How to Achieve Massive Productivity & Peak Performance as a Remote Worker or Online Entrepreneur

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.

Kristin:   You know, critics of remote work say that you need meetings and face-to-face interaction in order to get things done. But we all know that communication and community are two of the most important factors for success in a location independent lifestyle. So every time you listen to an episode of this or any podcast that you find value in, I challenge you to share the wealth. Take a moment to think of one person in your professional or personal network who might benefit from listening in. Then share it with them and tell them why. Doing this will help you absorb and apply the info that most resonated with you from the episode, putting it into practice in your own life while delivering value to someone you care about. And with that, let's get on with today's show.  

Kristin:    00:01:19    So today I am so happy to welcome Jari Roomer on the show again. Now, I first recorded with Jari in person in Amsterdam earlier in 29-19, but sadly it was before I had the lovely microphone <laugh> in the Scarlet recording devices. And the sound quality was sadly not up to par, but the content and the quality and the value of what he said was. And so I had to have him back on the show to share his tips and wisdom with you guys on productivity, peak performance, personal finance, and some of his work from home and travel hacks. So Jari is the founder of The Personal Growth Lab and he's helping people achieve their goals in business, in personal life. And he has gone on his own journey over the last five years from being really down and depressed about working in a nine to five job, quitting his job, hitting rock bottom, and then coming back to build his own online business. And he has such an inspiring story and has achieved so much, so much success online. He also has courses on Udemy, on his website. He's helped thousands of people achieve their goals and he is a top writer on Medium in productivity and technology and entrepreneurship. So welcome back to the show. Jari. Welcome.  

Podcast Interview: 

Jari:    00:02:51    Thank you. Thank you for having me here.  

Kristin:    00:02:53    So Jari,  

Jari:    00:02:54    Well thank you for the introduction.  

Kristin:    00:02:55    Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for all of the great work that you're doing in the world. So for any of you guys who don't know, I saw one of Jar's articles on Medium and I thought that he was so cool that I reached out to him and we started chatting and then we met up in person about 24 hours later at a coworking space in Amsterdam. So, um, that's how it works these days when when you see somebody or something that resonates with you, just reach out to them. You never know what can happen. A friendship can develop out of it, a business partnership can develop out of it. You just never know. So Jari, take us back into when you were working a nine to five and how were you feeling? Bring us back to that moment when you were sitting at your desk and you were like, I just can't do this anymore. I know there has to be more to life. I need to make a change. What was going through your head and when was that?  

Jari:    00:03:51    Sure, sure. So this was, uh, when I was about 18, 19 years old. And I took like a gap year, which is quite common in Europe. So you finish high school and then you take a gap year to get back to travel or get some work experience. So I decided to get some work experience at, um, at a nine to five job, basically solar panel company. And I remember like going all in with it. Like it was my first real full-time job. I was all excited to start it. Um, but then pretty soon, like a few months in when the new excitement wore off, I, I realized, okay, this is not really what I expected. Um, and it was quite a toxic environment there as well, unfortunately. So one thing led to another, I didn't really feel good. I started every single day, started to feel more trapped and the energy got sucked out on me.  

Jari:    00:04:40    Basically one thing led to another, uh, I got into to sports betting and there, um, basically lost a lot of money. And after a few months I was sitting in my office at my desk and I was like, what has happened to my life? Like, this is not where I want to be. This is not the point. This, I hit rock bottom. This is not where I want to be. How can I change this around? And I was literally counting down the days until my contract had ended. 'cause I needed to, I had a contract, you know, I signed a contract so I needed to fulfill still like three or four months while I like didn't enjoy it at all. So I was really counting down the days and I talked to myself, I said to myself, I'm not just gonna sit here, do nothing, count down the days and then move on.  

Jari:    00:05:22    I need to do something. I need to improve myself. I gotta learn new skills. 'cause if I don't want a nine to five job, a full-time job anymore, I need to become better myself. You know, I need to learn new skills become more valuable if eventually I wanna start something for myself. So then the first skills that I really developed were investing in personal finance. I read all the books from Warren Buffet, Robert Kiosaki, just, I, I discovered this whole new world of self-development. I was like, whoa, this is amazing. You know, if I can learn all these things from books, I learned a lot more from those books than from my education. What's possible for me. Um, then I, uh, then I went back to, or then I went to university, met two amazing friends there. And, uh, with the three of us, we decided to start a business <laugh>.  

