5 Tips to “Get Sh*t Done” From a 7-Figure Business Owner
Tip #1: Stop “should-ing” on yourself
Photo from christabellatravels.com
Christa Romano (aka Christabellatravels) is the real deal.
She’s been a digital nomad since 2013 and has travelled to over 60 countries. Through her group coaching, she teaches people how to make money doing what they love.
Her business is set to reach seven figures in revenue by the end of this year.
In her latest podcast, she shares productivity tips for wannabe digital nomads who want to “get sh*t done”.
I was all over it!
It’s worth pointing out that even if you have zero intention of being a digital nomad, you’ll still find these tips helpful.
So here are Christa’s top five productivity tips.
Tip #1: Stop “should-ing” on yourself
If you’re a digital nomad, who’s in charge?
You are.
It’s pretty obvious, right, and yet so many business owners stick with working hours they’re used to rather than selecting hours that work for them.
Here’s how Christa explains it:
“When we say I should work eight hours a day, I should be behind my laptop, [and] I shouldn’t be taking such a long lunch break, who told you?
“The conditioning of society has told you that you should be working for eight hours a day. That’s absolutely not true.
“I don’t work eight hours a day, and I’ve still managed to be successful in my business […]”
Her advice?
Don’t feel guilty if you choose to work less.
“If you’re working three hours a day and have your own business, that’s 15 hours a week of a lot of productivity.
“Honestly, that’s enough.
“Trust that there will be some days when you’re inspired to bang out a bigger project. Or maybe you’re highly motivated by deadlines, so you stockpile a lot of work right before the deadline […]”
Now, if you work for someone else in an office, it’s almost impossible to work less. You’ve got to look busy.
Sound familiar?
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Tip #2: Who gives a f*ck if you’re a night owl or an early bird?
Researchers studied the Hadza tribe of Tanzania. They discovered something interesting about their sleep.
The researchers found at least one group member was awake at all times during the night.
Why?
These hunter-gatherers live in camps of about 30 people, and they face threats from predatory animals and rival tribes.
This sentinel behaviour helps them survive.
“So humans evolved to have some people go to bed and wake up early […] They could watch the tribe as everybody slept.”
— Christa Romano
The point is, it doesn’t matter when you go to sleep.
Not really.
Figure out when your most optimal hours are for working, and stick to those.
Here’s Christa’s routine:
“I usually go to bed around midnight and wake up around eight. Then, I’ll have a coffee [and] go to the gym.
“I’ll then come back, take a shower, and have lunch […]
“Around 11:30, I open up my laptop, and that’s when I’m like, all right, I’ve already taken care of me. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to work on my business […]
“After work, I take my dog on a sunset beach walk. It’s always around 6:30 because I live in Bali.
“So those are my hours […]
“I might go for dinner and hang out at night. I might talk to people, call my mom, or if I get a stroke of inspiration, I’m not going to bed. I’m going to stay up and ride that productivity wave.”
Tune into your body and do what feels right.
Tip #3: Nobody wants pain in the arse
Here’s one of Christa’s golden rules:
An uncomfy body =/= high productivity
“I work well in a busy cafe where I don’t know anybody.
“Usually, I like to sit on a comfortable seat […] That’s where I feel good. I want to be able to sit cross-legged.
“So I like to choose cafes that have seating like that. I might need to do some Google searches before I go to a specific cafe and commit to sitting there for four hours […]
“I want to work in a cafe where I’m not going to be comfortable. [If I’m uncomfortable], I’m going to focus on how uncomfortable my body feels.”
Christa also carries an extra-long laptop charger with her whenever she’s travelling.
It’s around 15 feet long.
This way, she can sit on a comfy couch and plug into the nearest outlet, which may be far away.
Tip #4: Be brutal with co-workers (if necessary)
Christa is a “social butterfly”, so it can be challenging for her to get sh*t done — particularly in co-working spaces.
Her friends want to hang out and chat:
“I’m usually on a little bit of a time crunch because I’ve only given myself four hours that day to work […]
“When I’m sitting down, I want to get sh*t done […]”
Can you relate?
You might get some strange looks, but here’s what Christa recommends:
“Sometimes, my friends say, ‘Hey Christa, we should co-work today.’ And I haven’t seen them in a while, so I want to say yes, but I’m like, okay, okay, yes […]
“We give ourselves six hours because I know we’re going to be chitchatting, and then I’ll say, ‘Okay, for the next 30 minutes, we don’t talk. We’re just dialling into our work’.
“And so we actually set a timer, and the rule is nobody’s allowed to talk to until the half hour is over […] So then we take a little break, we chit chat, we can make comments about the environment, et cetera.
“But yeah, we literally have a timer on the desk […]”
It might seem strange, but it helps Christa and her friends knuckle down to work.
As she points out, studies show that most humans cannot work intensely for longer than 20 minutes at a time.
It’s better to work with our bodies rather than against them.
Tip #5: Embrace the “slow-mad” life
Okay, so this tip from Christa is tailored to digital nomads, but you can apply it to your routines:
“Try to stay in a specific destination for three weeks or more.”
“The more often you’re moving around, the more time you spend figuring out where you’re going to work that day, where you’re going to eat, [and] how you’re going to socialise […]
“The longer that you stay in a place, the less of that you have to do and the less frequently you have to do it.”
Here’s how Christa recommends spending a month on the road.
It’s a helpful guide:
“Spend a weekend researching the best cafes, finding places with good wifi, and setting up a little social infrastructure so you can hang out with people when you’re not working.
“Ideally, you’re only spending a weekend a month doing that.
“The rest of the time, you want to have fun in your environment. So you don’t always want to be looking to the next place and working.
“So I think to get work done and enjoy where you are, you really do need to be able to relax into a routine. I think three weeks is the minimum amount of time to optimise that.
“Let’s say you arrive on a Saturday morning. You’ve got Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend to hang out, have fun, meet people, and search for some cafes to get your bearings […] Then, you work for five days.
“So you start getting your routine, [and] then you have a weekend to go off and go an adventure.
“Let’s say you go on that adventure Saturday morning until Monday night, and when you come back on Tuesday, you can dial in right away because you already figured out all the stuff from the previous week.”
Who says slow travel has to be boring?
Christa’s schedule sounds pretty dreamy to me.
Key Takeaways
There’s always something to be learned from successful people.
Christa is no exception.
Even if you have zero intention of travelling the world or becoming a digital nomad, her five productivity tips can help you get more sh*t done.
Here’s a quick summary:
Tip #1: Stop “should-ing” on yourself — Work eight hours daily. Who says? Choose quality over quantity every single time.
Tip #2: Who gives a f*ck if you’re a night owl or an early bird? — Play to your strengths and listen to your body. It’ll tell you what feels right.
Tip #3: Nobody wants pain in the a** — Let me repeat: an uncomfy body =/= high productivity
Tip #4: Be brutal with co-workers (if necessary) — Okay, brutal’s a strong word. “Politely remind” co-workers that you’re here to get sh*t done.
Tip #5: Embrace the “slow-mad” life — A routine is productivity’s best friend.
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