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Jessica Grace Coleman

Welcome to the Travel Transformation Podcast, where we talk all things travel and all things transformation. My name is Jessica Grace Coleman and I'm your host, and today I'm talking to Ali West, aka the Productive Nomad. Ali helps and coaches digital nomads to break free from procrastination so they can work and travel with purpose. And, as a digital nomad myself – who is all about purpose and who can struggle with procrastination – I love this mission.

In this episode, we discuss why we procrastinate, top tips for digital nomads to beat the procrastination and maximize productivity, the importance of self-care and balance when we travel, and much, much more. We also talk about his background in the health and fitness industry and the spiritual awakening he had in Sedona, Arizona that set him off on a whole new path. 

I really think this conversation is going to be so useful to a lot of people – digital nomads and non-digital nomads alike – so let's get straight to the interview. 

Hi, Ali. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on. How are you doing today?

Ali West

Hi, Jess. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to speak to you.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Great! Yeah, I'm excited too. We've had to reschedule a couple of times because of hashtag #digitalnomadproblems on my end with Wi-Fi and stuff, but that's just how things go. So I'm really grateful that we've actually managed to do this – thank you for coming on and waiting and all that stuff.

So, to start with, can you give our listeners a bit of background information about you, where you're from originally, where you are currently, and what you do for a living now?

Ali West

Absolutely, yeah. I've got kind of an interesting background because I spent most of my adult life in health and fitness. I've just turned 36, and prior to last year, I'd been in health and fitness for over 14 years. I did it all in health and fitness; I was a personal trainer in a health club, then I went on to run my own personal training business. Then I was an educator for personal trainers. And then, in 2017, I opened my own gym with my wife, which we ran for five and a half years. And then, in September 2022, we closed that and pretty much immediately embarked on a lifestyle of working remotely, being a digital nomad, and travelling the world and living our dreams, really. So that's kind of my background. Where I’m from originally is Nottingham in England – that's where I lived all my life until I started travelling. 

And what I do now is I help digital nomads, in particular, specifically with procrastination and productivity – so basically breaking free from procrastination and being more productive so that they can work and travel with purpose. Because what I found in my short time of being a digital nomad is there are a lot of digital nomads that I've spoken to and that I've met – including myself and my wife – that struggle with this kind of balancing the work and the adventure side of being a digital nomad. So that's what I help digital nomads with at the moment. I did that quite quick; I was quite impressed with that!

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, that was good! You say you and your wife… also me; I'm definitely in that category as well. I think if you're self-employed or an entrepreneur or a freelancer or anything, it's hard enough to be productive and stop procrastinating. But when you add travel into the mix and you've got all these amazing places you want to explore… like, you might have an amazing view out the window where you're trying to work that you keep getting distracted by. It sort of amplifies everything by like, 100, I think. It's so much more difficult to focus. I’m really looking forward to this conversation because I think you'll be able to help me as well. 

So you mentioned there that you started travelling in 2022. So did you have your gym during the pandemic and all that stuff? How did that work?

Ali West

Yeah, my wife and I had always enjoyed travel, so we'd been to a lot of countries before we decided to start traveling full-time. So we'd been to pretty much all of the continents with the exception of Australia, and seen quite a lot of the world. So I knew I always had a passion for travelling and getting out and seeing the world. 

But, yeah, the gym was all through the pandemic, so we did three consecutive times of opening and closing, and it was a real struggle. And, in 2021, I was really feeling disillusioned with the gym and with health and fitness because I'd done it for so long and it wasn't really lighting me up, and I wasn't as passionate about it as maybe I used to be, but I've always had a passion for helping people, and I've always had a passion for coaching. So I knew that what I did, beyond the gym, it had to involve coaching and helping other people because that's what I'm super passionate about. 

The gym was a massive learning curve. Running an operation of that size for so long during a pandemic… a lot of it was a real struggle, and it taught me so many things. But I wouldn't change it for the world because it taught me a lot about, first and foremost, business and running a business of that scale. But, more importantly, it showed me a lot about myself and my relationship with my wife Sarah, and how strong and how powerful that is. And a lot of the work that I did on myself prior to owning the gym really played out through the time of having the gym. 

