Life Hacks

Life Hacks, Personal, Productivity

5 Secrets To Making “Workations” Productive

Written by Dan Martell
20

One of the best things about building a technology company is the ability to work from much anywhere. One way to take advantage of this is to go on a “workation“. I took my first workation three years ago when I decided to spend six weeks in Canada over the summer. The plan was to work in the morning, enjoy the boat in the afternoon, and finish up anything at night. To my surprise it actually worked quite well. Since then I’ve done a half dozen and feel blessed to be able to live in a world where this is possible. Here’s some secrets I’ve learned along the way to make them productive.

1. Find A Great Location

To have a productive workation you need to find a place that not only has amazing sights and weather, but great internet and a place for you to work. Once you’ve decided on your destination, I would recommend using AirBNB or VRBO to find a real apartment or condo. Having your own place – instead of staying on a resort or hotel – will definitely help you stay focused on the “work” part of the day. Last year we did a week of Kiteboarding in Aruba, and this year (where I’m writing this from) we’re in Exuma, Bahamas. Both places have great internet and desks for Renee and I to work from.

2. Structuring Your Day

The plan is to get up get started early. If you’re looking to maximize your time, you’ll do start with something active, then get working on the most pressing projects. Here’s how I structure my day.

  • 6:30AM – Workout / Run
  • 7:30AM – 12PM (Noon): Team meetings, complete major projects, calls
  • 12PM – 6PM: Activities or just relaxing
  • 6PM-8PM: Dinner (In-house or nice restaurant).
  • 8PM – Bed: Emails, review projects, paperwork
There’s always exceptions to the schedule but in general this is schedule has proven the most engaging and productive.

3. Make Your Health A Priority

As I mentioned above, I like to start my day with a workout. If you’re in a place that warm, you’ll want to go out before the sun start beating down on you. One downfall I see happen many times on “vacation” is to let loose and eat like a pig. I actually take the opposite approach and leverage the time away to get back into a routine and feel good about my health. Kicking off your day with a workout also makes for a very productive morning.

4. Communicate With Your Team

Since I’m physically away from the office, I usually turn to Skype Video (1-on-1) or Google Hangouts for connecting with the team. Video lets everyone see you – which I feel is super important. I’m big on transparency and I don’t hide my schedule. If I’m going to be around in the morning, then gone surfing in the afternoon, then I tell them. Whenever possible I also try to keep up on emails so that I can help move things forward – even if I’m sitting by the pool.

5. Work Hard, Play Hard

The whole point of a workation is to work hard, and play hard. I’ve always been an adrenaline junky, so I’m trying to plan my trips around extreme sports. Either snowboarding, snowkiting or wakeboarding. I always opt-in to connecting with a local to fast track your experience and quickly get the lay of the land for the area you’re in. It might cost money, but it’s usually well worth it in the end.

Those fives secrets have helped me not only be more productive and see the world, but also come back to the office feeling recharged and not overwhelmed.  Will this scale once the family grows? I’m confident we’ll make it work.

Let me know if there’s any locations or tips I should consider for my next one!

Life Hacks, Personal

Trading Money For Time And The Things I Buy

Written by Dan Martell
18

Dan Gould's Car - Investor in Flowtown

Time is money. Money buys time. You can get more of one by investing in the other. Both are resources you can use to create a more meaningful life. Things that are important to me are; being close to my family, being creative, travelling, connecting with brilliant people, and solving problems that will leave a dent on the world.

The way I do this is by trading money for time and then invest that time on those things. There’s a bunch of ways to do this, but here’s a quick list of how I spend money for time.

  • Grocery service
  • Driver
  • Assistant
  • Travel agent
  • Maid
  • Laundry service
  • Hiring great people
  • Money manager
  • Property management

I could do a whole post on the services and people that I use, but that’s not the point. The point is how you should look at money and where you should be investing your time. There’s no point in being successful financially if you don’t create time to spend it with those you love the most.

I either hang out with my family and friends, or work. That’s it. On the surface some might think I’m lazy or I like to waste money – but that’s because they don’t understand how and why I do this. I only work on things that I’m uniquely qualified to do and that will act as a force multiplier to create value. Value in my life as an entrepreneur means wealth and relationships. Anything else is a distraction and huge waste of my time.

The way I look at “investing” my money is in myself or other people. I’ve always been an entrepreneur and have an active company that I’m working on – today it’s Clarity.fm. I also invest in real estate. The other way I invest is in other people as an angel investor. Today I’ve been involved in 15 other companies and have already made a positive return even though 10+ of those companies are still running.

What I don’t waste my money on is car payments, consumer debt, and other expensive crap that’s not useful. If I can’t buy it cash – and will have time to use it – I don’t buy it. Furthermore, most things can be rented – no need to own. On that note, I’d much rather invest in a company or startup then buy a new car. It’s just more fun, and it plays into what I said early: “connecting with brilliant people”.

The truth is I didn’t start off this way. For a long time I did everything myself and nearly got burnt out. Over the past few years I’ve change things around to get more time and it’s allowed me to be more present, focused and effective.

I’m blessed each day I get to create great product, with brilliant people, for customers that I love. I’m fortunate to be able to travel to visit my friends and family all over the world. I wanted to share some of these beliefs and hope to inspire you to look for was you can trade money for time, then use that time for opportunity to create more meaningful value (wealth), or just spend more time with your family.

We don’t need more stuff. We need more time.

Life Hacks, sales & marketing, startups

Twitter Growth: An 8-Hour Experiment

Written by Dan Martell
13

About the Author: Cory Schop is a designer, social media enthusiast, and serial
web entrepreneur who makes a living from Facebook, SEO and his Affordable
Logo Designer services among other things. You can follow him on Twitter @coryschop and
Facebook.

The Experiment

The other day I got the bright idea that I wanted to spend an entire 8-hour day interacting on Twitter and measure the results accordingly. I had been using Twitter for a while but didn’t feel I was leveraging it’s true power and potential, which is what I really wanted. Continue Reading

 
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