Disclaimer: Some accommodations and food and beverage were set up for us free of charge! However, these blog posts are in no way paid and opinions will always be my own! 

Staying at Rowena’s Inn On The River

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The first leg of our trip was spent in Harrison Mills, located 20 minutes from Harrison Hot Springs, and is known as the world’s largest winter gathering place for eagles! We were actually quite excited to stay at Rowena’s Inn, partially because of the eagle event but also partially just because the photos looked absolutely beautiful. From Instagram, it seemed like this was quite a popular spot for weddings which to me says “photo spots galore”!

Rowena’s Inn is actually located on a larger property belong to the Sandpiper golf resort. On the property, you can choose to stay in the Colonial Inn itself, or in one of the luxury cabins. We stayed in the Heron Cabin, a one-bedroom cabin with a water view (and an amazing king-sized bed ?). If you need a larger space they have 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom cabins as well!

Check-in was super easy and each cabin has a door code that gets generated at check-in so you can come and go easily without having to go through any of the main buildings. This was a great experience for us especially during COVID as it meant we were able to keep our interactions at a minimum.

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Heron—the one-bedroom cabin

Our one-bedroom cabin was plenty of space for Joel and me to really stretch out and make ourselves at home. When you enter the cabin, you’re greeted with a spacious kitchen and living space, complete with a coffee machine, full-sized fridge, a gas fireplace, and a 50-inch smart TV with streaming services like Netflix and Prime. Past the living space, you had your bedroom and your spacious bathroom which had both a soaker tub as well as a stand-up shower. This space also had extra tall ceilings which made relaxing in the tub on a cold day that much more amazing.

Sandpiper Resort Clubhouse Restaurant

We only stayed at Rowena’s for one night and so we opted to enjoy dinner and breakfast the next day at the Sandpiper Resort Clubhouse Restaurant. This was just a 2-minute walk from our cabin and served delicious west coast fare. This restaurant is shared among the Fraser Valley community, the golfers, and those staying on the property so it’s best to make a reservation in case they are having a busier night.

Since it’s the season for salmon, they had a separate feature menu for salmon which had a delicious Chowder, and other specialties like tacos, sesame-crusted salmon, and some seasonal desserts.

I ordered the beef stroganoff with the feature chowder to start and Joel got their ribs and we both really loved our meals!

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Bald Eagle Viewing Festival

One of the main attractions during the winter months has got to be the bald eagles gathering. They have guided tours as well but if you follow their trail map to the viewing deck, you’re bound to see tons of eagles when visiting between October – January. We saw probably upwards of 10+ eagles just hanging out in trees along the viewing deck which was insane! It’s definitely the first time I’ve ever seen so many eagles gathered in one place.

Would I visit again?

We thought Rowena’s Inn was amazing and we agreed that we’d love to come back and visit in the warmer months! Our stay was short and caught on a gloomier day so we vowed we’d come back in nicer, warmer weather and do a proper stay! I’d definitely recommend Rowena’s to both families and couples looking for a quiet getaway, I felt super at peace on their beautiful grounds and it was the ideal place to get some R&R that’s away from the city!

If you want to check out Rowena’s Inn On The River, check out their website here or their Instagram page here!

Want to see what we got up to? Check out my Harrison Valley + Abbotsford vlog!

How Enkel Studios Came To Be

When my two business partners, Tony and Adam, reached out to me asking if I wanted to start a project together, we didn’t really know where to begin. However, we quickly discovered that we shared a common love for all things workspace. We decided that as three remote working digital entrepreneurs, this was the common denominator that all of us knew and knew well.

We chatted a lot about what we look for in our own workspace organization (aesthetics, ergonomics, price, etc.) and decided we were going to launch our very own organization store!

Our First Products

After chatting back and forth and scoping out manufacturers, we decided that we wanted to launch with a laptop stand and monitor stand. We wanted to take into account ergonomics (how it could improve your posture) and aesthetics first. I’ve always loved a light color palette when it came to my workspace, and I absolutely fell in love with the birch wood aesthetic when I saw it. There’s something super sleek and modern about a well-structured birch stand so we decided to go with 2 designs that were both beautiful and functional in several different ways.

Our laptop stand featured a ventilated platform that’s angled to help with easy typing when used alone, and good viewing angles when used with a monitor. There is also a cutout in the back of the stand that allows for wires to feed through for a more minimal and hidden look.