Because, in 2015 – and we can get into this if you want, but we don't have to – I had a pretty life-changing experience where I went to Sedona in Arizona, in the States, with air quotes, a spiritual awakening. And pretty much my whole life changed after that, which kind of catapulted me into really taking my own self seriously. Like everything: my own health, my own wealth, my own happiness, all of that kind of stuff really kicked into gear in 2015. And since then it's been a constant state of personal growth and working on myself, which has brought me to speaking with you here right now.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Great – and yes, I definitely want to dive into that. You can't just mention that and then just go past it! I've never been to Sedona. I've been to Arizona, but I know friends who have gone to Sedona. So can you explain what the area is like, for people who don't know, and then please, if you can say what the experience was?

Ali West

Yeah, it's a magical place. And for you and for your audience, you probably would have been to places around the world and you just feel something inside of yourself. It's not the people there…. it's the energy of the place. And you feel it in your heart and in your gut and you just feel that energy around you. And Sedona, for me, was one of these places – and a few places that I've been to since we left the UK, I've had the same kind of feeling as well. But Sedona is a magical place.

For the people listening to this that don't know about Sedona… basically, Sedona is in Arizona. It's a lot of red rock formations. They've got some really big red rock formations, with the highest one being Cathedral Rock. And people go there because they say there's a lot of energy there. People have experienced stuff like I experienced – this kind of spiritual awakening. People have said they've seen aliens there. It's very sacred, the indigenous people of that area… so there's a lot of energy and power there. And they have these energy vortices as well, which is why a lot of people go there, because it's like masculine and feminine energy, depending on what part of Sedona you go to. It's a really incredible, powerful, beautiful place. And also visually, it's incredible. It's stunning. Did you go to the Grand Canyon?

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah.

Ali West

So the Grand Canyon is amazing, but for me, I felt more pull and more power and more amazingness from Sedona. So if you ever go back, go to Sedona. And then what? Do you want me to tell you what happened when I was there?

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yes, please!

Ali West

Okay. Yeah, cool. So when I went there, it was a real changing point in my life because, at the start of 2015, I'd ended a seven-and-a-half-year relationship. So I was with a girl, we had a house together, a mortgage together, all of that kind of stuff, and I just wasn't in the relationship anymore. I knew that it had to end for my own development, but also for hers as well. So I kind of ended that relationship, moved out of the house, and I was sleeping on my mum and dad's sofa for probably the first quarter of 2015. 

And in May I decided that I was going to go to Arizona because my friend was living there at the time in Scottsdale. So I flew out to see him, and when I got there, he'd been going through a lot of his own stuff as well; a few years prior, he was living in Seattle and he tried to take his own life on two separate occasions, and he'd found spirituality, and it kind of really helped him get away from that mindset of feeling suicidal and taking his life seriously. And it helped him immensely. So, when I got there, I knew he was going through all this stuff and then he was like, oh, we're going to go to Sedona – it’s amazing, telling me all this stuff like I've just told you. And he said, ‘we'll go and check it out.’ And I was like, ‘yeah, sounds amazing.’ Blah, blah, blah. 

We got there, did some hiking, and then we sat on a rock and he was like, ‘do you fancy doing some meditation?’ I was like, ‘meditation… what the hell? I've never done meditation. Don't know anything about it.’ But I was open to it. I didn't have a fixed mind. I’ve never really had a fixed mind in my life; I've always been quite open-minded. So I said, let's give it a go. So we sat there and he guided me through this meditation. 

This was at a place called the Kachina Woman, so people can look this up: Kachina Woman. That's an area of Sedona that's got a lot of feminine energy. So it's quite loving, quite harmonious, that kind of vibe that you're getting from there. So he sat there, and he guided me through this meditation. And the best way I can explain it is… I had this massive feeling of being present, the most present I've ever felt in my life. I felt all this love and energy wash over me. I just felt incredible. So powerful and so in the moment, and it was just unbelievable. 

I came out of the meditation and my friend said to me, ‘how was that?’ And I said, ‘absolutely incredible. What the hell was that? That was amazing. I want more of it.’ And he was like, ‘no way. You must be really responsive to meditation,’ or whatever. Yeah, that was amazing. So we did some more hiking and we hiked up Cathedral Rock and then came halfway down. No, we did a meditation at the top, a similar sort of experience. Then we came halfway down and did another meditation because I was, like, taking a drug or something. I was like, ‘give me more – I want another hit of it!’ So we did this third meditation, and then that's when all the crazy stuff started happening. 

