Interview with Mindi, a content manager and social media strategist

I started my first remote work gig on a hand-me-down IKEA desk in the corner of my attic bathroom while trying to write my first (never-to-be-published) novel.

I was delighted to get paid $10/hour to work on my first social media campaign for a budding nonprofit, and I was hooked!

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I knew I could turn this into a business somehow. Though it took me a few false starts working in co-located offices, I eventually discovered that I do my best work remotely.

I am excited about working on an eclectic range of projects. From working with Yonder where I get to engage with other remote work leaders passionate about the future of work to helping my professional services clients fill their pipelines on LinkedIn to collaborating with some cutting-edge technology brands to build effective social media programs, I love the dynamic flow to my days.

In a nutshell, I get to work with dozens of amazing people doing great work within their areas of expertise by helping them generate the results that matter most to them. It's a win-win.

I'm based on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, so my day starts early because most of my clients are based in the UK or mainland US (anywhere between three and 12 hours earlier than my time zone.)

I typically get up around 4 AM and kick off my workday around 4:45 AM with a cup of hot coffee, overnight oats, and farm-fresh eggs.

I try to buzz through my emails for the first hour since there's usually a good amount of client communication that needs to be responded to.

It's not unusual for me to do client calls or give presentations at 5 AM, but these typically wrap up around 11 AM because of the time zone differences.

I work on my client check-ins, project management, social media management, and project to-do lists up until 11 AM.

At that point, I typically take a break to do a 20-minute yoga session to reset for the next few hours of deep work tasks, where I focus on my business development, content creation, and strategic projects that require uninterrupted slots of time.

It took me a couple of months to adapt this schedule, but the great part is that I'm off work in the early afternoons to hit the gym, spend time with my family, and relax in the evenings.

Yes! I think it's critical to have a workspace dedicated specifically to getting remote work done. I have a "desk on wheels" in one of the rooms in our condo.

It's awesome because I can move it around to give myself a more tropical background (view from my window) when I'm doing video calls with clients or face it towards a blank wall when I need to concentrate.

I use a system based on The ONE Thing to keep myself on task. Every week, I review my priorities and map out the most important tasks to get done that align with my quarterly and annual goals.

Every day, I review my priorities for the week in a spreadsheet (like this one) where I meticulously track my progress on those most important tasks.

I believe in time blocking my calendar with the tasks that matter most, but it's all too easy for other priorities to slip into those slots.

I've discovered that taking a more flexible approach to scheduling tasks and due dates flows better for me than trying to be rigid when something pops up.

In running a household with three kids and a partner, it's critical that I can manage all those responsibilities in addition to what I do as a remote worker.

When I start getting fatigued with work, I will transition to doing some food prep or house cleaning. A little time away from the screen allows me to focus with a fresh brain when I come back to the computer.

Everything. I get to set my own hours, choose my clients, do only the work that inspires me, live wherever I want in the world, and have the autonomy I crave.

There's very little I don't like about remote work. If I had to choose something, it would be feeling a bit disconnected from the real world around me since I live in an "online world" most of the day.

I make sure to get out of the house daily and interact with real people to get my daily dose of being social.

I'm a nerd when it comes to productivity tools. Some of my favorites include:

• Asana, for managing projects with my team
• Slack, for instant communication with my team and clients
• Mailplane, best email application I've found that integrates with OmniFocus (and allows me to create hyperlinks to emails, so I can reference them later!)
• OmniFocus, my personal project management system
• Toggl, time tracker for myself and my team
• Calendly, for making it easy to share calendars and schedule calls
• Zoom, my go-to application for all my video or audio calls with clients

You must be a self-starter and learn to manage yourself when it comes to getting things done and be proactive about communicating with your team and clients.

If you're involved in a project in any way, it's up to you to make it happen.

Priorities must align with my overall goals, which I review on an annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly basis (as described above in The ONE Thing method.) When life happens, and goals shift, so do my priorities.