so that there is always something they can work on each week, and they’ll feel guided and supported.
Going on a vacation? Ask your assistant to come up with some remote projects, organizing tasks, or home improvement projects that they can work on while you’re gone. This way you can enjoy your time away without stress, and they’ll have some direction while you’re out of town.
Use Tech Tools to Your Advantage
Use tech tools to communicate and be productive. One such tool that has been a life-changer for Pepper’s Personal Assistants is Slack, which offers both a desktop and a mobile version. Slack allows clients and PAs to keep track of all communication in one accessible interface. It also features an easy-to-use search function to find past conversations.
Other project management, organization, and communication-oriented apps that we recommend include AnyList, To Do, Trello, and Voxer.
[Related: Personal Assistant Apps — Do They Really Help?]
Show Appreciation
The biggest and perhaps simplest tip on our list for retaining your personal assistant is showing basic appreciation. Genuine recognition of hard work goes a long way — you never know how much a “thank you” can mean to someone.
Start Your Journey and Reclaim Your Time with Pepper’s Personal Assistants
Are you interested in hiring a personal assistant? Pepper’s Personal Assistants can provide you with the help you need, when you need it most. We make it easy to find the perfect personal assistant for your lifestyle and goals.
Learn more about us, or contact us today for a free 30-minute consultation to answer any of your questions.
by Kara | Feb 7, 2023 | Outsourcing
You may have noticed lately that there seems to be an app for everything.
From dating to meal-planning, from horoscopes to public transport information — it can be easy to download hundreds of apps in hopes of making your life a bit easier.
Although some of these apps can be helpful tools for organizing your day-to-day life, we firmly believe they can’t completely replace a personal assistant. They certainly can’t replace a personal assistant who specifically matches you and your unique lifestyle.
[Related: 6 Signs You Need a Personal Assistant]
What Are Personal Assistant Apps?
In sum, personal assistant apps are virtual tools that you can access on a smartphone or mobile device. Their goal is to help organize, schedule and streamline the details that threaten to take time from your day. These apps often promise to boost productivity and relieve stress.
And you’ll find tons of different personal assistant app types:
- Calendar apps
- Flight-finder apps
- Hotel-booking apps
- To-do list apps
- Budgeting apps
What Is a Personal Assistant?
You probably have a pretty good idea of the answer already.
Personal assistants, like our team at Pepper’s, are real people whom you hire to focus on making your life easier. A personal assistant dedicates their time to a person (you), which helps lighten your real-life workload. Plus, a personal assistant pays attention to your specific needs and unique lifestyle rather than general to-do lists.
Personal assistant services might include these, among many others:
- Laundry
- Appointment scheduling
- Grocery shopping
- Meal planning
- Bill paying
- Personal travel information
- Organizing
- Prescription pickups
[Related: Do Successful People Outsource? The Answer Is Yes.]
Too Many Apps Can Be Overwhelming
Apps may be helpful to streamline certain aspects of your busy daily life, but juggling too many of them can be overwhelming. They definitely can’t replace having an actual extra set of hands.
For example, personal assistant apps like scheduling tools connect calendars and arrange meetings so that you can avoid double-booking and know what your day, week or month looks like.
But when you have separate calendars for social events, work obligations, school activities and kids’ stuff, it can be exhausting. That’s especially true if these events change regularly or if you co-parent.
This is why having a personal assistant to combine and streamline schedules is best.
That isn’t to say your personal assistant can’t use the help of a scheduling app, but it’s one (or several) fewer things cluttering your smartphone home screen. And it makes a real difference being able to talk to your personal assistant about your specific scheduling concerns.
The same goes for tasks such as booking a flight or planning a vacation. Endless apps exist for reviewing vacation getaways, booking hotels and organizing budgets — but only you know exactly what you need.
Scrolling through resort reviews or hotel-booking apps to find the perfect fit for your unique vacation vision can steal a major chunk of your day.
Instead, meet with your personal assistant and tell them exactly what you’re looking for. They can come back after using these apps with only the best options for you to choose from.
[Related: Will More Free Time Bring You Joy?]
