Find Your Focus Mate For Distraction-Free Productivity For Digital Nomads With Taylor

“We are social creatures and we almost service of those pats on the back and it’s really hard to get enough of that when you’re too isolated.”

Digital nomad Taylor started working remotely because he had a horrible commute. It seemed that this was the ideal solution for his problem but it opened up another unexpected challenge – focus.

After he started working from home, his productivity went down because he had difficulty staying focused. This resulted in a lot of procrastination and eventually became unsuccessful at this job. Unfortunately, he experienced the truth in a harsh lesson as he got laid off. We can learn from Taylor’s story that working remotely isn’t an ingredient for the success of a happier life. It requires hard work and a lot of self-awareness.

After he got laid off, he also lost his motivation to find another job. He started learning more about the mind and self-development and continued his career in executive coaching. Focus on productivity where an active topic of interest and he began to look at these things from the nervous system. Taylor was not the only one that struggled with focus and procrastination, and he helped a friend who Taylor identified as a high-performance. He pitched his idea to start a community to help others focus and this is how Focusmate was born. It’s been a success and Focusmate has thousands of members from 193 countries.

Becoming a productive digital nomad with Focusmate

Community is an important part of the digital nomad lifestyle and Taylor created a community around focus and stopping procrastinating. It’s for individuals as well as teams and is pretty easy to get started. On the platform, you select your accountability partner and if you enjoyed the session, you could favorite your focus buddy. Next, you set up a 30-60 min call and share with each other what you are going to work on. During the work, you will keep your sound on mute so you don’t distract each other but you can communicate in the chat.

At the end of the session, you get back on the video and can talk about how your session went. If you both like it, you can book another session and in this way, you can focus on getting your work done together with someone.

What we love about Taylor’s story is that he started his business because he was facing this challenge to the point that he lost his job. It was hard for him to concentrate and he could not calm down enough to be intentional with his time. We see in the community that many remote workers find it hard to focus and it gets even harder with an adventurous distractions like travel and sunny weather.

Taylor shares that the cultural foundation of Focusmate is safety. He overcame the shame he felt and his depression. When he got the idea to start Focusmate, his friend supported him and it’s incredibly to see what Taylor has accomplished so far.

If you would like to get a taste of Focusmate go to www.focusmate.com and use the code NOMAD22 to get a free month of Focusmate Turbo.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Taylor

Find him on Instagram @TaylorJacobson

Check out his website www.focusmate.com 

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #25: How To Optimize Your Brain To Increase Performance With Angela

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #51: How To Live A Balanced And Joyful Remote Life With Ali 

A Digital Nomad Family Enjoying It Part-Time with Rowena

“Remote work is a way of living and it’s a lifestyle. I chose remote work because it gave me the flexibility to live a certain style which means that I don’t work all the time.”

The definition of digital nomads

Rowena’s digital nomad life goes way back even before having a family. Today, about fifteen years later, she is still enjoying the digital nomad lifestyle and created her own unique way of living it. Her first digital nomad moments were in 2008 during a backpacking trip in South East Asia. While some things always stay the same, her digital nomad lifestyle looks very different these days. One of the reasons is that she is not alone anymore. She is a part-time digital nomad with her family and enjoys this lifestyle during long school breaks.

How we define digital nomadism is very different for every person. This episode shows you can successfully live the digital nomad lifestyle with your family. Rowena and her family only do it around 4-5 months a year and in this way, no one is missing out on the important things like school. That is a very different picture compared to what we see on Instagram. She shares that there needs to be more open-mindedness about the definition of a modern nomad.

As one of the world’s experts on remote work and a professional educator, Rowena knows how to build a sustainable and successful remote career or business. She explains remote work as a way of living. She helps her clients succeed and provides various remote work training services.

But even for an expert, this lifestyle itself doesn’t bring happiness and success. It’s a common conversation with our podcast guests that this lifestyle requires constant self-awareness, self-care, and reflection. Rowena shares helpful tips to achieve a successful remote lifestyle and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

🌟 Know your core values in life and connect keywords to them like travel and self-care.

🌟 Model these values throughout your life so you can live by them daily.

🌟 Find different ways to commit to your values and make them part of your everyday routines. For example, going to the gym, a morning walk, or watching the sunset.

🌟 Set intentions for different moments in the day to help you get into the right mindset.

A final tip Nienke Nina adds to the conversation is to create a recurring task or calendar reminder to capture your wins of the day. Wins are not just about work but can also be related to self-care or your surroundings. Ending the day with a couple of wins helps you maintain a positive mindset and boost your self-love.

Boundless life the travel community for digital nomad families

Travel groups for digital nomads are getting more popular. We talked with Craig, the co-founder of Noma-Collective about this in episode #19: 5 Benefits Of Joining A Digital Nomad Travel Group With Craig.