So I was sat on that rock, and then my friend was sat to my right, and I got into the meditative state, and I started hearing almost like voices and things coming in. And then I heard… it sounds crazy… but I heard my wife sort of communicating to me almost like telepathically. She wasn't my wife at the time, but we were seeing each other. She was back in the UK, and she was saying stuff to me through my head. And then I had this energy that started moving my body around, and it was so weird. And I was, like, getting pushed by this energy. And my friend was like, ‘what are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘that's not me.’ He was like, ‘sure.’ So he came and he pushed me, and then the energy pushed me back. And it was like I was in between my friend and this energy pushing me left and right. And he did it from both sides as well. And the same thing happened. It was so crazy. 

And then from that day forth, that's when I found meditation. That's when I found spirituality. That's when I found all of these positive practices. And I know I can trace it all back to that day in Sedona; everything accelerated from there. And I still have experienced sort of, like, that clairaudience. So that's clear hearing. Some people have clairvoyance, which is clear seeing, but I still have some of those kind of powers of I hear stuff – not as much as I used to because I've learned different things to maybe shut out some of the stuff that didn't need to be there – but yeah, it made me realise that there's a lot more to life than what we sense with our traditional five senses. And whether that was meditation, whether that was Sedona, whether it was the combination… I honestly couldn't tell you. But I just know that my whole life changed after that.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Wow, that's incredible. I mean, not many people can pinpoint the exact moment that everything changed for them – that's amazing. Have you been back to Sedona or do you have plans to go?

Ali West

I think we might go next year because my wife has never been to the States. I've been a few times to the States, but Sarah's never been. So I think next year it's looking like we probably will go to the States maybe around summertime. And I definitely want to go to Sedona just to take Sarah and just to see if I have anything else crazy happen to me.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah. Wow, that's so amazing. I've heard things about Sedona – people take crystals there to recharge them and stuff because of the power of the energy. I definitely need to go.

Ali West

You've got these areas – I know this is kind of side-tracking from what we want to speak about – but there are these areas all over the world that have this energy, a big one being Glastonbury. Glastonbury has a lot of this energy, from where we're from in the UK. Glastonbury has a lot of the Same sort of stuff going on there. So there are areas around the world where it's just powerful, and that's why a lot of people are drawn there for pilgrimage or to find themselves or for, quote unquote, spiritual awakenings. I know this stuff is real – or real to me.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, that's really cool. I find all this stuff absolutely fascinating, and I love that that was the start of everything for you. Okay, so when you decided to become digital nomads – you and your wife – where was the first place you went, and was it a joint decision or how did you decide where to go?

Ali West

Yeah, so we wanted to go somewhere warm, for starters, because the UK is terrible and it rains all the time… cold… as you know, so that was a key thing. And then we kind of narrowed it down to three places. One of them was Bali because of the big digital nomad community there. The other one was Mexico and then Costa Rica. 

We ruled out Bali because we'd already been there, and it's so far away, and we were thinking, what if we go there? What if we pack everything up, go there, and it's not for us or whatever? So we wanted somewhere that was maybe not as far away and maybe not the other side of the world. So we ruled out that. Then it kind of led us to Costa Rica or Mexico. And when I started doing the research on Costa Rica, and I kept seeing, oh, the internet is not that great. It's not necessarily set up very well for digital nomads. So I thought that kind of only leaves us with Mexico. 

Another thing that we really wanted is we wanted to be by the beach or by the sea. So I'm a water baby. I'm a cancer. I love being around the water, and Sarah loves the sea and water as well. So we decided it had to be by the sea. And then when I started doing my research on Mexico, it only left us with Puerto Escondido, really, or Puerto Vallarta for a good setup for the lifestyle that we wanted to live. And then I read about Puerto Escondido and it said that the internet infrastructure there is not very good either. So it kind of left us with PV, with Puerto Vallarta, which is where we went. 

And this is how I know there are no coincidences and everything happens as it should, or happens for a reason, because we nailed it down to Puerto Vallarta, and then we'd not even talked about potentially how we were going to get out of the gym or sell it or anything like that. We just knew that we were going to do it. And we said, right, by the end of 2022, we're going to be out of here. That's the plan. 