Jari:    00:06:08    We had no experience, no, uh, experience whatsoever with starting a business, but we were very enthusiastic, very optimistic. We were like, let's do this. 'cause none of us wanted like a normal, traditional job. It just didn't feel right. So we, we started, uh, business around personal finance and around investing. But you know, for working on that for like nine months to a year, we didn't earn a single dollar. So we had all these hopes and dreams about driving in cool cars, going to like luxury resorts. None of that happened 'cause we earned $0. So we, we split up in a friendly way and I decided to continue with that business on my own. 'cause I knew I couldn't, I couldn't ever go back to a nine to five job. So I had to make it work. And then eventually six months after that, so this is about like total time period of 18 months working on my business, I finally earned those first dollars online. And from that moment on, uh, I got hooked. And now we're here a few years later. I'm no longer really working on the personal finance business, but I'm all about personal development right now. My productivity, helping entrepreneurs, freelancers, digital nomads, get more done, achieve their goals. And um, yeah, that's a long story short, <laugh>.  

Kristin:    00:07:21    Wow, I didn't know that. So that's crazy. So I spent nine months, you must have been in the Valley of disappointment or the Valley of Despair for quite some time. So yeah,  

Jari:    00:07:34    A few times. If you guys have read a few times, <laugh>,  

Kristin:    00:07:36    If you've read Atomic, ha Well, I know Jari has read Atomic Habits, but if any of you guys listening are watching, I've read Atomic Habits. You know, if you get into the valley of disappointment in entrepreneurship and you don't keep going, that's where things end. So was the business that you were, that you were doing then, is it similar business to what you're doing now or what changed? How did you go from working with two business partners making zero money to working by yourself and making a living?  

Jari:    00:08:04    So what I didn't realize, and what we didn't realize at the time is that what we were doing, we were putting in a lot of effort, working a lot of hours, but we were totally not focused on priorities. And when we split up, uh, I, it forced me to really like, reflect on my progress, reflect on myself, reflect on the business, and started to look at, all right, what is important? It's important to grow a following and to make sales. But for some other, I mean it's very obvious, right, in hindsight. But at that moment we're inexperienced. We were just, just doing all kinds of things like designing the logo, tweaking the website a hundred different times, changing strategy, but we like almost had no traffic. We had no funnels, we had no sales process, not even a real product to sell. So it's no wonder in hindsight that we didn't earn a single dollar. But once you're in it, once you're learning and discovering it can be like you can have blind spots for those things. So that business breakup, so to say, that really forced me to reflect on what is important and where should I focus my time on, my effort on. And that eventually led to, to some changes, positive changes,  

Kristin:    00:09:13    Like what you just said. I've kind of gone through a similar process in my new business and it's really interesting because I worked in a career in real estate until I started working online. And my first online business was not a business. It, I didn't have a business plan. I didn't have investors, I didn't have really anything set up. I just had a solution to a problem. So in 2011, a bunch of um, poker players lost their money and lost their ability to make a living playing poker online because of regulatory changes. And so I offered them a solution, a service to relocate really quickly to a foreign country in a matter of days or weeks and have everything set up for them so that they could get back to work really quickly. So I didn't even have a website, I just had people getting referred to me and basically already had clients or people asking me for the service ready to pay for the service before I ever had a website.  

Kristin:    00:10:16    Wow. And then I built the website based off what they asked me for <laugh>. And um, that was in May of 2011. So I launched the website in August. So I already had clients between May and August, conversely <laugh> with my new business that is more of a long-term brand building and uh, content to share with people how to basically recreate this kind of lifestyle that I've been helping people achieve for over a decade. Um, I didn't have a business model but I didn't have a specific product or service or offer for people at the beginning. I was just like, let me just share everything that I know and then eventually I'll figure out how to monetize something. But that is definitely a slower process. And granted, I was still running my other business and I still am running my other business on the side. But it's just a really good lesson even for people who have a lot of experience in business not to overcomplicate things. So whether you're a beginner like Jari and you're just quitting your job Googling how to start a business and <laugh> just going for it, or you've already had successful businesses and you're starting over, don't kind of lose sight of the forest through the trees, right? Just remember to keep it simple. And of course you're not gonna make money if you don't have anything that people can buy that they want, right?  