Rowena and her family joined Boundless Life in Portugal. It’s a travel community for digital nomad families with a special education program and high-quality services to coordinate accommodations, child care, activities, and engagements, keeping her daughter occupied with impactful activities and so much more.

If you want to learn more about Boundless Life, stay tuned because we have a beautiful episode with the co-founder Marcos Carvalho.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Rowena

Find her on LinkedIn Rowena Hennigan

Follow her on Twitter @Ro_Remote

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #24: Traveling The World For 25 Years With 3 Kids And A Dog With Andrew

🎧  Episode #33: How Digital Nomad Families Can Live A Boundless Life With Marcos

🎧  Episode #43: Remote Work Isn’t Just For Digital Nomads With Lorraine 

How Digital Nomads Can Become Successful Entrepreneurs With John

“You need to set out a good work ethic towards your goals and you also need to be adaptable to whatever unfolds in front of you.”

You need to set out a good work ethic towards your goals and you also need to be adaptable to whatever unfolds in front of you

Get ready for an episode with digital nomad entrepreneur John. He started his journey with a career in crypto trading but quickly realized that getting a sustainable income would be tough. So instead he focused on copywriting and his career kicked off by accepting low-paying projects. Today he runs a successful global content agency specializing in crypto and fintech. In this episode, he shares successful methods for building his business from scratch. We love John’s fresh perspective on how digital nomads can become successful entrepreneurs and if you’re a digital nomad entrepreneur, freelancer or have a side hustle – make sure to listen to this episode.

From digital nomad freelancer to running a content agency

John has lived the digital nomad lifestyle since 2018 and started his journey in the digital nomad hub in Lisbon, Portugal. At the time, the cost of living was decent, enabling him to have a comfortable lifestyle while building his career. At first, John was using his savings and was very excited about cryptocurrencies. His focus was to become a full-time crypto trader. It was easier said than done and he shifted to copywriting to make a living. The first gigs weren’t high paying at all but it was a great stepping stone to building up his writing skills as a freelance copywriter. His hard work paid off as he runs a content writing agency specializing in complex topics such as crypto and fintech. His agency’s specialty is writing content in an appealing and digestible way.

Key takeaways on how digital nomads can become successful entrepreneurs

Building a successful business takes a lot of time in the first years. So everyone who dreams about this must be ready to invest a lot of hours and expect very little social life. Prioritizing work over travel is also something we talked about in episode #04 – How to Combine Entrepreneurship and Travel With Entrepreneur Kristina.

Living in a more affordable place can reduce a lot of financial stress and this is one ingredient on how digital nomads can become successful entrepreneurs. John chose to live in Lisbon because he realized that because of the low cost of living, he could focus on building his business and still enjoy the city. He shares that if he were to live in London, building a business wouldn’t be possible.

Business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs have to wear many hats every day. We talked about this with digital nomad entrepreneurs Chelsea, Anne, and Micaela on the podcast, and John shared in our latest podcast episode the same opinion in this episode. So how digital nomads can become successful entrepreneurs by discovering the different success methods businesses could use helped him grow his agency. A couple of methods he used to grow his online business are:

#01 Avoid spreading yourself too thin

Find your niche and focus on only doing a couple of things. He learned that when you spread your focus too thin by offering various services, your value proposition becomes vague. This results in not finding the right clients or any clients.

#02 Share your best work with your network

Use digital content like a newsletter to showcase some of your best work. Share this with your network and clients so people learn about your expertise.

#03 Do an excellent job and get referrals

Always work to deliver excellent work so you can get referrals. Organizations and people who like you and your work are more likely to share it with their network. Chels shares in episode #20 – The Live Of A Traveling Website Designer how she created a referral system where her clients also benefit from referring her business. That’s a great idea and especially if you are just starting out.

#04 Make your business needs a priority

Be critical and focus on what your business needs to become more successful. This includes tracking where your returns (clients) are coming from and doing more of what works. This approach sounds easy but keep in mind that it takes time and patience as you’ll try different things.

‘‘At the end of the day, especially if you are doing it yourself and its the start, your time and energy is going to be limited so you can’t expect too much of yourself’’

The path of how digital nomads can become successful entrepreneurs isn’t always easy but definitely fulfilling if you love what you do. If you liked this episode and enjoyed The Digital Nomads Daily Podcast, make sure to rate it! Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to follow John and us at Digital Nomads Daily online.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad John

Find him on LinkedIn: John Lee Quigley 

Check out his Twitter @bitcoinnomadic

Have a look at his website: adaptiveanalisys.io

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #22: Facing The Realities Of Online Entrepreneurship with Anne 

🎧  Episode #30: Distraction-Free Productivity For Digital Nomads With Taylor

🎧  Episode #42: The Entrepreneur Story Of The Nomad Soulmates Community With Aline

How To Improve Your Relationship With Money And Create An Online Business You Love With Laura

“When my relationship with money improved, everything else improved.”