The monitor stand lifts your monitor so that your viewing angle is a lot more relaxed, giving relief to your neck, shoulders, and back especially when you are seated at a desk all day. It’s raised platform allows for storage underneath—providing greater levels of organization in your workspace.

Overall, we knew we wanted to create multi-functional products that not only helped with your workspace organization but served a greater purpose as well.

Follow Our Journey!

I would love it if you would follow along on our journey of building this lovely workspace organization brand! We’re only just getting started with Enkel Studios and we can’t wait to work on more exciting products for you over the next little while! Check out our Instagram @enkel_studios for up-to-date info on the latest launches as well as tips and tricks for organizing your workspace.

Or visit our site and sign up for our newsletter to get the latest launches right to your inbox.

But I’m not a tech reviewer and this isn’t a tech blog.

So instead of boring you with the specs (that you can find ALL across the internet anyways), I wanted to share my current favourite iPad Pro accessories that I think you NEED to create a complete toolbox.

Best iPad Pro Accessories in 2020

Apple Pencil

This goes without saying, but if you’re someone who likes to draw or even use your iPad for notes, the Apple Pencil is so worth it and an absolute must when it came to my iPad Pro set up. There are cheaper third-party alternatives to the Apple Pencil but it seems like the general consensus is that you will not find a product that works even a fraction as well as how the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil works together. It was honestly a match made in heaven (dramatic but true).

The New Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro

I won’t lie, this specific accessory was what really pushed me over the edge to deciding that it was time to upgrade. A floating iPad set up with an Apple keyboard and a TRACKPAD for your iPad? Sign me up!

I really loved the iPad Although I have yet to get my hands on this specific keyboard yet (the keyboard ships in May), it’s definitely the big talk of the season from Apple and definitely worth checking out.

I am not yet that tech influencer that gets early access on Apple goodies (maybe one day…) but here’s Ali Abdaal’s YouTube video on the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.

Logitech Keys-To-Go

If you’re not looking to spend about $500 on the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro (or even the $250 for the original folio keyboard), another great option is actually the Logitech Keys-To-Go keyboard. This keyboard has gotten great reviews across the internet and it’s small, flat profile allows this to be a super portable keyboard wherever you go.

Smart Cover

If you’re not planning on getting any of the folio keyboards, I think that a smart cover is an absolute must for your iPad Pro (and all other models of the iPad). These covers not only protect your screen but they also help to conserve battery life when not in use. The smart cover will make sure that the screen remains in sleep mode as long as the cover is on.

Apple offers its own smart cover of course, but this year I purchased the Timovo one from Amazon and have been absolutely loving it. Although if you’re looking for a specific colour to suit your style, Apple is still probably where you’ll want to look.

Outer Sleeve

With your folio case, the problem with the setup is that the sides of your iPad won’t be protected. Meaning if you’re really trying to make sure you don’t damage your iPad at all, you’ll need an additional sleeve to keep it safe.

I purchased this one from Amazon which I love. It was just over $20 and it’s got an additional pen holder on the front of the sleeve which means I won’t have to worry about my Apple Pencil loosely floating around in my bag when I am commuting.

I’ve also seen a couple of people with this one that you can buy directly from the Apple website. I love that this has a magnetic closure for easy access and the all-grey colourway is super timeless.

And if you really don’t mind splurging on accessories, I think the von Holzhausen iPad Pro Portfolio is just absolutely STUNNING. It’s got the same fold-over envelop style as the cheap cobble one I ordered off Amazon but this has amazing craftsmanship and is absolutely stunning.

Paper Feel Screen Protectors

This was one mistake that I had made with my initial iPad Pro first generation that I wasn’t going to make again with my new iPad. Something that’s always bothered me about the Apple Pencil to Screen connection is how the tip of the pencil felt against the glass screen. There was always this feeling of friction that made the experience not that enjoyable for me when drawing or writing.

That’s why this time I opted to try the paper feel screen protector. And it was life-changing.

I don’t think I will ever go back to using the normal screen again. As long as I am using the Apple Pencil for anything, this screen protector really makes a huge difference in how it feels.

There is a pretty popular brand called Paperlike that’s known for making these awesome paper feel protectors. However, I purchased a two-pack from Amazon that is much cheaper and that I thought worked great.

