It was painful to get out of bed.
The 8-hour hike straight up and down the side of a mountain in Chilean Patagonia had me not wanting to move at all.
And I knew my legs wouldn’t be cooperating with me, so I decided to plan out a full workday — instead of trying to scale another cotton-pickin’ mountain.
I even tested the Internet a few times during the days before to ensure that I’d have some type of WiFi to get things done.
All looked promising until I sat down at my kitchen table and flipped open the laptop…
No signal.
Checked my phone? Nothing.
Well, that’s no good. So I went down to the apart-hotel front desk and was told the “satellite” Internet was down and might not be back for the day.
Uhhh, great.
See, here’s the thing about life on the road…
Sometimes you can’t predict what’s going to happen. Sometimes you’ll do all you can to get work done, only to find a few roadblocks along the way that you didn’t predict.
But these situations are rarely what keeps budding digital nomads and suitcase entrepreneurs from finding the success their capable of when first building businesses.
No, that usually comes from not having the discipline to build some sort of routine and struggling to prioritize profits over the funner side of living all around the world.
Luckily, after building online businesses for the better part of 5+ years, I’ve figured out a few productivity tips sure to help you get more done while traveling around.
How to Stay Productive on the Road
So enough with me fluff here…
Let’s dig into some of my top productivity tips while traveling around and building scalable businesses:
1. Write it Down
Sure, ain’t nothing groundbreaking in this here tip.
But the fact remains…
If you physically write something down on a “To-Do List” — you’re more likely to get it done. Well, at least that’s a fact for me.
When I write down my plan for the following day, I tend to get at least 80% of my work objectives achieved while on the road.
If I forget to map out my objectives for the following day for some odd reason, often due to enjoying life on the road just a little too much, my productivity tends to get cut in half.
And this isn’t just “bro-science” here. There’s some real science that shows a strong correlation between writing things down, cognition, and the feedback we get from our brains.
I won’t dive too deep into all that, but I will say that writing things down tells our brain that we have…
2. Put a Premium on “Priorities”
Yep, when you write those daily plans down, especially with regards to your work, you’re straight up telling that big brain of yours that your work is a priority for the following day.
You’re focusing on getting certain objectives done the following day and your brain works to find ways to do just that.
But when we’re talking about living the Suitcase Entrepreneur lifestyle, priorities play an even bigger role.
Here’s what I’m talking about…
Once you’ve been building businesses online for awhile, you’ll start to run across the same ole’ digital nomads no matter where on earth you are.
There’s people who are serious about their sh*t and there’s folks who aren’t.
But the main difference I’ve found between these two groups and their successes is simply where their priorities land.
The serious group puts a premium on actually building their business.
Being in a far off land and doing cool stuff is fun and all. They do the whole travel, meet people, party, enjoy life thing too.
But they don’t let it get in the way of their business. Growing that business is a priority. The second group, well, business is more of an afterthought than a priority.
Me point?
If you plan to stay massively productive on the road, while growing your business and still having some good times, you’ve absolutely got to put a priority on work.
Even when there are distractions around every corner.
3. Set In Stone Schedule
This goes hand-in-hand with the ole’ priorities tip and trick above.
But for every free-wheeling entrepreneur that can wake up at 2 pm and quickly start churning out profits without a care in the world…
There’s a dozen folks who try to live without an alarm clock — only to become completely bums within a month or two.
Personally, I’m an “anti-alarm-clock-activist” these days, but I still have somewhat of a set schedule to ensure I stay on pace.
I have to be working before 10:30 am Monday-Saturday.
I set my alarm at 10 am, but usually my body wakes me up before 9 am and I’m able to sneak a gym session and a quick protein shake in before my work day begins.
This will take some tweaking to find what exactly works best for you personally, especially as you start trying to figure out how you can maximize productivity on the road while still living the good life.
4. Always Be Exercising
Speaking of ye gym…
Exercising is absolutely amazing for productivity.
File this one in the “surprisingly not bro-science” category too. Again, a whole lot of real science found here too.
When you exercise, you get the blood flowing. Blood flow is required to keep the brain moving and functioning at optimal levels, as well.
Of course, that was a noob overview of how exercise benefits cognition.
But the reality of the situation is that exercising is one of the easiest ways to improve productivity on the road. Get up, get the body moving for about 45 minutes or so, and then get down to work
5. Nab Some Nootropics
If you’ve never heard of nootropics, it’s like you’ve been living under a digital nomad “bubble” for awhile now.
Why?
Because smart drugs and the like have been all the rage for years on end.
In fact, many entrepreneurs rely on these bad boys to out work, hustle, and shine the competition.
Here’s the gist of how nootropics work these days for any and all noobs out there…
You take a nootropic early in the morning on a day you want to get a ton of work done. On a day when you want to skyrocket productivity while on the road.
Then you get to work. You have your list written down from the night before and you start churning. Preferably with a hearty cup of coffee by your side.
In about an hour or so after you’ve taken the nootropic, you’ll find your brain is kicked up a notch. Your pace and productivity is higher than normal. You’re more focused. Work is coming easily.
Then…
That feeling lasts for 8-15+ hours depending on the type of nootropic you’ve taken and how you react to it.
Hell, I’d venture to say this might be my best tip for staying productive on the road. Why? Because you can squeeze 2-2.5X workdays into a single day when dosing this stuff properly.
Talk about skyrocketing productivity!
Have Fun, But Get It Done…
I wouldn’t trade the digital nomad lifestyle for any career these days. Errr, sans maybe the life of a professional athlete.
But it took my years on end to actually figure this lifestyle out and maximize my productivity on the road.
Those five quick tips above are exactly what helped me turn the corner, skyrocket productivity, and eventually…
Pump out profits.
If you’re looking to do the same and become as successful a suitcase entrepreneur as possible, I’d highly recommend incorporating the ideas above into your routines.
Until next time,
Jake Jetter
Jake has been utilizing nootropics, like Modafinil and Phenibut, for the better part of a decade. Once he realized the potent results these products produce with regards to productivity and cognitive enhancement, he became obsessed at finding the premier smart drugs on the market. Then using them to improve his life. When he’s not devouring everything he can about nootropics and the science behind why they work, you’ll find him traveling around the world or in the gym.
Jake Jetter, www.nootropicsadvisor.com