I have noticed in many of my VA friends and colleagues that after about two years of VAing, they seem to experience a "slump." They get overwhelmed, and often develop many of the same complaints about their VA jobs that they had about their office jobs. While this may be natural, it can be the death of a VA career. Here are my three ways to avoid the "VA doldrums" and make sure that you keep your act together:

Expand Your Knowledge Base
Learning something new makes you more valuable to your employer as well as more marketable as a VA. Social networking is a particularly trendy topic right now. Learn to leverage Facebook and other social media to the advantage of a business, then put that to work in your job. It is a fun, productive way to dramatically raise your value fast.

Start Networking
While you may not think that networking is in your job description, everyone can benefit from knowing more people. Start taking some time to follow figures in your business arena and keep track of the news that relates to your job. When possible, meet other VAs and work with them to your mutual benefit. You never know when a connection will pay off for your or your employer.

Take a Vacation
Sound counterproductive? It's not. You need time to decompress in order to continue to operate at high levels of productivity. Many VAs never take vacations because they can take their work -via their laptops - with them anywhere. Take a few days off from the internet connection to allow yourself to recharge. You will return to work better prepared to do your job!

By working to periodically change your VA experience - even if you do not leave your current employer - you will help yourself stay focused and motivated to do your job to the best of your ability and you will find that your VA experience becomes rewarding once more.