Tempered Glass Screen Protector

If you’re not into the idea of having a matte paper-like screen protector, I think the next best option is getting a tempered glass screen protector. I can’t tell you how many times my iPhone screen has been saved by a tempered glass screen protector. Although you will probably be far less likely to drop your iPad than your phone, I think it’s still important to have the right tools to keep your product as pristine as possible.

I usually buy the JETech tempered glass screen protectors from Amazon.

USB-C Card Reader

This last accessory is really dependent on whether or not you ever need to import your photos into your iPad. If you’re someone like me who does a lot of creative work on their iPad, including some photo editing, this will be SUCH a useful tool for you.

Now that the iPad Pro supports USB-C connectors, you can purchase a USB-C hub for all your connectivity needs. Something like this one from Amazon is great and versatile for when you need to plug in an SD card or even an external hard drive.

If you don’t need so many options, there are simple USB-C to SD Card reader options as well.

With more power and versatility comes more opportunity for you to make the new 2020 iPad Pro a part of your workhorse set up. I’m super happy with my iPad upgrade and can’t wait to use it more this year for my creative pursuits.

Do you own an iPad yourself? Let me know in the comments what accessories you LOVE for your iPad.

With the current state of the world, there are more businesses that have resorted to remote-working than ever. If you’re someone like me, a homebody who was already was remote working most of the week at their job, then the change might not have been that drastic. But for some, the change of social distancing plus having to interact with their work team remotely might seem like a huge change in their workflow and mental state. I’ve been getting tons of questions about my home workspace lately so I thought I would share the best workspace and productivity setup for remote working!

Best Workspace Setup for Remote Working

Hardware

My current workhorse is the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro This computer is so powerful and really meets all of my needs when it comes to design and coding work (heavy on the design, light on the coding). I also use this for editing all of my YouTube videos which is amazing for as well.

I also just recently got the 2020 iPad Pro 11” and it has been an amazing addition to my workflow. This device is the most powerful table I’ve used to date and it’s amazing how much you can now do just on an iPad.

The second monitor that I use is this Samsung 28″ 4K UHD monitor. Although the screen colours aren’t the same as my Macbook, I think it still serves its purpose well and produces super clear images. The only bone I have to pick with this monitor is it’s lack of height adjustment. The stand, much like an Apple Monitor stand, can only be positioned at one angle and one height. So I did end up buying a monitor stand to help with this which you can find in the list of my physical workspace setup products below—designed specifically for remote working!

Standing Desk

One of the best gifts I’ve received was my standing desk from Joel. He bought this for me Christmas of 2019 and it’s something I use every single day. Since I work from home mostly, this has definitely helped with not only my physical comfort but also my focus throughout a long day.

I got my table-top separate from my standing desk. I wanted a really wide and deep table-top in a light wood so I got this one from Ikea. If you ask me what’s the one product from this list (other than the hardware of course) that you need for your remote working workspace set up, this is it!

Laptop Stand

As far as aesthetics go, this one from Enkel Studios is probably one of the best-looking laptop stands I’ve seen on the internet. Although it doesn’t have the versatility of height-adjustable stands, I love how beautiful and well made it is. The height and angle it provides works for me as well so I have no complaints.

Monitor Stand

There are tons of beautiful handmade workspace products on Etsy as well and that’s where I got my monitor stand. Although Samdi (the brand that my laptop stand is by) also makes a Monitor stand, it was sold out at the time I was looking for a monitor stand. So I opted for this one from Enkel Studios. the only worry I had was that the colour of the wood would be drastically different from my desk and laptop stand and that it would look bad together.

However, everything ended up pairing really beautifully together so I’m super happy with how it turned out!

Charging Pad

I love this charging pad from Ikea because of it’s look. The cork piece around the charging pad is actually meant to fit into the holes that are on the back of some of their desks that were made for hiding electrical codes. However, I actually really love how the cork looks with my light desk so I kept it as is!

Apple Magic Keyboard & Mouse

When I’m at home, I usually have my laptop plugged into my monitor which means I also use a separate keyboard and mouse set up. I have found that some people don’t love the Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse but I find that it works really well for me.

I love how compact both products are (and not to mention how beautiful). I have considered switching over to the Logitech Craft keyboard but ended up deciding to stick with my Apple products for the look and feel.

