Interview with Phil Strazzulla, an entrepreneur enjoying the health benefits of remote work

I have always been curious about working remotely, but I was afraid I would procrastinate too much. It was something my colleagues had also wanted to try, and so we just took a few days to do it one week and found we all loved it.

You never know what you can do until you try, and very few try unless they have to. –C.S. Lewis, author

I'm the founder of SelectSoftware, a website dedicated to helping HR and recruiting teams find the best software for their business. I do a lot of Zoom calls, some programming, and a ton of writing/video creation.

I get up around 7:30 am, have breakfast, check emails, and then go heads down on 2-3 high priority projects from 8:30-10:30 am. After this dedicated period, my day usually gets broken up by meetings, a workout, cooking dinner, and other shorter periods of deep work.

I do have an office in my apartment, but almost always spend time working in my kitchen for whatever reason.

I've done a few days at co-working spaces, but much prefer to just be at home.

Also, in the Summer, I work outside a lot.

Zoom, FocusMate, Ahrefs, iMessage, and plain old Gmail are my weapons of choice.

Sometimes I'll use FocusMate and do 50 min sessions with other remote workers. Other times I'll just set a goal to have a few things done by the end of the day. I find in the mornings and evenings I can be very on point, and so try to book calls and meetings for the afternoons.

I really enjoy the flexibility obviously. But, the best thing for me is the health benefits.

It's very easy for me to work out every day now that I have cut out the time to commute as well as the time lost to office chit chat.

So, I do yoga 2-3 times per week, lift weights, play golf, and meditate. I also am able to cook most nights and have dinner ready at a reasonable hour which means healthier and cheaper food :)

Once in awhile, I'll realize I haven't left the house all day, and it's 10 PM. That is sometimes a bit of a depressing realization. Also, once in a while it does get a bit lonely, and I find myself going to get a cup of coffee just for the human interaction.

The only other downside for me is that I'm a personal person, and I don't love how most of my meetings share the insides of my apartment via Zoom calls.

I struggle with this as I'm a type-A person who usually chastises myself for needing rest. That said, I just took a nap an hour ago (my second one in several months).

For me, I try to make sure I have a sustainable routine that should give me ample physical and mental rest. When my routine gets out of whack, as it did this week with some travel to NYC, then you just have to listen to your body and make sure you're taking care of yourself to ensure long term success.