July 2022, we sat on our phones in the office of our gym. We had an office and Sarah sat over there, and I sat here, and we both got a notification on our phone. It was like flights with Thompson to Puerto Vallarta, and we looked at it and it was the last flights they were doing until April of this year that we're currently in. And me and Sarah looked at each other, and were like, is this a sign for us to just pull the trigger and do it or what? So we talked about it for literally two minutes and then we were like… credit card out, booked it, one-way tickets. And then we were like, shit, now we've got to sort of gym out! So it's like the catalyst, the trigger to do it. So that's how we decided to go there. Actually, the first place we went to was Mexico. And we spent six months there. So we did the full six months visa that you can get in Mexico, travelling around Mexico and being in Mexico.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Nice. I love that you just got the tickets and then figured it out afterwards. I think that's the best way to do things. Sometimes you have to put some skin in the game – or a lot of money, or make a big decision – and then you're forced to sort everything else out. There's nothing else for it. And if you were waiting around and putting it off, then you might never have done it, other people might never have got done the things they need to do to pursue their dreams and their goals. So I love that. I think that's a really great way of doing anything in life, really.

Ali West

And that's exactly what we're talking about – well, what we're going to talk about on this podcast – is that procrastination and putting things off… people are crippled by it. And the ultimate antidote is just to take action, just to pull the trigger, and then that's when the magic starts to happen, when you take action. 

But if you just constantly kind of play it over or doubt yourself or procrastinate, you're never going to move into what you just said, into your goals, your dreams, and your aspirations. And that's what I'm all about. That's what I've always strived to do in my whole adult life and even when I was a teenager: to do my best, to be the best person I can be, and to live my dreams as well. And I think that's not the attitude for everyone, but I think a lot of people – particularly digital nomads and people that maybe are contemplating the digital nomad lifestyle – they should do that. They should pull the trigger and do it and have no regrets, to some extent, definitely.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Okay, so the big question: why do you think we procrastinate? People in general and then digital nomads in particular? Is there a reason? Are there lots of reasons? Why do we do it?

Ali West

Yeah, I think everyone's different. Here's the first thing to say about it. If you do procrastinate, there's not something wrong with you. You've not got like a disease or an ailment or anything like that, because I know people that are super high performers that have like seven, eight-figure businesses, and they still procrastinate. So it's not something that's wrong with you. It's not something that is a problem, but you can minimise it, and you can, to some extent, use it to your advantage as well. So that's the first thing to mention. 

If you are somebody that does procrastinate or is crippled by it, like I used to be… I still procrastinate now, but I used to be crippled by it in most of my adult life, I was like a master procrastinator. Like, I know it inside out, which is why I think I'm very qualified to help people with it because I know how they feel. So that's the first thing to mention. 

Second thing is there are multiple reasons to it, but usually what I've found from the people that I've helped and that I've coached and that I've worked with, and from the work I've done on myself in terms of self-development, when it comes to this particular area of procrastination, is that a lot of it comes about through a couple of things. Number one is like a misalignment with desires and purpose. So if somebody isn't aligned with what their heart's desire or their gut's desire is and what their overarching purpose is as a human being, there's a disconnect, and they're out of whack. And then they start to procrastinate, because the things that they think they should be doing or need to be doing – or the tasks that need to be ticked off – don’t match with what they should really be doing and what their true heart's desire is. So that's the first thing.

Now, motivators. Most people are motivated by pleasure and pain. So they have a fear around things, and that's what leads them to procrastinate. So sometimes the pain or the pleasure of what they need to do isn't enough for them to take action on it. So when you’ve got the burning desire and when you're living in alignment with your quote unquote purpose, and either the pain of what you're trying to get away from or the pleasure that you're trying to move towards is strong enough, then you will procrastinate a lot less. So I think, from my own personal experience and from the research that I've done, I feel like they're the two main motivators: the desires aren't strong enough, they're out of alignment, and it's that the pain or the pleasure isn't sufficient enough to take action.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, it totally makes sense. And I've definitely been there, especially with the misalignment thing. Like many people, I'm sure, I've had shiny object syndrome. I have so many ideas, and I flip from one to the other, and I don't sort of go all in on some of them – in the past – because it's not really been what I've actually wanted to do, which is to do with travel and transformation. And it wasn't until I came up on this that I felt I could do a podcast on this, I could write a book on this. This is what I want to do. Whereas before I wanted to start a podcast, but it wasn't the right topic so I kept putting it off and procrastinating, and there's obviously a reason for that. So, yeah, I can definitely relate with that.

Ali West

Yeah, and I think when it's – sorry, I didn't mention digital nomads – but specifically when it's people that are travelling or working remotely, or travelling and working, I think a big problem with them is a lack of balance. So that's what causes them to procrastinate, because they're kind of out of sync with the balance. So they're either like hardcore adventure of doing all this cool stuff that we can do as digital nomads or fully into the work, and they don't balance the two up. 

