I wish my DH would get a PA, and so would his secretary! Seriously, I think there is a lot of stuff you could use a PA for, and I'm not going to belittle you like some PPs. I did once know of a mom who had a PA try to schedule a birthday party, and it rubbed many people the wrong way. And for playdates, though some busy people may prefer it as just an admin transaction, some parents like the contact with another parent. In nearly all the other situations you mention, though, seems totally legit.

As for ideas, I don't like the one about some admin person from work doing your job for extra bucks -- too much possibility it could backfire in the work environment. Perhaps a smart college/grad student? YOu have to figure out if you want someone on call 24/7, or whether you can limit it to set hours.

Wow it's surprising how many negative and snarky comments there are here when the OP seems to need and be able to afford a Personal Assistant. I used to work 60-70 hours a week. I would have enjoyed having a PA but could manage since I didn't have a child like the OP. A friend works closer to 80 hours a week with a ton of travel and I tell her she might consider getting a PA. I sent her some postings I found on Craigslist. There were some people advertising there. I don't know if there are more reliable concierge type services or agencies out there that do this, but you could start with craigslist.
Or frankly, if you know a SAHM friend or a friend of a friend who is organized, responsible, and would do this for some extra $$, that could be better. I have several friends who are now SAHM due to their infant child/children who used to be attorneys. They would earn triple or more the cost of putting their babies/infants in daycare but choose to stay at home to mother their child for the first year. They would have say an extra ten hours of time to be a PA. Just an idea.

op, go for it. You have worked hard and you can afford it. Try it out and see how it goes.

I am a professional looking for work on the side. I would be more than happy to do all of the things you mentioned OP for a set number of hours a week since most can be done by email and internet.

capitol gal at gmail dot com

Anonymous wrote:OP, definitely a rich people problem.
I don't know, an assistant just seems unnecessary. "send my personal mail", "move money between personal bank accounts", "coordinate refinancing" -- Those are all very personal and somewhat private things. And planning vacations? That should be a fun, rewarding thing for you and your partner/family to do together.
Your nanny can schedule playdates and be there for repair people.
It takes 2 minutes to make a dinner reservation and to schedule a lunch.
Sending gifts and writing thank-you notes aren't a daily or even weekly occurrence and would be entirely impersonal for someone else to do for you- why even do it?
I'm not trying to be completely rude, I just think it's many very tiny things that are easily do-able, but maybe they are just adding up and you feel overwhelmed?

I agree, you are probably a procrastinator, this is why all these things pile up and seem so overwhelming, unless you are some sort of a socialite and have just too many special lunches, dinners, trips, and numerous unmanageable correspondence. I am not being judgmental here, I am a procrastinator myself and I feel for you, I realize though that these things that overwhelm me is my own fault and that people who are organized and get stuff done right away little by little, make do just fine and don't feel any pressure.

PP Here. You also should consider using a placement service that specializes in EA's. it will greatly reduce the stress in a search. You will be Ble to make sure that the person is comfortable doing personal work etc, not all are.

This person is local and specializes

http://www.executivenetworkinc.net/index.htm

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are many people who run businesses, who use their executive assistants to do this kind of work. I hired someone like this for the owner of a business and his wife (I was the HR person.) the wife used the assistant beautifully and she helped with many sensitive and personal issues. I think if you did this in the context of your business, it might make more sense but it is going to cost you. You want a professional, not someone who aspires to do something else.

There are people out there who will train you how to best use your assistant. Good luck.

Op here. Where do I find someone to teach me how to effectively use a personal assistant?

I tried to find the person we hired -- it was an individual with specific expertise, but I couldn't locate her through google. I'll continue to try, but I also think that an executive coach (and there are many) would have experience in this area or know someone who does this type of work.

OP, can I have your life? It sounds like fun . . . .

Read the section on outsourcing in the book My Life As An Experiment, or something like that, by AJ Jacobs. I think. It's humor, but he hires a personal assistant firm in India. I know, sounds silly. But it actually was very professional and above board, in his telling of it.

The trick is to use them well, otherwise you spend more time managing them then the time they save.

I don't have a personal assistant but one for work stuff. I do stuff like have him remind me on date X to do Y, or follow up with a person if they haven't responded in a certain time, etc.

I have other friends (also business owners like me) who used virtual PAs but had to spend too much time explaning to them. It's all in how you manage it.

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who is completely disorganized and she has a "house manager" to run her personal life. Perhaps that is what OP is looking for.

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who is completely disorganized and she has a "house manager" to run her personal life. Perhaps that is what OP is looking for.

+1 I was a nanny for a family for 2 years and once the 3 kids were all in school full-time, MB hired me to be a house manager for them. I scheduled deliveries and pick ups, booked reservations, booked appointments, handled kids activities, paid bills, booked travel for them, ordered groceries online, etc. etc. I worked out of their home office.

Anonymous wrote:I think there are many people who run businesses, who use their executive assistants to do this kind of work. I hired someone like this for the owner of a business and his wife (I was the HR person.) the wife used the assistant beautifully and she helped with many sensitive and personal issues. I think if you did this in the context of your business, it might make more sense but it is going to cost you. You want a professional, not someone who aspires to do something else.

There are people out there who will train you how to best use your assistant. Good luck.

Op here. Where do I find someone to teach me how to effectively use a personal assistant?

I know someone who is completely disorganized and she has a "house manager" to run her personal life. Perhaps that is what OP is looking for.

I think there are many people who run businesses, who use their executive assistants to do this kind of work. I hired someone like this for the owner of a business and his wife (I was the HR person.) the wife used the assistant beautifully and she helped with many sensitive and personal issues. I think if you did this in the context of your business, it might make more sense but it is going to cost you. You want a professional, not someone who aspires to do something else.

There are people out there who will train you how to best use your assistant. Good luck.