Apple AirPods

Have you caught on that I’m an Apple fanatic yet? I got the Apple Airpods for my birthday in 2019 and they’ve been awesome. I do have issues with it now and again, but nothing beyond regular Bluetooth connection issues that I also have with other devices. I don’t have the Airpods with the wireless charging case but if I do decide I need them one day, Apple actually lets you purchase them separately.

Bose QC35

When I’m not using my Airpods, I use my Bose QC35 headphones. These are one of the most comfortable headphones that I use and they’re my go-to whenever I’m traveling or need to focus on work. They do have a known issue that has also happened to me though. After a couple of months, the headphones started to make this static sound when the noise-cancellation is on and you have nothing playing. This really annoyed me at first but I found that the static went away when you’re playing something or when you turned the noise-cancellation off. I’ve learned to live with the flaw but do plan on upgrading to their new headphones in the future when I have extra cash.

BenQ ScreenBar Lite

If lighting is an issue for you, what you need may not be a traditional lamp. BenQ sent me their ScreenBar Lite last year to try and I absolutely loved its compact style and amazing functionality. Not only are you able to adjust the tones of the light to be more comfortable for your eyes, it also produces a bright light that does not reflect off your monitor. It will easily clip onto the top of your laptop to provide clear and comfortable lighting to your workspace

Am I Happy With My Setup?

Yes! There are definitely things that I will probably upgrade over the years (like my hardware and if any of my tools break) but this set up has definitely been the closest I’ve come to my perfect productive workspace! Stay tuned for my next article about my product software setup.

Earlier this year, BenQ reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to try their new product, the ScreenBar Lite. They released their original ScreenBar in 2018 but have recently released a new, smaller version, called the Lite. Whereas the original ScreenBar is meant to fit over your monitors, the new one clips onto your laptop for a more portable experience.

With the working landscape leaning more and more towards remote working and working on-the-go, it can be hard to control the quality of your workspace when you’re abroad.

Cue the ScreenBar Lite. It’s flexible, lightweight, portable—all of the features you’d want in something to bring with you on-the-go. They’ve reimagined their first Screen Bar product to work specifically for laptops, but still provide the lighting options that the original one does.

I’ve been using the ScreenBar Lite for a couple of months now, so I think I can provide a pretty good review on how it works for me.

Design

Much like the original Screen Bar, the Lite version is also wrapped in a black aluminum alloy that’s sleek and quite aesthetically pleasing. Visually, the original ScreenBar is a little more beautiful with a rounded tubular structure that gives it a very high-tech look and feel. The Lite comes in more of a triangular shape that doesn’t blend as seamlessly into the look of my laptop set up as the ScreenBar would with your monitor. Especially if you have a black monitor, the original lamp blends right into the bezel and looks like it belongs there.

The LEDs of the Lite lamp provides ample light to illuminate my entire workspace, even when my laptop is propped up with a stand. You’re able to not only adjust the brightness of your lamp, but also the warmth of your light, which is pretty cool.

It also has an auto-dimming function that uses an ambient-sensor, which is usually the setting that I use it at. Although it does still illuminate my desk when propped up on a stand, I do wish that the lamp provided a bit more swivel for me to be able to customize the angle in which I want my lamp to shine.

Usability

An improvement from the original ScreenBar that the lite possesses is the organization of the buttons. To reach a certain level of warmth or brightness with the original lamp, you have to click the same button (either Brightness or Temperature) repeatedly until it cycles through the settings and gets to the desired mode. The Lite has a Brightness mode and Temperature mode. Once you select the mode, all you have to do is is press the down and up arrows to adjust the setting.

I love that the lamp reclaims some space on your workspace, which is why it makes for the perfect travel/remote work buddy. It comes in a plastic carrying case that protects it while you’re on-the-go, but if you wanted to save space, the lamp could easily fit in your bag or luggage without the case as well.

The lamp is also powered by a USB cable for you to plug into your laptop while you’re working. If you’re a power user, who uses all of their USB ports, this might pose an issue. However, even though I use most of my USB ports all the time, I usually have an adapter or dongle that gives me a few extra USB ports so it hasn’t been an issue for me yet.

Do I recommend it?

The BenQ ScreenBar Lite is a product that you can’t really judge whether you need it or not until you’ve tried it. I have noticed that this light is a lot easier on my eyes than a traditional desk lamp, and it’s super friendly for laptop or computer work since it provides no glare on the screens whatsoever.