So, for me, I'm all about adventure and doing the cool shit, but at the same time, we need to have these focused moments of work as well. So when you get that balance correct – and balance is a word that is thrown around so much, but it's so underutilised and it's so underused. So people say, oh, you need balance, but they don't practice it. So you have to practice what you're saying with balance. 

So if you do need more balance, you need to get to a balanced state, and that equilibrium or that harmony, however you want to label it up. And I think a lot of digital nomads, they're out of whack with the balance, so it's almost like they're all or nothing. And then, when they do one, they feel guilty for the other. So they go and do all the adventure and they're like, shit, I should really be doing some work now. Or they smash the work and they're like, oh those guys over there, they're going to the surf camp and I'm like, I should do that. And then they feel guilty for doing one or the other. But no, just have the balance and then you won't feel that guilt at all.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, I can totally relate with that. I am still definitely working on the whole balance thing. And even if it's not that you want to go and do all this adventurous stuff… I stay in colivings quite a lot and there's just like people everywhere and there's always stuff to do and people to hang out with and talk to and drink wine with and even just trying to balance that with work… and there's all the exploring you want to do… it's a lot. And, like you say, you can go out, you can take a couple of days off and do some amazing things, and the whole time you're thinking, oh, I've got so much work to do. And that's not what you want to be thinking when you're in these amazing places with these amazing people doing such incredible things. So I'm definitely still working on this. So where do you suggest starting with trying to redefine that balance, starting to address that at all?

Ali West

It starts with your vision and your goals for this lifestyle. That's the starting point. So you've got to know why you're doing it and what you want out of it. And I think a lot of digital nomads don't have that. They think, oh, I saw this on Instagram and it's cool, or TikTok, and they go and do it, but they don't know why they're doing it. Again, there's a disconnect. So I think if people are procrastinating or they're feeling guilty for it, or they're not living with the balance of this lifestyle and maybe they're not being productive, then start with the end in mind and reverse engineer it. 

So, if you know what your goals and your vision are and your purpose for doing it, for being a digital nomad, then you can set everything else in place. So I think that is the starting point, is kind of knowing what your vision and your goals are and your purpose for doing it. 

I think all of this stuff is super important, whether it's business or personal. I think you need to know your mission, your vision, your core values, your personal beliefs… all of that kind of stuff is super important, and I think that's the foundation. So that'd be my answer to your question. Start with the vision and the goals for this lifestyle.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. And I think some people think they know it – it’s in their mind, they know why they're doing it – but they haven't taken the time to really sit down and clarify all the stuff you just mentioned and write it out and stick it somewhere they can see every day and remind themselves of it every day, because they can do all the work and then they can forget about it, or it might change and then people aren't really aware that it's changed, and it's just keeping on top of it and reminding yourself of why you're doing it, I guess.

Ali West

Absolutely. Because that can lead to two things. If people haven't got it written down and it's not at the forefront of their mind, it can lead to two things. It can lead to the burnout of this lifestyle of, like, overdosing on it and getting burnt out. Or the second thing is what I'd call being disillusioned with the digital nomad lifestyle. So they're like, is this really right for me? Is this what I'm meant to be doing? Et cetera, et cetera. But if you've got that vision and the goals at the forefront of your mind, and you don't look at it every day, but if you're checking in with it maybe every week or every month at the very least, then you'd be like, yeah, I get it. This is why I'm doing it. This is why, Monday to Thursday – or whatever you want your working pattern to be – this is why I'm sitting down and doing this stuff. This is why I'm doing these particular tasks. This is why this is a priority. The list goes on and on. It's all in alignment with that goal and vision that you've got for yourself. 

And I'm all about purpose. I'm all about people knowing what their purpose is. I think that's super important, and that might take you time to work that out, and it might take you a whole lifetime, but as long as you're trying to figure out what you're really meant to be doing and why you're here, then I think that's super important.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. I'm all about that as well. And, like you say, this can apply to absolutely anyone as well. The whole knowing your purpose and having it straight in your mind and knowing why you're doing it on a basis can really help. Okay, so do you have any top tips on how to be more productive as a digital nomad?

Ali West

Yeah, I think I'd say there are three big ones. An organised plan is massive, so that plan has got to be set out weekly, quarterly, yearly. You need a plan, because everyone knows it… it’s cliche and it sounds cheesy, but it is. Without a plan, you're failing. What's the saying? Failing to plan is planning to fail. And it's so true – it sounds cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. And I think if you haven't got a plan… and I'm big on a flexible plan. Some people, when I say plan, they're like, oh, right, I need to do a military standard regimented plan. And it doesn't have to be like that. You want to be flexible with your plan. Because of our lifestyle, it needs to be flexible. One day we might be stuck in an airport, the next day we might be somewhere like you were, with no internet or crappy internet. Next, a bus or a train might get delayed. 

