Interview with Drei, a WordPress Developer describes her methods for staying focused

I kept getting sick from the demanding work hours of office-based life. At first, I didn't want to leave that world, but my body couldn't take it anymore.

Long commutes and long work hours resulted in a physically damaged version of myself.

The transition was quite hard, and it was like being a fresh grad again and starting from scratch. It took me about two months to find my first client/employer. It was part-time work that paid hourly.

I stayed there for about a year until they didn't need me anymore. After that, it was simpler to find a replacement since I already had the remote experience that everyone was looking for.

Currently, I have a couple of things going on. I'm actually employed remotely, but my employer doesn't require working at fixed times and a certain number of hours, which gives me the freedom to do other things that I never had a chance to do before:

1. I'm employed as a Sr. WordPress Developer.

2. I organize and produce events for a company here in the Philippines. All types of events from benefit gigs to tech workshops to spoken word poetry, etc.

3. I write socio-political relevant songs and record them with my friend's band. Apart from that, I play guitar and a little bit of drums as well.

4. I just started my blog site, which will focus on remote working tips, travel tips in the PH, co-working spaces reviews, etc.

It's a lot, but I have never been happier to be able to hit all my passions in one go.

My work routine usually involves a playlist of movies I've already seen playing in the background, a buttload of chips, and a huge glass of water. I work non-stop for three hours, and then I take a 30-minute break before I start another three hours.

For the daily routine:

• wake up
• tweet a remote tip
• eat food
• play guitar for the doggos
• sleep again
• write content for blog
• night time: work
• play counter-strike global
• sleep

*When I have an event scheduled that day, I remove the extra nap. :)

I do have a dedicated workspace. It is composed of my table, chair, my laptop, an extended monitor, and my BT mouse.

When I get tired of working in my house, I usually invade my friends' offices, and I work from there. I also work in co-working spaces, coffee shops, and restaurants.

In percentage form: 70% - at home 5% - crash friends' office 5% - coffee shop 10% - co-working spaces 10% - restaurants

The best two software tools that help me be productive are Netflix and Spotify. I know it's kind of unconventional to have those two as my productivity tools, but I tell you, it really works for me.

They also serve as my time tracking tool. Like with Spotify, I have different playlists for different moods and genres that give me my momentum to work each day.

Netflix, on the other hand, keeps me awake at night. I also only play movies that I've already seen. So, I listen to it and watch it in my head while I work. It's not a distraction to me. It boosts my productivity and creativity.

I basically discipline myself to allot specific times of the day to do or complete my tasks.

What I do is I set multiple Spotify playlists with a different number of songs that keep my momentum up, so the first playlist would have about ten songs.

After the playlist ends, I take a 30-minute break then I start a new playlist with 20 songs. After that, I take another 30-minute break and start a new playlist with 30 songs in it.

So, that goes on until I am satisfied with my daily tasks.

What I like most about remote work is I get to be with my dogs, my family, and friends whenever I want to.

Like I don't have to check my schedule anymore or find a way to make time for them, I can easily focus all my time on them whenever they need me or when I need them.

I don't like not having people to talk to when I'm at home alone. That's it, but it's a very workable situation, especially when I see heavy traffic outside, I'd rather stay home alone than be stuck in traffic stressed out before I even get to work.