If you are someone who’s always on-the-go, working in different spaces, and feel a lot of eyestrain because of it, the ScreenBar Lite is a great tool to invest in. However, with it’s $99 USD price tag, I do only recommend this to those who feel like having a portable lamp solution is exactly what they’re looking for.

Personally, although I never thought that I would need this product, I do really love it’s functionality and portability now that I have it, and will be taking it with me on business trips.

What do you think about the ScreenBar Lite? Is it something that you could find helpful in your day-to-day work life?

*This product was gifted from BenQ. All opinions are my own.*

However, with social media and YouTube being more of a focus for me this year, I wanted to really make sure I was giving it a fair chance. What could I really do with it if I actually pursued opportunities?

So I started pitching brands. Whether it was travel companies, fashion brands, hotels, restaurants… I tried it all. I’ve always had a very open-ended, lifestyle account and I wanted it to remain that way. So instead of trying to write pitches for just one industry, I tried pitching for all of them. I think I’ve finally come up with a pretty decent formula that I can proudly say it’s tried and true. Now, I’m not saying I get 100% of the opportunities I pitch for. Definitely not. You still have to take into consideration that I run a relatively small Instagram account of 31.7K followers (at the time I’m writing this) and a YouTube channel of 59K subscribers. I will say that my tremendous growth spurt on YouTube in the past couple of months has DEFINITELY helped my case, but I’m going to credit some of it with just being forward and going for what I want too. So what exactly am I doing now that’s different? Well, let me show you.

Turn Your Cold Leads Into Warm Leads

Yes, most of your pitch emails will be “cold calls”. But they don’t ALL have to be. If there is a brand that you particularly love and want to work with, you can try to nurture it into a warm lead first before you pitch them your idea. For influencers this actually can be quite easy. Follow the brand’s account, like and engagement with their content, even DM them.

I actually find that it’s easer to work with brands that you already wear yourself. Because not only will you have better knowledge of their product and brand already, you can tag them in photos and stories to further put yourself in their attention.

Craft Your Pitch

Whether or not you’ve created some warmer leads, the next step is to craft your pitch. The layout and wording of your pitch will be different than other people’s but there is definitely a layout that you can follow.

Sawyer Hartman created an AMAZING video on the basic layout of your pitch. I definitely recommend that you watch this video if you’ve never pitched to a brand or company before. But if you don’t want to sit through the entire video, to summarize you have to:

1. Write your strategic positioning
2. Define/redefine your strengths
3. Help the client achieve their goals
4. Write the email!

Your email should include:

• Intro/about me
• Why the brand should partner with you
• The value of partnering together
• Your offering (goals, desired outcome, etc.)
• What you’re asking in return
• and then take away all the pressure

If you want more detail into how to do each part of crafting your email or planning your pitch WATCH THE VIDEO. It’s worth it, I promise.

Develop An Idea They Can’t Say No To

Something that I never used to include in my pitch was content idea. Which was a huge mistake on my part. I’ve noticed that since I started to include an actual idea along with my offerings, I’ve gotten much better results with brands.

The idea behind submitting a content idea is twofold. On one hand, you are showing the brand that you actually carefully thought out why you want to work with the brand and, even more importantly, how you want to work with them. Having a well thought out idea shows them that you actually care about the partnership itself rather than what you’ll be getting out of it (money, free product, etc.)

On the other hand, providing an idea to the brand makes them visualize what it will be like working with you. The more well thought out and detailed your idea is, usually the more inclined brands are to work with you.

Show Them The Numbers

After you’ve formulated your pitch and helped them visualize the perfect campaign you can execute together, it’s time to show them the numbers. No matter how good your pitch and idea are, most likely the brand will still want you to back it up with some numbers. You don’t necessarily have to have an insane amount of followers—as long as you have an engaged audience and you can prove through your statistics that you know where they’re located, how old they are, and what they’re interested in, typically that will be enough.

When I am looking at what stats to show them, I like to make sure I highly my top numbers first. Whether that’s your above industry standard engagement rate or that your top country percentage is where the brand is targeting—make sure that you tailor your media kit to whatever company that you want to work with, just like how you would tailor your resume and cover letter if you were applying for a job.