We don't know what's going to happen because our lifestyle is very different than most people's – in air quotes – normal lifestyle. We live this unique kind of way of living, of working and travelling, so why would you have a fixed regimented plan? So you've got to have an organised plan for success, and it needs to be flexible. That's the first thing. 

The next one is massive, which I call minimise and maximise. So you need to minimise, if not eliminate, distractions, which is so effing hard with our lifestyle. But you need to put protocols in place to minimise the distractions because they're coming from everywhere. If you're in a co-working space, other people that you want to get to know and meet, we've got this – our phone – that distracts us. We've got our laptops, we've got notifications pinging off. I mean, I'm here in the jungle. I've got monkeys and parrots and stuff. So there are plenty of distractions. So you've got to find a way that works for you to minimise the distractions. Or, if you can, some need eliminating, some need minimising. So certain stuff –for example, mindless scrolling – it needs pretty much eliminating. Or, if you are going to do it, then give yourself some time, like a minimised amount of time, 30 minutes a day, where I'm just going to scroll through TikTok and see what's going on. Otherwise, you're going to just do more of what you're doing. And if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you're going to get the same result. So if you keep doing it, you're going to keep procrastinating and then you're going to keep being unproductive. 

Here's a key thing about productivity as well, on a side note: being productive is not being busy. For me, being productive is result-driven. So is the productive work that I'm doing leading me to what I talked to you about a minute ago, which is your vision and your goals for yourself as a digital nomad? Anyone can be busy. I could sit on my computer for hours and be like, I'm doing stuff. But is it results-focused, is it results-driven? So make sure that the productive work that you're doing is results-orientated. I'd rather do one to three hours of results-focused work than eight hours of busyness. 

And that leads me to the maximise, which is maximising your time and your productivity. Because time is the one thing that we can't get back. We can get everything back pretty much in our life, but once the time slips away and it's gone, you can't get it back. So make sure that you're maximising the time and using that time effectively. Not just your working time, though, your adventure time – maximise that as well. When you're going out and doing all this cool stuff, live it and be present with it so that you're maximising that. 

So a plan, an organised plan, minimising distractions, maximising productivity… and there are loads of ways that you can maximise productivity, and we can dive into that if you want to. And then the final bit is what we've already spoken about which is taking action. You’ve got to pull the trigger. You’ve got to take action because action creates habit, habit creates consistency, and consistency creates momentum and momentum creates results.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. Just do it, as Nike says.

Ali West

I say JFDI but I don't know if I can say the F bit – but just F’in do it.

Jessica Grace Coleman

I love that.

Ali West

Yeah, that's one that I'm massive on is JFDI. Just fucking do it. Because that's the biggest thing with procrastination is getting going. And we've all been there, we know it gets to an hour even later and you're like, oh my God, I didn't do anything because all I did was kind of procrastinate and I didn't get started. Just get started. And that's easier said than done. That's why I help people with this stuff, so that they can learn to take action, because action is the one. Action takers win.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. So you mentioned the maximise bit there. Do you have any tips around time management or how to maximise your time? Because that is a big stumbling block for a lot of people as well.

Ali West

I've done it all. I'm like a human guinea pig with most areas of my life, so I experiment on myself first, and then I experiment with friends and family, and then I experiment on clients. So I've pretty much tried it all when it comes to time management and productivity techniques and anti-procrastination techniques. And I've read so many different books, and this is even before I became a digital nomad, because as I said, this is something that I'd suffered with for a lot of my life – that lack of productivity and maximum procrastination, should I say. 

These are the ones that I’ve found have worked best for me, and for the people that I help. So the first one that works really well, going back to what I said earlier, is planning. So doing it the week before or at the very latest on a Sunday. So if you know your working day starts on a Monday, that bad boy, that week, needs to be planned out at the very latest on a Sunday. So you need to plan it out, and then that needs to go into your calendar. I got taught back in 2016 by a very successful businessman who is a multi multi millionaire. I'm talking, like, he's worth probably about 500 million. He said: Be a student of your calendar. And that stuck with me ever since. Be a student of your calendar because if you get organised with the plan ahead of time, there's less room for procrastination and less room for things going wrong. 