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Laura

Find her on Instagram @itslaurahhenings

Check out her TikTok @ownyourwild.co

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #28: How Digital Nomads Can Become Successful Entrepreneurs With John

🎧  Episode #49: 8 Freelancer Mindset Challenges to Overcome For Success With Steve

🎧  Episode #50: Creating Your Career Around The Lifestyle You Want To Live With Natasha

Digital Nomad Introverts Never Need To Be Lonely With Marcel

“If you’re an introvert, don’t try to become an extrovert.”

Shifting careers – from IT company to keynote speaker

Marcel is the founder of Trendingjobs.com, which is a job search website in the United States. Even though remote work is a hot topic right now, his website isn’t focused on remote jobs. After running his business for a while Marcel didn’t feel fulfilled anymore. He wasn’t sure about his next steps and he was actively trying to figure out what sparks him joy.

This was a new array for Marcel and he tried different things to see what made him tick and what things weren’t his gem. His approach worked really well and he learned that hosting a talk was one of the things that made him spark. This wasn’t an overnight process though, and he shares that giving himself the time to discover different things was essential.

One of the experiences he loved doing was hosting a talk. So he brainstormed how to turn this into a new career path and decided to become a keynote speaker. While his first talk was about bootstrapping a business, this isn’t the topic Marcel is interested in sharing as a keynote speaker.

Community building is an important element of the digital nomad lifestyle and we often talk about this on The Digital Nomads Daily Podcast. But how do digital nomad introverts network and make meaningful connections? This question is close to Marcel’s heart as he identifies himself as an introvert. To him, this basically means he needs more alone time and if he spends too much time hanging out with others he gets drained. So his way of recharging is simple being on his own, probably more often than extroverts.

Today marcel has friends all over the world but creating his community wasn’t always easy. With trial and error, he found his way of community building without crossing her personal boundaries. Here are 5 things that helped Marcel feel more confident networking as an introvert

👉🏽 Focus on building a network of like-minded people that can become your long-term friends.
👉🏽 Use social media to share your location and ask for recommendations.
👉🏽 Visit Facebook Groups and explore Meetups to find events.
👉🏽 Book experiences like [tourguide] for example, a food tour or a free walking tour.
👉🏽 Check out hostels in the evenings.
👉🏽 Ask around if there is a WhatsApp group to stay tuned for new gatherings.
👉🏽 Make interactions fun so it’s more likely others will invite you for more experiences like road trips, hiking or diving etc.
👉🏽 Organize activities yourself and invite others via Facebook Groups.

The difference between being introverted and shy.

Some people get energy from being surrounded by people and others recharge from a lot of alone time. The folks who love doing activities alone can be identified as introverts, like Marcel.
One of Marcel’s realizations this year was that being introverted or extroverted is genetic and that shyness is something you can overcome. He experienced this firsthand as he used to be very shy. By working on his social skills, he learned to overcome shyness, and this has been important for his personal growth.
An example is that he discovered he wasn’t great at making new connections by moving away from his home and going abroad. It’s very likely that he wouldn’t learn this about himself if he would just stay in his home country and continue to live his life. It is a great example of how the digital nomad lifestyle is so much more than sipping coconuts and tropical adventures.
So living the digital nomad lifestyle gave him many new insights. This, of course, only happened because Marcel opened up to new experiences. He also shares that slowing down your travels and staying a couple of months in one place can really help create deeper connections.

Digital nomad introverts should prioritize working on their social skills

Going deeper into the challenges introverts face in the digital nomad lifestyle, Marcel explains that many introverted people most likely don’t have the practice and exploration extroverts have. Introverts are naturally inclined to be alone they just haven’t been out there to try new experiences. Putting this in perspective – Athletes spend a significant amount of time doing the groundwork and the same goes for someone’s social skills. If it doesn’t come naturally, all it takes is practice and getting ready for a challenge. Everyone can learn how to become good at starting a conversation with people you don’t know yet. This doesn’t apply to meetups but also impacts how confident you show up at work and pitch your business to potential clients.
A final piece of advice Marcel gives to all digital nomad introverts is that whatever you’re doing right now, do not try to be an extrovert. Shyness is definitely something you can overcome, but it will take time and self-reflection. And never be afraid to miss out or keep pushing yourself into crowds because others are doing that.
There is no reason to become a FOMO-victim and while others are getting energy from meetups, you can do what works for you! Marcel shares that he loves going out for dinner on his own and reading a book and prioritizes me-time moments over hanging out with others. In fact, if he goes to all those activities, his energy is drained and he is less fun to hang out with, and that does not go for him and his environment.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Marcel

Follow his journey on Instagram @1marcelwijermars

Follow his keynote speaker journey on Instagram @neverlonelynomad

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #07: Overcoming Fears and Building Community with Digital Nomad Magali

🎧 Episode #46: The 5 Best Ways To Find Friends For Digital Nomads With Marina 

🎧 Episode #52: Connections Stronger than Wifi With The Bucket List Queen Nini