Master The Media Kit

Many people over think the media kit and is often intimidated by the thought of having to create one. But it’s actually quite simple. Your media kit is essentially a highlight reel of your personal brand and how you can benefit the brand you want to work with—all wrapped up in a pretty little PDF document. It’s essentially your application package for a job!

If you’re not someone who enjoys designing, feel free to check out my media kits! I’ve made two of my media kit designs available for purchase on this website. I also have decided to offer a media kit personalization package for those who want the true “hands-off” experience when it comes to building your media kit. Just pass me all of your stats, and I’ll send you back a personalized media kit.

The Follow Up

Those of you that date know that the follow up is just as important as the lead up and the date itself. Working with brands is no different. You’ve done the stalking, you’ve done the wooing. So all that’s left is to make sure you stay top of mind while they decide who they want to work with from all the applications and emails that they receive. Brands often love seeing influencers take initiative with creating campaigns, so if you followed all the above steps, I’d say you’ve got a pretty good fighting chance.

If the brands don’t reply you, sometimes it’s just because your email got lost in their inbox, or they’ve just been busy. Send them a gentle reminder after a week just to bubble your email back up their inbox. If they still don’t reply, send another one the following week. I usually only follow up twice, and if I don’t see a reply, I just shift my focus to a different pitch. You can save this in a folder in your email, so that you can revisit it at a later date.

And that’s it! Those are all my best tips when it comes to getting a brand to work with you in 2019. No, I don’t have a 100% positive response rating when it comes to pitches, but I don’t think anyone really does! I’ve come a super long way with my pitching just in the last year, because I put in the work to actually practice and try sending out emails. Don’t be afraid to just TRY IT. The more you pitch, the better you will be at it, and you’ll slowly get a better grasp on selling yourself well.

If you want to support me, please check out my YouTube channel, as well as my media kits designs!

Many entrepreneurs work punishing hours which eclipse those of most salaried workers. What’s more, because their careers, reputation, and livelihood are inextricably linked to the performance and wellbeing of their business it’s safe to say that they endure greater stress than most of us too. Is it any wonder that so many bright stars in the business world find themselves burning out and collapsing (metaphorically if not literally)..

Nobody’s saying that you can’t have it all, but if you don’t pay as much care and attention to yourself as you do to your business, you might as well be trying to build a fortified castle on a foundation of sand.

If you hope to take better care of your mind and body you need to ask yourself some very important questions…

How are you sleeping?

With so much on your mind each and every day, it’s understandable that you may not be getting as much sleep as you should. Your body may well be exhausted but your mind refuses to get the memo and works overtime mapping out the coming day and running through your to-do list.

Still, there’s nothing more important for your physical and mental wellbeing than ensuring that you get at least 6-7 hours of sleep every day. It’s essential for everyone, but especially for entrepreneurs. Sleep is integral in maintaining a good memory and ensuring cognitive performance throughout the day. Moreover, it helps you to maintain a balanced and stable mood and keep your stressors from getting the better of you. It even helps your immune system to operate at peak efficiency.

Thus, when you fail to get enough sleep you’re likely to experience brain fog and lapses in memory as well as being short tempered thereby endangering your harmonious working relationships with employees, outsourced help, and even clients. You’re more likely to fall ill and need to take time away from your business to recuperate. If your business is keeping you awake at night every night, you may need to consider sharing the load which brings us to…

Are you reaching out for help when you need it?

Entrepreneurs are among the most self-motivated people on the planet. They are used to solving problems and, being true autodidacts by nature, teaching themselves the skills they need to solve them when necessary. However, even solopreneurs benefit from help every once in a while. Whether you’re relying on an accountant or bookkeeper to keep your financial affairs in order, manage your tax liability and ensure that you don’t miss out on deductions or handing over more responsibilities to your outsourced help, nobody says you have to shoulder the burden of running a business alone. If you don’t feel that you can safely leave the business in the hands of your employees, maybe you need to give them more training and coaching until you can.

Does your healthcare match your needs?

No matter how well you look after your body and mind, it’s still important to have the right healthcare to suit your needs. Even those who live in countries in which healthcare is ostensibly free can benefit from additional insurance. Check out these Flexcare benefits for just one example. A big part of entrepreneurship is hoping for the best and planning for the worst… That dictum should be applied to yourself care as much as it is to your enterprise.