Jari:    00:11:42    Yeah, for sure. I think that's the most important thing. Just keep it simple And paradoxically, it's quite difficult to keep things simple 'cause there's so many opportunities, so many things you could do. You could start a podcast, you could start YouTube channel, Instagram account blog. You could do many different things. You can build a course, write a book, do online coaching. And as you said, like with all those options, it's quite, it's easier to make things complicated than it is to keep it simple, right? But simple always works. I think it's uh, Richard Branson in his book Who said that? Keep it Simple Stupid. That's his motto. His motto, keep it simple, stupid. 'cause simple usually works. That's what I've experienced as well with my first business. I was doing things so complicated. Um, but only when I started to focus on what's truly important, I have an online business. A business needs to earn profit, right? That's like the point. And business needs to earn profit. How do I get that profit? I get that profit by solving a problem, having a product, having a clear funnel, and getting traffic into the funnel basically. Those are like the only things you need to do. And of course there are many different moving parts involved with each step. But if you focus on those things, then eventually you'll see, alright, this is what works, this is what sticks. That took me 18 months to learn <laugh>. Yeah, definitely. I, I  

Kristin:    00:13:04    Actually heard a quote from Naval on his podcast. He was saying, instead of spending 10,000 hours doing one thing, well do one thing 10,000 times <laugh>. So iterate 10,000 times because if you just specialize in one thing and it doesn't work out, then you just wasted 10,000 hours. But if you try to make your funnel work 10,000 times, you'll probably figure it out maybe on the hundredth time or the 10th time or the 1000th time. And that's something that you did over 18 months. And when you did go through this process, you found out what the main problem was from the people in your community and your audience. And it was getting things done, it was productivity, it was getting out of your own way because all of us as human beings have a tendency to put things off to self-sabotage. And that motivation that you talked about at the beginning with your partners, when you're really excited about an idea and you just jump in that fades really quickly. And when the dust settles, there's usually less partners <laugh> at the end. <laugh>. So what are some of the tips that you have for people who are like the people who've bought your courses and read your articles who are looking for help with productivity? Why do people who are motivated and want to change their life or want to start a business, why don't they do it? And how can they get over that hurdle of taking action?  

Jari:    00:14:35    Great question. And it's the primary question that, like my audience asks, primary problem is I wanna get things done but I procrastinate. I don't do what I say I'm gonna do what I think I'll do, what's going wrong, right? And it's not that that people are lazy or unmotivated 'cause that's usually, that's not the problem. Most people were watching, um, a video like this, a live stream like this, have ambitions. They want certain things out of life. So it's hardly ever that you're lazy or unmotivated. I can share two primary reasons why people procrastinate. And the first one is a lack of clarity and the second one is their state that they're in. So you need a state change and I'll just, I'll just explain the two of them and starting with, uh, with clarity. What most people do is when, when they work, when they approach their work, when they have a few tasks that they want to do, is they don't create a plan for their day.  

Jari:    00:15:29    So it's kind of like a random fashion, you know, like up here, you know, I need to write a blog post, I need to make a few posts on Instagram, I need to answer email. But then they just start working without a clear plan. And that is a recipe for disaster. 'cause it's too ambiguous, it's too fake basically. And the brain really, really doesn't enjoy anything that's ambiguous. 'cause if it's ambiguous, it's basically the unknown. And the unknown means it's a potential danger. And we're not gonna move into potential danger. We would rather do something we know, watch Netflix, watch a YouTube video or work on easy work, right? Easy tasks. So the the, the essence is to create clarity. Uh, that's something that James Clear also said, like people, the issue is not that people lack motivation, but that they lack clarity. So for example, if you, if your goal is to write an article for me every single day I write an article, publish it on medium.  

Jari:    00:16:24    If I write an article, I'll never start my day by saying, today I'm going to write 'cause that's ambiguous. When am I going to write? At the end of the day, start of the day, what am I going to write about? What is the time span that I'll be writing? And if I don't create a clarity for myself, I'll just procrastinate 'cause I don't know exactly when to start, when it will end, what I'm gonna write about. And once again, the brain doesn't like that ambiguity. So if your goal is, for example, to write an article, then first of all, create a to-do list on which you say, I'm gonna write an article, I'm gonna do audit things. Then what you'll do is schedule it in, in a Google calendar, in a journal for example. But exactly determine I will start nine o'clock with writing and I'll end at about 11 o'clock, 1130 and then I'll move on to task B uh, from 1130 to 12 o'clock for example.  

