From the Desk of Janet Barclay

Back in 1995 or 1996, I read Barbara Sher’s I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. I had always been interested in different career assessments, but I was fascinated by Ms. Sher’s approach, which was completely different than the various interest and personality inventories I had tried. She starts her book by suggesting that the reader sit down and write about their perfect work day - where you are, what you are doing, and so on. Here is what I wrote:

I get up in the morning and check and reply to my email and other messages over my first coffee.

I write articles on time management and other organizational techniques, mainly with reference to one’s "personal" life, but also occasionally relating to the workplace.

One article is uploaded to the Internet every month. Printed copies and back issues may be ordered. I also offer booklets on selected topics, each consisting of a number of related articles.  I hope to publish a book some day consisting of my most popular articles.

Occasionally I speak to women’s groups or other groups about a particular time management or organizational subject.  Once or twice a year I may travel to another city to do this.

My articles are basedon my own experience along with information researched from books, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.

People can contact me with topics they would like to see covered in future articles.

Maybe I would also be available (for a fee!) to counsel peole with organizational problems.

This is so close to my current reality that you might think I had decided to make this vision my career path, but that is far from what happened. Keep in mind that when I wrote this, I had never heard of a professional organizer or a virtual assistant. Although NAPO was founded in 1985, POC wasn’t formally established until 2000, and the term  "virtual assistant" wasn’t coined until 1996. No, at the time, this was just a fantasy for me, and the paper got put away in my files under "self-development." In fact, back then, I had no interest whatsoever in being self-employed. Or so I thought…