How do you decide priorities?
Interview with John, an international business writer sharing 15 years of insights
Every day I assess what needs to be accomplished based on an approaching deadline and what needs to be accomplished on that day—and do both intermittently throughout the day—until I know it’s time to take a break or stop for the day.
For over a decade, John has worked as an international business writer. See his insights on the state of remote work, freelancing, and attracting clients who are the right fit.
Read full interview from Interview with John, an international business writer sharing 15 years of insights.
Interview with Pola, a Paris-based content writer
We operate as a worker co-op, which means many decisions are made together. Sometimes it’s good to have a quick chat with the team to decide what needs to be done first.
A job ad in an online group led Pola to find her ideal career as a content writer—see her remote work & job seeking takeaways.
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Interview with Mehmet, a nomadic digital maker and entrepreneur
I’m actually not good at identifying my priorities well. I often find myself spending too much time on one thing that may not be the absolute best thing I should spend my time on.
I tried a few different techniques for this. The usual urgent/not urgent, important/not important matrix translated into an Airtable sheet where I scored each task/initiative with different factors and had some formulated mechanism to determine the priorities for the upcoming day/week.
Eventually, all of these methods fade out for me. Right now, for long, I’ve been using a “highlight” of the day approach where I pick only one thing to accomplish for the day. It sounds like an underperforming approach, but I don’t pick 15-minute tasks for the highlight of the day. They are generally high level and more like milestones than tasks.
And naturally, a lot of related ”tasks“ follow or are bundled together as one big ”accomplishment“ like ”submitting a proposal to X“ or setting a team-wide goal that I try to supervise like ”go live with v2.0 for project Z.“
Mehmet has embraced his remote team leadership style. Hear about his most helpful productivity trick and why he has "quiet" days for his staff.
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Interview with Lauren, a content marketing team lead and hybrid remote worker
I front-load my week to finish work that I need to be in the office for. My WFH days revolve a lot around my writing because that’s something I can do anywhere. I don’t take meetings on my WFH days because I prefer being present during meetings, though I will Zoom in if something pressing comes up.
For Lauren, remote work was a non-negotiable arrangement—see how she manages a hybrid remote work situation and her tips for those on the remote job search.
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Interview with Alyssa, a copywriter and content strategist
I plan everything two to four weeks in advance, consider my personal schedule, and then base deadlines on my clients' goals.
Alyssa has found her rhythm as a freelancer and founder of the blog, Freelancing Flow—see her tips for keeping it all running smoothly.
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Interview with Kati, a co-founder shares her tips for juggling multiple side hustles
There are certain tasks that have a hard deadline from a client, so that is taken into consideration when deciding priorities. After that, I suppose it's what makes the most money!
Kati has made a career at using the internet and gig economy to her advantage—see how she successfully manages multiple side hustles and a business.
Read full interview from Interview with Kati, a co-founder shares her tips for juggling multiple side hustles.
Interview with Mindi, a content manager and social media strategist
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.
A ten-dollar per hour social media gig got Mindi hooked onto remote work—see how she meets her client and business goals and manages time zone differences.
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Interview with Mike, a business developer with a one task a day remote work routine
As a team, each week, we focus on one major task that needs to be accomplished. Each Monday, we have a weekly sprint planning meeting where we decide what needs to be done during that week in more detail.
We also discuss what we’re going to focus on in the forthcoming weeks. Our roadmap is usually sketched out for the next 4 to 6 weeks.
Mike had a lackluster experience with remote work 12 years ago. Today, he has embraced location-independence. Hear about his "one task a day" routine & vital tip for job seekers.
Read full interview from Interview with Mike, a business developer with a one task a day remote work routine.
Interview with Rose, a co-founder growing the impact of remote work
I have my goals written out, and my priorities are things that get me closer to those goals. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what that might be and where I'm finding it harder to decide I ask my sounding boards, the mastermind group I'm involved in or other colleagues.
Rose balances part-time SEO work with leading Grow Remote—see how she optimizes her time to build a community and resource for remote workers.
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Interview with Emma, a founder helping companies shape their remote work policies
Firstly, I look at client deadlines and always respect them. Then I look at how long I have had a project and what I need to do to finish it or move it on.
It is often like juggling, keeping all the balls in the air at once to make sure everything is moving.
Emma carved out her own remote work niche—see how she manages her own virtual law firm while maintaining work/life balance.
Read full interview from Interview with Emma, a founder helping companies shape their remote work policies.