Jari:    00:17:16    Because then you create clarity. Now you got like a plan, plan of action and you can simply follow and execute that plan. And research has, has actually shown that if you do this, if you create a to-do list and if you schedule your day according to your to-do list, so define when you're going to work on what. Then the success rate of actually doing the task goes from 34% to 91%. Wow. So you're a lot more likely than psychologists call, call this implementation intentions. You're a lot more likely if you are precise with what you're gonna do, when you're gonna do it, maybe even where you're gonna do it, you're much more likely to actually follow up with it because now it's precise. Your brain has clarity, it knows what to do, it's no longer this fake abstract thing. So let's go ahead, um, and tackle it.  

Jari:    00:18:06    So that is a really important thing that I personally always do. Make a to-do list and schedule it in. Now another rule that I follow is that those most important tasks, so those, those things that really, really matter what we talked about, you can work on a lot of different tasks that are somewhat valuable, somewhat important, but not the absolute most, most important. They're not really moving a needle for your business. Those tasks, those highly important tasks, I always work on them first thing in the morning. 'cause one reason is that first thing in the morning I'm still fresh and most people still fresh. Your brain still has the energy to focus, to solve problems, to think deeply later on in a day, uh, you have less energy. So you'll have less focus, it will be harder to solve problems, you'll have less willpower and you're much more likely to procrastinate, postpone it to tomorrow, <laugh>, which usually stays tomorrow, right?  

Jari:    00:19:00    So by having that rule of working on the most important task first thing in the morning, I simply cannot procrastinate on it because it's the first thing that I'm gonna work on. And doing so will make you very, very consistent. So it's basically the the clarity part, right? You gotta make it precise. You gotta define exactly this is what I'm gonna do, this is gonna work, what I'm gonna work on from that time until that time. So by the way, if there are any questions from the live stream, just ask 'em and, and I'm uh, willing to answer it right in the middle. Um, yes  

Kristin:    00:19:32    Actually. So we have a couple questions that are related to what you just said. And just to add like a personal anecdotal story, I have done a lot of research on this as well because one of the big concerns for companies when their employees are going to work remotely is is are they going to be productive? And then it's also a concern if you're self-employed or if you're a freelancer, like how do you structure your day so you can get things done? You, the worst case scenario is just waiting around all day to do your work at the last minute. And then you waste the day, you're tired, your work quality suffers and you're stressed out and then you're not sleeping. And it's like this chain reaction of events. And there's also research that shows that remote workers work more hours per day because we have trouble, uh, disconnecting from our work.  

Kristin:    00:20:23    And so some of the things that I have put into place are to have a dedicated workspace, whether I am traveling on the road or whether I am at a home base back in the US. And I also, one of the things I really like that James Clear talks about and also Ben Hardy uh, talks about this a lot on medium and in his book, Willpower Doesn't Work. So Atomic Habits and Willpower Doesn't Work are two books that have a really similar theme because they're talking about how people are a product of our environments. And so one of the advantages of being a digital nomad is that you can choose your work environment and you can use that to your advantage. So for example, in Amsterdam we decided to meet at a coworking space to film a video in a super cool room. Like now I have that coworking space associated with working with people with recording a podcast.  

Kristin:    00:21:21    Whereas in Amsterdam, on the days that I wanted to go and write, I would go to a specific hotel lobby where I didn't have access to the internet, I would just go and write. And when I wanted to do strategy session, I would go to the top of one of the museums with a view of the waterfront or I would go to the library to the top floor and I would just gaze out over the water and do strategy work. And so I would associate that with big expansive thinking. And so if you're not a digital nomad and you can't just go to some like fancy schmancy hotel wherever you are and <laugh>, you know, do work that's associated with that environment, you can actually do things like choose a specific chair that you sit in to relax, like to read or to watch TV or a table that you go to write or a space that, like a desk space that you go to do your work and even a space to use your cell phone.  

Kristin:    00:22:15    Because if you're using your cell phone for every single task that you have from social media to your calendar and whatever, things can get multiple different cues. So let's say you have like a certain couch or chair where you go to just kick back and scroll Instagram, that's gonna be a lot different than um, you know, if you're at your desk you probably shouldn't have your phone with you anyway. So I have a question as to what is your number one tip for people who are working from home on how to be productive? And then Walt's question is, what productivity app or software do you use? So it's kind of intertwined, but is that one in the same tip or do you have two different tips?  