So, on a Sunday or the week before – I tend to do mine actually on a Thursday night ahead – so, like, if my week starts on the Monday, it's the Thursday night the week before when I do mine. So I plan that week ahead and then stuff goes into the calendar. That's super important because it gets you organised. And the thing that goes in first is the adventure time. So I do it the opposite to most people. Most people book their work in their calendar and plan the work out, and then they're like, oh, I've got a few hours for doing the cool stuff. No, the cool stuff goes in first, so that goes in the calendar, and then the work goes in after. So that's a real top tip, is planning your week out in advance. 

And then another thing to tag onto that is: give yourself… I like to say three, some people might say five, but I say three priorities for that week. And these are like what I'd call big rocks. So don't write down some BS crap just to tick it off your to-do list. Give yourself three big rocks that you're going to do for that week and write them down and then prioritise them. You can do what I call the ABC method. So you could go ABC, so A is top priority, B second, C. And then work on those big rocks first. And I like to front load my week as well, so I do the bigger stuff at the start of the week just because I feel like I've got more zest and more energy. That's just the way that I do it, but everyone has their own individual way of working. So plan it out and then your priorities. 

Then you can start using actual productivity techniques. And the best ones that I found that work for me – and for other people – is, first and foremost, the Pomodoro technique. So the Pomodoro technique is basically working for a set time, resting for a set time, and repeating, basically. So the most common Pomodoro technique is you work for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break. Do that four times and then take a longer break, which is usually 30 minutes to an hour. And the goal for me, or for most people, is to do two Pomodoros. And then you've got four hours of solid work that you've done. So that's massive. You get rid of your distractions. So the phone, for me, it's got to go somewhere out of the way. The notifications are off. 

You set your timer for 25 minutes. I use an app. If you're on Mac, then you want to use something called Flow. It's free to download Flow. Set the timer for 25 minutes, off we go. And then, when I get to 25 minutes, it pings and it goes ding, ding ding. And then I get up for five minutes, do whatever for five minutes. Press ups, star jumps, play with the cats, walk around, whatever. You want something that's not work-orientated. Then it will ping again after five minutes and you sit back down and you do another 25 minutes of work. Get good at that and then you can move on to stretching out your Pomodoro. 

So, I'm doing 90-minute Pomodoros now, like 90 minutes of solid work before I even take a break. Whereas I started off on 25 minutes to train my brain, because this is all about creating habits and we have to create habits for it to stick and for it to be part of our life, just like brushing your teeth or tying your shoelaces, putting on your clothes, whatever. So we have to make this a habit, and to make it a habit, you have to start small and build it up. So the Pomodoro technique for productivity is probably the number one best one. 

Another one that's very similar to that, that works really well for a lot of people, is time blocking. Or you could call it batching stuff together. So you set a block of time for a particular aspect and you just work on that until that time is complete. So you might get out your calendar, whatever app you use, say it's Google Calendar, and then from ten in the morning till noon you've got two hours. And that two hours is solid for content creation or blog writing or whatever, and you just bash it out in that time and then you take a break. So that's another great one, time blocking, batching things together… those are the two main ones. I don't want to overwhelm people with too much stuff because I think they’re probably the best ones that have worked well for me and worked well for everyone else. But you have to plan it out because if you don't plan it out, it isn't going to happen.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, I love all those tips. So it was Flow that you use for the Pomodoro? I’m going to look that up, definitely.

Ali West

Yeah. And if not, just download a Pomodoro timer on your phone or on the computer. It's really super. Basically, it's almost like a little Jedi mind trick as it just gets you into that flow of actually doing work – and it's focus work. That's the other one I was going to say is what Cal Newport calls ‘deep work.’ So just doing deep work where there are no distractions, which are ties into time blocking and they tie into the Pomodoro technique anyway. But the other one that's a really good productivity technique is deep work. So I recommend that book for most people – Cal Newport, Deep Work. He's quite an interesting character because he's got no social media presence at all, but he's had many best-selling books. But Deep Work is a great book for learning how to work for deep blocks of time. And that's what I said to you a second ago, Jess. I'd rather do three hours a day of deep work than seven hours of dicking about.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, same. And I have read Deep Work and maybe the fact that he doesn't have social media is the reason why he's such a good writer. He can actually focus, because obviously social media is a massive time suck and focus suck and everything.

