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My Daily Routine as a Digital Nomad
Having a daily routine that you follow is essential for success as a digital nomad.
My first few weeks as a DN were really fun, but I was unfocused and unproductive. And guess what, it was because I was adjusting to a new place and wasn’t following my routine.
Everyone’s routine is going to be different, what works for me may not work for you, but I’ll share anyway so you can get a sense for a typical day that helps my productivity. Side note, my current routine is far from optimal but I’m able to follow it 90% of the time.
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.
George S. Patton
Daily Routine is a topic that is very important to me. I am constantly trying to optimize for the best daily routine to maximize productivity and joy.
My absolute favorite book on daily practice is Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus. He does an excellent job of walking you through how to optimize your day. The book has actionable takeaways that you can start immediately. One thing I did right away was double down on my podcast listening on my less than ideal commute to work.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Will Durant
I plan to revisit the topic of optimizing my daily routine often and share any useful tips I discover. I want to maximize both- productivity and enjoyment!
Keep reading below for my current daily routine, hopefully you’ll find the information valuable for you to optimize your own daily routine.
Night Before
Having a productive day as a digital nomad starts the night before! If I don’t properly plan for my next day the night before I am setting myself up for failure.
Journal
The first thing I’ll do is journal. My favorite for building new habits and working towards my goals is Notion.
I’ll review what I accomplished for the day and determine what the most important thing I need to do the next day is. I’ll also practice gratitude and review anything that went well either in my personal life or with the blog.
Nighttime Supplements
There are many nutritional supplements that I find tremendous benefit from.
Three of these, that I take before bed are:
I notice a difference in the quality of sleep if I don’t take these. Also, I find myself getting sick more easily if I don’t take the Zinc regularly.
Winding Down
After visualizing, planning out my next day and taking the nighttime supplements, I need to wind down. Usually, I’ll read a fiction book or biography for a bit to relax a bit before bed.
Meditate
I’m not going to lie to you. Meditation is currently not a consistent part of my daily practice. I know all about the tremendous health benefits, and I really need to get into the routine of doing it and build a better habit of doing it consistently.
I plan to try the Waking Up course by Sam Harris as recommended by Tim Ferriss. I’m mainly adding this in here as a reminder for myself!
Sleep
Now, if I were solely optimizing for productivity, I would definitely be going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. But since living the digital nomad lifestyle is part of my early retirement experiment, I’ve been working daily, but have also been letting my body follow its natural sleep and wake rhythms, which seems to be roughly 11pm-7am.
Morning
A fresh start to a beautiful day! Hopefully, I’m feeling great and well-rested after a solid 8-8.5ish hours of sleep.
I know I’m not supposed to, but let’s be honest I will probably check my phone first thing when I wake up. Haha but then it’s time to start the day!
Hydration and Vitamins
First things first, I chug some water, as you are dehydrated after a nights sleep.
Then I take some morning supplements that I find help with general health:
- B Complex Vitamins, methylated version
- Vitamin D
- Probiotics– after a rough bout of insomnia from taking antibiotics while I was on night shift, I have consistently been taking these. Knock on wood I haven’t had any gastrointestinal issues, I love probiotics and highly recommend them! (For more information on gut health and circadian rythmn check out this article.)
Side note. I do not eat anything for breakfast.
I have been practicing intermittent fasting for 6 years and can’t recommend it enough. Check out this LeanGains guide; this is the first article I ever read on intermittent fasting before it became more mainstream.
Productivity Articles
Next thing ill do is read some productivity or habit articles by a few of my favorite Medium writers:
Reading a few articles helps get me in the zone and focused on having a productive day, before diving right into work.
Work
After a few articles, I’m ready to get some work done.
As I mentioned before, if I were optimizing for productivity this would begin between 5:30-6am, but lately it’s been between 8-9am that I’m ready to get some stuff done.
Side note- everyone is different, the biggest thing I can recommend is to do what works best for you and your natural rhythm. When by Daniel Pink is the best book I have read on the topic!
Environment
I can work well in any quiet environment, whether that be my apartment, cafe, or co-working space. As long as I have some noise-canceling headphones.
Last month in Santiago, I’d walk to the workspace as it was only 5 minutes away, has unlimited coffee, unlimited fruit infused water, and RY friends! The co-working place in Lima is a bit further, so this month I have mostly been working from home.
I’ll try to get a few hours of focused deep work in using Pomodoro intervals with the Be Focused Timer.
Schedule wise I try to focus on a different topic each day so that I can efficiently batch tasks.
Exercise
Exercise is essential for maximum productivity and enjoyment, whether you’re living the digital nomad lifestyle or not. Personally, I do not feel like the best version of myself unless I am exercising consistently.
Lately, I have been following a mid-day workout routine. In Santiago, a group of us joined a Crossfit gym and have been attending their 1 pm classes. I find this time works best for me as its early enough that I’m not hungry or have low energy from not eating breakfast, but late enough that I can get a few hours of deep work accomplished in the morning, and working out midday gives me more energy to get a few more hours of work in, in the afternoon.
Afternoon/Evening
Post-workout, I’ll try to get some more work done, wrap up things for the day, and then strategize on top most important tasks for the next day.
Usually ill have a later lunch sometime between 2-4pm on most days, this is the first meal of the day for me.
The rest of the afternoon and evening I try to keep free!
This is my favorite part of being a NomadonFIRE!
I can continue working if I feel like it or use this time to relax and enjoy myself. I can:
- Socialize with friends
- Read
- Explore the City
- Go on a hike
- Anything really!
The possibilities are endless, and I try not to plan my days after 4 pm. That way, I am flexible to be able to do whatever is happening that day.
As my routine changes and emphasizes productivity or leisure more, I will keep you posted!
What is your daily routine as a digital nomad? Do you have any useful tips? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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