Jari:    00:23:01    I'll start with answering the question first. I'm pretty much an old school guy when it comes to productivity. The only apps that I use are on my phone to-do list. So it's like my to-do list, it's called Todoist. Um, I use Evernote to capture my thoughts, capture scribbles, capture business ideas. I use Google Calendar to schedule my day and I use forest. Forest is uh, I don't know, do you know the forest app? Kristin? No,  

Kristin:    00:23:28    I have  

Jari:    00:23:28    App. It's a pretty cool app. It's a pretty cool app that that you can put on if you use your phone too much. So if you get distracted by your phone, you can put on the forest app and you can set a timer, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever you want. And if basically the time is up, a tree will have grown and it will go into your digital forest. So it's like get making a game out of not getting distracted, not using your phone. So those are, those are basically the apps that I use and the tools that I use. Other than that I am really an old school guy just to journal writing down notes. Yeah, that's basically, uh, that question. But with your question regarding to working from home, I think it's uh, the advice you gave is really, really good.  

Jari:    00:24:10    And I think it's underrated advice as well. 'cause maybe if you're hearing it, you're like, okay, but separate room for this and a chair for that. Like how big of an impact can that have? But it has like a huge, huge impact. And I love what you described as well, that if you do certain types of tasks, you move from location. And I do the exact same thing. Uh, I do my writing my in a hotel lobby as well. So that's funny that you do it as well. <laugh> in a hotel lobby, I just write for two and a half hours. If I take a break, I don't take a break at the same chair that I'm writing in. 'cause you want to keep that space. You want to create a very strong association with, alright, it's go time. If I'm working at this specific place, I won't distract myself.  

Jari:    00:24:51    I won't take a break, I won't check social media, but it's just, for me it's writing time. And then if I want to take a break, I'll just walk around to a different room, right? Then if I work on things like email, answering comments, making Instagram posts, um, strategizing, I move to an entirely different location. So really that association over time that you create with a certain space or even a certain chair, certain song that you put on, it's, it's becoming a cue. And that cue that immediately triggers something in your brain. It triggers certain neurons. If you continuously listen to a particular song before you go into like your full focus mode, over time when you hear that song, your brain will automatically go into focus mode. This has been researched like many different types. So if you work from home, I would definitely recommend that you don't work where you are having fun, where you're relaxing, where you're watching tv, watching Netflix, playing video games because your brain is really, really confused.  

Jari:    00:25:56    'cause that space is normally used for fun. So the neurons in your brain related to fun, related to excitement, related to distraction will literally start to fire. 'cause that's, it's the space that it's associating it with. So if you then try to work in a focused way in your living room, in your kitchen where you're normally having good conversations, where you're having fun, where you're distracted, the brain can't make that switch. It's incredibly difficult for the brain to make that switch from distraction to focus in the same room. So really indeed like dedicate, if it's possible, dedicate an entirely different room to your work. Make it your office if it's not possible. I would recommend having one fixed place in your home where you work. And honestly, I would even say try to find a workplace outside of your home where you do your focused work.  

Jari:    00:26:45    Um, the most important tasks. So maybe it's a certain coffee shop, it's a hotel lobby, it's a library. Go there for two to three hours, deep work focused, work on something important, then you already have a highly productive day, right? So it's totally worth it. And then you can come back home if you wanna do some lighter work, answer emails, check social media or make social media posts, that kind of stuff. You could do that from home if you would want to. But your most important work really dedicate a space to it and repetition over time will really create the strong neuro association between that particular space and deep focused work and will make it a lot easier to stay focused and and really be productive.  

Kristin:    00:27:27    That is great advice. And so just to summarize that for everyone who's watching and listening, offload motivation to a habitual cue. So offload motivation to your brain. Make it a habit so that you don't have to wait around feeling like to, like you need to do work. You can just walk into a space in like osmosis, your, your brain, your eyes, everything is picking up different cues from the environment. And when you associate one specific environment or even a sound something, a song with a certain activity, you're gonna automatically go into that mode. And it doesn't have to be anything fancy. You could go down the street to your Starbucks. I completed a whole book because I wrote at the same time every single day in Bulgaria. Over six weeks I had the same morning routine and I went and sat down in the same chair at my kitchen table.  

Kristin:    00:28:24    I would literally switch sides of the table. So I wrote only from this side. And then after lunch I would come back, I would move to the other side of the table and I would do a different type of work and just something that small can really, really help you. And then when I came back to Florida and I had to edit my book, I was unable to do it in the same chair where I do my work, where I do podcasts, where I edit videos. I needed a different space. And so that became a coffee shop a mile down the road from my house. And as soon as I get in there and I get my iced coffee and I sit down, I know that I'm supposed to write and it just happens. And so I love those tips And also I saw an article this week that said the best productivity system is the simplest one that you use because there is a learning curve and a switching cost. The more apps and the more tools that you have. So I think Jari and I are both old school with that, but it's because it works. So yeah,  

Jari:    00:29:22    That's the funny thing with a lot of productivity tools, like it can become a form of procrastination, <laugh> researching the newest productivity tools again and again some, I mean it's definitely useful to a certain extent, but if you found some that works, just stick with it. And that repetition will make it the most productive for you.  

