Your biorhythm, startup and content creation while traveling
Introduction
I’ve been traveling the world indefinitely since October 2021. On it, I’m creating content about Chrome OS, traveling, and mobile working, among other things.
Well, some people wonder how to do time-consuming activities like digital content creation in a startup while traveling.
Find out how to do this successfully in this post!
Travel versus vacation: temptations
First, one associates the term travel almost automatically with vacation. Then you quickly row back in your mind because there are also business trips.
Business trips as an employee for a company force you into a more or less tight corset. Tasks have to be completed, meetings have to be held, and, in most cases, social customs such as the evening business dinner have to be followed.
On business trips and my variant, permanent travel as a digital nomad, there is always the question of leisure activities.
Do a little sightseeing during the business trip? As a digital nomad after 5 hours of working in the Airbnb, a walk and after that to a café with quite pleasant places to work. But then a chance meeting with people who have something great going on or a great offer for an attraction around the corner popping up in the Booking.com app. Or the planned Guinness with a burger turns into a longer evening at the pub.
So many temptations keep you from getting to work during the day on the one hand and possibly getting enough sleep on the other! Of course, that also depends on your biorhythm! But even if you’re a late sleeper, it can get out of hand if you don’t get out of bed until 2 p.m., for example. 🙂
If you’re a parent, there’s also the family factor! If this is added when traveling, the situation described probably changes dramatically again. However, I cannot contribute anything here because I am single and therefore very free to determine the content of my life.
I can contribute the fundamental distinction between the two types of biorhythm and the resulting consequences instead, which I will discuss in the following sections.
Lark or owl?
I have noticed over the years that I am more of the “lark” type, i.e., an early riser. It’s no problem for me to get up at around 4 a.m. and be in top shape without coffee, energy drinks, cigarettes, etc., until about 9 p.m. That’s my natural rhythm without stimulants. However, I prefer not to base this only on the two factors, “being well-rested and awake,” but on the ability to concentrate, i.e., work efficiently on a topic.
Therefore, one could claim that if you are the “lark” type, get up a little earlier and create your content before the actual leisure activities. If you are the “owl” type, skip Netflix for two hours in the evening and work on your hobby or start-up until late at night! But it’s not that simple! Because if you have a job as a freelancer, for example, that demands a lot of you (project work), you often don’t manage it according to this pattern. Therefore, as an early riser, for example, you have to consider other factors to be highly concentrated in the morning.
So take a look at your working hours and how your workload varies due to tasks, projects, deadlines, etc.
If like me, you don’t do any project work at all, you may find yourself doing similar activities over and over again for a long time. Although you are the “owl” type, you still fall asleep half dead on the sofa in front of the TV in the evening. Then it’s rather inadvisable to still deal with content creation or even your start-up. If I’m a “lark” and I’ve been busy until late afternoon the day before, but stay in the pub until 1 a.m., I’m far from benefiting from my great concentration in the very early morning.
Every beginning is difficult, but …
First of all, try the standard principle:
If you are the “lark” type, get up a little earlier, start working and step on it. I, for example, get up between 04:00 and 05:00 every day (even on weekends). I try to do this as regularly as possible! In the afternoons and evenings, I gather creative ideas and perform relatively light routine activities. That’s the way my creativity and ideas keep flowing. It creates good progress, more content, and I feel delighted doing it.🙂
If you are more of the “owl” type, it’s best to sit down right after your later wake-up time and work a bit on simple tasks. To achieve this, you need to create some space for yourself by setting priorities. If you have your most productive time in the evening or at night, focus on the more demanding activities there. Of course, this can collide with events in the evening. Therefore, my tip is to already torture yourself a little after getting up so that you then at least already have something done 😉.
Do this for a few weeks and look at your results. Were you able to focus well? What’s your failure rate? Did you have a block that keeps you from moving on? Do you keep looking at your smartphone instead of continuing? Or are you just too tired and exhausted to focus? Then adjust these times flexibly! 😀
Flexible adjustments
Take a look at the next day or the whole week:
- Where are free gaps?
- Where do you need to prepare yourself (mentally) a bit more for the workday?
- What appointments do you have in the evening?
- Do you have to go on a business trip?
- Are you very sick, or do you have a cold?
- Is there a flight, laundry, or something else on the list?
Let these questions run through your mind and react accordingly. Use any gaps to relax, but also to work on your startup when you feel fit enough!
Let go of the reins a bit as a “lark” in the morning when you’re facing an important deadline at work. Get up at a leisurely pace. Drink your coffee slowly. Listen inside yourself: can you focus on your planned activities in your free time today? If not, cut yourself some slack. Of course, duties at work generally take priority. That’s not the end of the world in individual cases. But if you are fit: dig in!
If you have appointments, keep them. However, don’t let the sluggishness come out and take opportunities, again and again, only not to have to continue working! You won’t get anywhere with that, and the startup is doomed to failure! As always, a healthy mix is the right thing to do. A little sport is also part of it. Or at least a walk once in a while. I love strolling along the beach promenade. However, the balance must clearly point in the direction of your activity. Certain sacrifices simply have to be made. Don’t miss out 😉
If you have to go on a business trip, think about where there are gaps that you can fill with relaxation.
Did you answer all the urgent emails as a “lark”? Have you finished your planned content for tomorrow? Then relax a little on the train, in the hotel or the city. Listen to relaxing music. Drink a cup of tea or your after-work beer. If you shoot yourself down in the hotel bar, the next day will probably not be as productive.
As an “owl,” you can probably enjoy it a little longer. However, it would be best to arrive early in the morning, when you are still half asleep. Then, after a break with eating out, sightseeing, sports, etc., you can hit the ground running again, which suits your rhythm best.
You just have to be a little flexible. That’s independent of the type! 😀
The health
If you are in poor health, you have a duty to your body to get well as soon as possible! If you usually change your accommodation frequently, the strain on your body is higher. That’s a double burden! So take some time off. Recover until you can fully attack again. Don’t destroy yourself and your body. It just doesn’t do any good.
If you have to do some things, try to schedule them in advance. Take a fixed time. Preferably, between two phases of concentration. As a “lark,” get off work after regular work and take the old glass away. Go shopping. Put the laundry in the washing machine. Watch the news and a YouTube video, and then sit back down in your mobile office! As an “owl,” you can do this before your most energetic phase in the evening.
By following this principle, you can kill several birds with one stone! Alternate activity and relaxation phases!
The most important factor: the discipline
Be disciplined and persevere! Take small breaks now and then!
- Are you continuing to write a blog post or in your e-book, and you’re banging out one spelling mistake after another?
- Do you have a block?
Then temporarily occupy yourself with something else that has nothing to do with the start-up. For example, perform necessary but uncomplicated routine tasks. Create research and notes for your next YouTube video. You’ll need to do all of these things, too.
My experience so far
You see progress with the content over time, and there is more and more feedback from the community.
That spurs you on! Suddenly there’s more energy available than you think! It’s just fun 😉
You’re already looking forward to the following day, so you can keep going. That should also make it easier to keep going. 🙂
Conclusion
Try to find your scheme!
Divide the day according to your type, “lark” or “owl.”
Be flexible! Things always turn out differently than you think, and you have to react accordingly.
Please don’t ruin your health and stick to it. Then it will turn out well!
Let’s go! 🙂
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