Benefit of a Real Personal Assistant From Pepper’s
Ultimately, these apps are all helpful — but juggling them can end up making things more stressful than they were before.
Personal assistant apps can’t anticipate something coming up last minute. They also can’t shift and adapt when an obstacle pops up. But your personal assistant can look at an entire project (or the entire week) and see how the different elements of your life should combine to form the big picture.
While it may take several apps to take care of everything, just one designated personal assistant from Pepper’s can provide inimitable, dedicated, in-person support.
Take your time back! Work smarter (not harder), and focus on what makes you feel best.
[Related: Our Advice for Getting Started With Your Personal Assistant]
Contact Pepper’s Personal Assistants Today
Have you decided that a personal assistant can help improve your life?
At Pepper’s Personal Assistants, we’re here for you. Our personal assistants offer long-term, ongoing household support in the Puget Sound Area.
Interested? Contact us today.
Featured image via Pexels
by Kara | Aug 2, 2022 | Outsourcing
At Pepper’s Personal Assistants, we will listen to your specific needs and work hard to match you perfectly with the ideal personal assistant (PA). While we are confident in our recruiting process, you may have additional questions. Feel confident in your decision by asking the best interview questions for personal assistants.
Here’s how it works.
Our HR Director will do a deep dive into your preferences and seek out a dedicated personal assistant to provide you with recurring household support. Then, we will facilitate a meeting between you and a potential PA where we will discuss Pepper’s Personal Assistants’ policies and guidelines, and you can bring up any concerns you might have.
Before deciding to go forward with your matched assistant, you may want to consider asking the following questions so that you can feel confident everyone is on the same page.
[Related: 6 Signs You Need a Personal Assistant]
Why Are You a Personal Assistant and What Do You Enjoy About Your Role?
Before venturing into more detailed questions, asking why this PA candidate has pursued this job path and what they enjoy about being a personal assistant can help you get to know their goals and what type of person they are. It’s also a great open-ended icebreaker question.
What Are Some of Your Hobbies and Interests Outside of Work?
Asking the candidate about their hobbies and interests outside of work can also help you get to know them. Someone who has similar interests and hobbies might be more of a great fit for you since they can relate to your daily life. Their special interests could also potentially benefit your working relationship.
For example, if the candidate loves the outdoors and you are just beginning to embark on camping trips, they might be able to provide specialized insight on camping packing and to-do lists, best places to hike, and local businesses they recommend supporting.
[Related: Do Successful People Outsource? The Answer is Yes.]
What Specific Skills or Strengths Set You Apart?
Find out if the candidate has any special skills or strengths that set them apart from other candidates. Who knows? Your potential PA could be extremely skilled at something that could benefit you through minimizing your mental load and decreasing your stress level.
If Your Client Needs to Go on a Last Minute Trip, How Would You Support Them?
The answer to this interview question can reveal a lot about a potential PA. Asking the candidate how they would support you during this kind of last-minute situation (i.e. booking flights, rental cars, finding a hotel room, and making sure everything runs smoothly at home) can give you insight into if they’d be a good match..
[Related: Will More Free Time Bring You Joy?]
How Do You Deal with a Stressful Situation?
You should feel confident that your PA can handle stressful situations efficiently and in a way that complements your needs. Asking someone how they manage stress themselves is especially important when finding the best personal assistant fit.
What Are You Most Proud of in Regards to Your Past Experiences Supporting Others?
Allow the candidate to take time to shine. Find out what they’re most proud of accomplishing in their past roles. This can help you get an idea of what they might be able to accomplish for your household as well.
[Related: Our Advice for Getting Started with Your Personal Assistant]
Find the Best-Fitting PA for Your Needs with Pepper’s Personal Assistants
Pepper’s Personal Assistants are ready to listen to your particular needs and find you an assistant that will make your daily life easier, and give you more time to focus on the things that matter.
Asking the best interview questions for personal assistants is just one part of the personal assistant journey. Do you want to learn more about the process of hiring a PA through Pepper’s Personal Assistants? Curious about The Pepper’s Way? Check out our services and get started today.