Kristin:    00:29:40    Totally. It can, it can definitely be a distraction. And even Tim Ferris has said that he uses reading as a distraction as a way to procrastinate. Oh yeah. So anything can be, humans are very creative. We can turn anything into a way to procrastinate. So we  

Jari:    00:29:59    Could actually even turn work into procrastination. As weird as it sounds because if you have like a very challenging task that you're kind of like afraid of, it's kind of intimidating. You don't really want to do it. And most people what they do is they just start working on easy stuff first. That's not that important anyway. But it, you feel good 'cause you're working and you're checking off those to-dos and you're busy and then at the end of the day you're like, huh, I had a good day at work, but not necessarily a productive day. 'cause that important thing still then didn't get done. So as she said, like you wouldn't have funny ways of procrastinating <laugh>.  

Kristin:    00:30:32    And we're all in the same boat. Like if you're alive, you've procrastinated before. So yes, don't yes, don't lie. So I have a lightning, some lightning round questions for you and if anybody in the live stream has any questions for Jari, let us know now because time is ticking. This is the first lightning round I've ever done actually. So do you have any, like what is the best thing about working from home? Or do you have a work from home? Guilty pleasure  

Jari:    00:31:01    <laugh>. So, well we already discussed the part about like preferably not working from home in certain spaces, but I sometimes I do light work at home 'cause it's just nice to have a freedom, right? Like a guilty pleasure of working from home. I love just to blast some music when I have like a break, like put on music real loud. One time it's hip-hop, next time it's John Mayer. Like, uh, differs all the time. That's what I really love from working from home. And I love just wearing comfortable clothes. <laugh>, just wake up wearing something very comfortable and then just start working. It's just makes you feel good, right? So, um, yeah, but then again, then again I don't, I try to avoid working from home as much as possible because of all the reasons, uh, that we just mentioned.  

Kristin:    00:31:44    My guilty pleasure is just cooking for myself. I love eating my own food. Ooh, yeah. Instead of having to have like a 20 minute lunch breakout. So do you ever miss working in an office?  

Jari:    00:31:56    No, I don't actually. <laugh>.  

Kristin:    00:32:00    Okay. Yeah,  

Jari:    00:32:01    No, i i I don't  

Kristin:    00:32:03    <laugh>. Oh sorry. So, um, you, you just went on a really cool trip to Italy. What is your favorite place to travel to when you're taking a break from work and what is one thing you always bring with you that most people wouldn't think about?  

Jari:    00:32:20    Hmm. Okay. So I really love Italy, especially like the Italian Alps, uh, right at the border between Switzerland and Italy. I think it sets beautiful lakes there. Go hiking in a mountain with my girlfriend and it's just, I really, really love it there. I I actually lived in Italy for like six months, uh, during a university exchange program. So that's where my love of Italy like really, uh, grown. But I, I do like city trips. I really love big cities like New York or London. I've never been to London but like those type of cities, you know, I really love that too. And what do I bring that most people wouldn't think about? That's a good question. I do always bring my journal like always this thing. Like even if I'm away for a weekend, this thing is always with me. Um, 'cause I can write down like what I'm grateful for. I can set my goals, I can make a planning for my day. It just gives me like a structure of my day. So I think a journal, I don't know if many people take a journal with them on their trips. Do they?  

Kristin:    00:33:20    I do. Do you guys take a journal? You do <laugh>, I just joined a spar challenge for daily journaling and these people should not have invited me 'cause I won't miss a day and I will win <laugh>. I just won 50 bucks uh, in the last spar challenge I entered Really? So that was amazing. Yeah. Side note. That's cool. Um, spar as good for habits, productive  

Jari:    00:33:38    And profitable.  

Kristin:    00:33:40    Yes. You can get paid to just have good habits in spar, <laugh>. Um, I should be an affiliate of them. <laugh>. Yeah. Okay. So what is your, since you do have such great daily habits that you have, it's a learnable skill. Anyone can learn how to have a good habits and a good routine. But what is your favorite way to unwind after work?  