Do you get out of your chair at least once every 30 minutes?

Most entrepreneurs are like hummingbirds, dashing from point to point throughout their enterprises and ensuring that the machinery of their enterprise is operating as it should. However, in an era where many entrepreneurs’ businesses occupy cyberspace rather than physical space, they can check on their businesses from the comfort of their desk. Nonetheless, for the good of your health it’s recommended that you spend some time out of your chair and away from your desk at least once every 30 minutes.

In an era where so many of us spend our work, commute, and leisure time seated, our attention is drawn to the wide array of ill effects sitting for too long can have on our health. It can impede digestion, damage posture, slow metabolism, increase risk of heart disease and diabetes, and even make us more vulnerable to some forms of cancer. Take some time away from your desk to grab a glass of water or a snack or simply go for a little walk. Speaking of snacks…

Does 80% of your diet come from a vending machine?

Our bodies and brains aren’t powered by calories alone. They need macronutrients like proteins carbohydrates and fat as well as vitamins, minerals, and fiber to keep our bodies and minds operating at peak efficiency. If your diet mostly comes in stolen bites from food sourced in a vending machine you certainly aren’t doing your body or your productivity any favors.

Take the time to make, prepare, and pack nutritious home cooked meals that will improve your cognitive performance throughout the day and boost your productivity such as;

• Berries for long term memory and attention span
• Spinach for learning capacity and dexterity / motor skills
• Kale for concentration and focus
• Avocado for healthy blood flow to the brain
• Tomatoes—one of nature’s most potent anti-inflammatories for general wellbeing
• Almonds to improve concentration by stabilizing blood sugar and preventing cravings

Looking after your mind and body doesn’t require grand, sweeping lifestyle changes… Just regular routine care and maintenance. And you can’t possibly take proper care of your business without first taking care of yourself.

So I’m switching gears a little today, and sharing with you 4 truths about remote working that nobody tells you about!

You’re Going To Feel Left Out Sometimes

In Buffer’s annual State of Remote Work report, they found that more than one in five remote workers feels that loneliness is their biggest struggle with working remotely.

My biggest tip? Find a crew! Whether it’s friends that you already know or meeting other freelancers and remote workers, find a group who work and live in a similar way. That way, instead of staying at home all day, you can plan work days at coffee shops in groups and not worry about feeling lonely!

Productivity Will Feel Different

Despite your best efforts, it can be hard to keep yourself motivated to work at times. Especially if there’s no one there to push you or keep you on track, it’s easy to want to take a mid afternoon nap and forget about the stress on hand.

There are tons of different methods and techniques you could implement to help you stay self-motivated when it comes to remote working. Whether it’s theming your days or “eating the frog”, find what works for you and stick with it!

Self-Directed Learning Will Play a Huge Part In Your Life

Another reason that puts people off remote working is definitely the lack of mentorship or support sometimes. Especially if you work for a fully remote team that are in other parts of the world than you, it can be hard to get the help that you need, when you need it.

In turn, self-directed learning will start to play a huge part in your career. Although any good remote team should have a communication method set up, it’s still important to anticipate that there will be plenty of moments where you’re just going to need to figure it out on your own.

Looking for friends who are in the same field or are doing similar work as you can definitely help this issue. Or just be resourceful yourself and learn what you need to do on the internet. Google is also an insane resource that will probably have the answers you need if you looked hard enough.

It’s Not For Everyone (And That’s Okay!)

Remote work is a skill and it’s totally okay if it’s not for you! As glamorous as it may seem, this article, and many others are there, are perfect examples to why remote working isn’t for everyone. Working remotely forces you to be a “over” communicator and that’s definitely not something that everyone is naturally comfortable with.

Whether it’s because you naturally are someone who needs more structure and direction when it comes to work, or because you’re just not someone who can work outside a busy office—it’s totally okay! Remote work is like any other position in a company, sometimes it’s just not meant to be.

If you are considering remote working, definitely don’t forget to look at reasons why it may not be a good option for you. It’s easy to get wrapped up only looking on the bright side of things, and you might be surprised once you actually get the thing you’re striving for.

I personally have loved remote working so far but I think I was well prepared in the time-management, self-motivation aspect due to school. If you’re ready to give it a try, We Work Remotely is a great place to start when looking for remote positions (especially in Tech!). Happy hunting!