Jari:    00:34:00    So my favorite is probably playing a few video games. I've been doing it since I was a child with my friends. And if I had a hard day work playing some FIFA with some of my friends, I never really play alone 'cause that just, I don't really enjoy that. But with my friends I just laugh so much and they really, I don't think about anything else <laugh>. So, uh, I think a  

Kristin:    00:34:21    Lot of people can relate  

Jari:    00:34:23    <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah, probably, probably. So that's really something i I like to do when I've had a hard day at work. Yeah.  

Kristin:    00:34:28    You should reach out to Tom Kugler because he's a big video gamer I think. And I just wanna note that you probably don't play video games at the same place you work, right?  

Jari:    00:34:37    No. No I don't. Um, <laugh> I have, when I had my first business I did, I thought that, 'cause I didn't know this, this stuff, you know, I didn't know this productivity principles. So I did. And that's why I got really distracted. 'cause as soon as I hit like a challenging, some challenging work, I was like, you know what, it's probably time for a break. Let's play some FIFA <laugh>. It's just way too easy when it's in the same room. So no, I I don't do that anymore. I gave a particular number one,  

Kristin:    00:35:05    I lived with a Twitch streamer, video gamer, poker player for quite a few years. So I'm really aware of that lifestyle. As long as it's not at four in the morning, I'm good with it. <laugh>  

Jari:    00:35:18    <laugh>. Imagine how crazy it would be like playing video games as as your job. Like nowadays it's a, it's a big thing. It's a lot of money there.  

Kristin:    00:35:26    A lot of my clients are video gamers actually and Twitch gamers. Really? Wow. So, and, and they came from, some of them went from playing professional video games in South Korea to playing professional poker. And so yeah, that's a really cool subculture that a lot of people don't. Well, billions of people know about gamers though. Um, yeah,  

Jari:    00:35:45    It's on the rise.  

Kristin:    00:35:46    So, out of all of your practices, what would you say is your most effective habit? Would it be that journal?  

Jari:    00:35:54    I would say it's my morning routine. 'cause journaling is included in my morning routine and, and my morning routine is like one flow. And what I love about that, and this is something that James Clear also talks about in his book Atomic Habits, is you like habit stacking. So in one morning routine takes about an hour. I meditate, I journal, I do like a quick exercise, I read or listen to an audio book. I set my goals for the day, I make my schedule, but it's all in one flow so it doesn't feel like separate things, right? It's just in one hour. I do all of those things and it amazes me that every single day that I do my morning routine is, is it, it's basically a productive day. Even if I didn't get to do everything on my to-do list, it's still a productive day.  

Jari:    00:36:41    'cause I got like my priorities in order I know what to focus on. I'm feeling calm, I'm feeling good 'cause of the meditation, the exercise, taking a cold shower. Um, and on the days that I don't do it, I clearly notice that I'm a bit like all over the place. You know, sometimes it happens that I don't do my morning routine for one or two days and then I'm like distracted easier, much less productive. And like I said, just wandering around and then I'm like, okay, gotta get back on the morning routine instantly because it's like a keystone habit that makes the rest of my day a lot better. Yeah. So definitely. And like this thing like journaling as well, like it's included in the morning routine by the way. I do got something cool for your viewers. I got a discount code on this journal if they're interested in like, uh, checking out a new productivity planner. I got a 50%--  

Kristin:    00:37:30    What is it called?  

Jari:    00:37:31    It's the best self journal. So you can set your goals, your daily priorities. You can write down what you're grateful for every single morning, every single evening. It has a self-reflection component, like all on a daily basis. Also like a weekly goal setting component, monthly goal setting component, and a quarterly goal setting. So it's really like a, a structure that if you do it almost every single day, you'll, you'll nail your goals. You'll make sure that you actually achieve them. So if you're interested, if you're watching right now you're interested in a productivity planner, go check it out. We'll link to that with the discount code as well.  

Kristin:    00:38:05    Awesome. Thank you so much. Yes, I can definitely attest to the power of journaling and doing that even for five minutes a day in the morning and at night. And I have a, a very similar practice, so that is awesome. It has really changed my life when I'm consistent with it and I bring it with me when I travel, I bring my journal and I bring my morning routine and you can do it anywhere and it will just help you be grounded regardless of which location you're in and help your brain lock into that pattern of what you're gonna do that day and let your nervous system relax a little bit when you're outside of your comfort zone. So speaking of travel, you are from the Netherlands, one of my favorite places. I've got a lot of videos about Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Um, what are some of the reasons that you think that people should visit your country?  

Jari:    00:38:55    Hmm. Well, so for digital nomads, and you can probably agree with this, Dutch people and especially in Amsterdam, are very entrepreneurial. There are a lot of like freelancers, digital nomads, entrepreneurs there to connect. So if you're interested in that, I, I think it's a really good place. Um, other reasons I think Amsterdam, I love the city. I've really, it's, I'm really in love with the city. It's, you're walking through history with all the old buildings, with the canals. I just, I really love to walk there for my breaks. I walk there for 30 minutes and it, it amazes me every single time discover a new thing. So it's just one of those places you have to see once in your life. Right? I don't know if you agree, but you, you've been here for a few months so, uh, I'm sure you liked it.  

Kristin:    00:39:41    Oh, I definitely agree. I mean it's one of the most diverse cities, so I feel like everybody can feel at home there. And I actually have a client who is relocating there today. He is flying right now from California to Amsterdam to live there for the first time. Wow. So that's super exciting and that's, I love helping people go there and that makes me feel better 'cause I always go back and now I know that even the locals are in love with their town <laugh>, so  

Jari:    00:40:09    Oh yeah, they are.  

Kristin:    00:40:10    Let's see if, uh, there's any other, oh, it looks like there were some feed outages, but let's see if there's any other questions. Walt uses Todoist as his master list and he uses Zapier to sync tasks from other project management software to that. So do you sync to Doist with your Google calendar and why or why not?  

Jari:    00:40:37    So I, I think it's a very nice, like if you're used to the method, just stick with the method if it works for you personally, I just write down my to-dos on to-do list and then transfer them manually to my schedule. And that's because I don't necessarily have that many to-dos every single day. And that's because I'm very strict and disciplining myself in minimizing the things that I have to do. And that way I need to focus on the important stuff. For example, I, I'll limit my to-dos to like three or five on a particular day. And that way I need to, to focus on the important stuff and all of the important stuff just doesn't matter. Now I know for some people that's not possible because of the way your, your job is structured or the type of business you have. So I think if this method works for you, definitely stick with it personally. I'll just, I transfer it manually.  

Kristin:    00:41:30    Okay. So that was the answer to Walt's question and I think that that is a really good tip because simplicity is best and then if you accomplish those two, even one, one or two or three really important things in one day, you've moved the needle and you can relax and play video games happily ever after <laugh> until tomorrow. <laugh>.  

Jari:    00:41:53    Exactly. <laugh>.  

Kristin:    00:41:54    Alright, well thank you so much Jari for coming back on the show. And if people want to learn more about your work and read your productivity tips and your articles every day, where should they go? Uh,  

Jari:    00:42:07    They can go to the personal growth app.com there. You can just check out all my articles. Uh, you can download my Productivity Guide 27 Productivity Hacks for free if you want to, or you can follow me on Medium.com. And if you just search for my name, Jari Roomer, then you'll find me there.  

Kristin:    00:42:24    Awesome. Thank you so much. And I hope to see you again soon in Amsterdam. We'll have to, uh, ride our bikes somewhere to a hotel and go right <laugh>.  

Jari:    00:42:35    Exactly. We'll do that. We'll definitely do that once you're here. Okay. Go in hyper focus mode.  

Kristin:    00:42:40    Perfect. That's another tip is being around people that are on the same wavelength as you guys. So even if you live on different continents or in different countries, you can still interact with people remotely. And that's what we're all doing here today. So thank you guys for tuning in to Badass Digital Nomads and we will be back every week with another episode, either live here on youtube.com/digitalnomad or wherever you get your podcast. So today we were doing the live recording with Jari, but over on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Play. You can get today's audio episode, which is about artificial intelligence and how to know if your job is at risk of being eliminated by AI or outsourcing and what you can do about it. Because this is something that everybody from blue collar, white collar, regardless of what career you're in, this is something that's going to affect everyone in the next couple decades. So check out that episode out today, and if you have Apple, make sure to leave a five star review so that other people can find this podcast too. And thanks guys. See you next time. Bye Jari.  

Jari:    00:43:51    Bye. See you next time. Thank you for having me.  

Kristin:    00:43:53    Bye Ciao. See you guys on Sunday. Thanks for listening. Remember to leave a review and share this episode with someone in your network. And if you want more tips and advice on working remotely, make sure to sign up for my insider list at travelingwithkristin.com/subscribe, where you can find links to download free resources like My Digital Nomad Starter guide. Of course, also subscribe to youtube.com/digitalnomad so you don't miss any of our weekly videos, Digital Nomad News or Live Streams. See you there.