Ali West

Yeah, that's why I go back to minimise distractions because most people use social. I'm not saying I don’t still do the doom scroll – I do it – but I do it a lot less than I used to. So I think you've got to go back to using social media intentionally rather than unintentionally. And a lot of people just scroll through it and they don't use it with intention. So use it intentionally for something that's going to help you. So, if you are a digital nomad where social media is part of your business, it's part of your day-to-day, then use it for what it's going to help you with and benefit you. If it's not necessarily part of your day, then use your social media to level yourself up. Follow accounts that inspire you and that are going to help you. So you're using it intentionally rather than just like the old doom scroll. Or if you still want to do doom scroll, then set some time, allocate some time for it. 

And then we can get into all the other stuff, and it depends how deep you want to go with it, but I think these are the basics. For someone that's really struggling, they might even want to get an app that locks them out of their applications. So you can get these apps and you set a time limit on it. Once you've done 30 minutes a day of Instagram, it will lock you out. But I think until you've sorted the other things out, you can still get around them because you'd be like, I'm going to delete the app. So you've got to set the big things in motion before you do the smaller, more funky stuff like app blockers or notification blockers or stuff like that. I think something as simple as planning your time out, getting organised with your calendar, and then using the Pomodoro technique… that would work for 95% of your audience.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. I know so many people who have downloaded those apps and the tools on the laptop to block certain things and then they just delete the app or delete the tool because they're just like, no! So, yeah, it's very important to do all the other work first and get your mindset around this sorted and form habits around it and then you can do that kind of thing. Definitely.

Ali West

I'm all about self-care as well. Self-care is so important – as I said, balance. So don't think that because I'm the Productive Nomad and I'm all about anti-procrastination and being productive that I don't like to enjoy myself. It's completely the opposite – enjoying myself is the first and foremost thing. But then I want to know when I am actually doing work that it's kind of results-orientated and driven. So make sure that you have balance in your life and that you take care of yourself. Because if you're not taking care of yourself as a digital nomad, you're going to not enjoy the lifestyle and live the lifestyle to its full potential. But also, you're going to do way more procrastinating and way more days of less productivity because you're not taking care of yourself. 

So whatever self-care looks like for you, then do it. And a big one that comes into that, particularly for digital nomads, is taking a digital detox, just having a break from it. Just say, like, the next week I'm going to take time off and I'm just going to not touch it. Just don't do it. Just uninstall the apps and have a digital detox. Because, as digital nomads, we're on our laptops and on our computers and on our tablets and on our phones all the effing time. So just say, right, okay, maybe once a quarter, for a week, it's just going to go – the laptop's going to go in my backpack or my suitcase or the safe or whatever. The phone, all the apps, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, et cetera are getting deleted. I'm just going to take a week of downtime to get myself away from it. 

And I promise you, if you're listening to this, if you do that, you'll come back reinvigorated, you'll have more energy, you'll want to be more productive, you'll want to procrastinate less. Because these devices, they are incredible and we wouldn't be able to do what we do without them, but sometimes they can be too much and you just need to take a break from it. 

I did one a few years ago. I had a massive digital detox. I did actually for 21 days – I did three weeks of not doing any of it. And it was so hard at first, but it was so rewarding. So that's another thing that I'm massive on, is self-care. And there are loads of self-care practices. Meditation, yoga, exercise, all of that stuff. Nutrition, it's really important stuff. Sleep. I'm massive on all that stuff, obviously, because of my background. But it's super important for digital nomads to take care of yourself.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, definitely. And I love the digital detox thing. I've never done a proper intentional one, but last year I went to Wales with a couple of friends for a week, had an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere, and I was taking photos and videos and stuff, but I didn't take my laptop with me, and I take my laptop with me everywhere. Like you say, digital nomads always have it just in case they need to hop on and reply to an email or whatever. And I left it behind for a week. I did so much reading, we just sat and looked at the view and chilled out. And after that is when I got all these downloads. Immediately after it, as soon as I was alone again, I had all these ideas for Travel Transformation and Travel Coach, and that's when I started searching for travel coaches, and I found this accreditation program and I started writing my book, I started the podcast… and I don't think, if I hadn't switched off for that week and just given my brain a break from all the screens and all the constant bombardments of social media and news and everything, I don't think any of that stuff would have even popped into my brain. And I would still probably be figuring out what I want to do. So I definitely would recommend any kind of digital detox, if you can.

Ali West

Absolutely, yeah.

Jessica Grace Coleman

You've obviously talked a lot about helping people, and that's your mission. So how do you actually help people with this stuff? Like, if someone wants to find out more, do you offer coaching sessions? Where can they get more content from you? How can they find you?

Ali West

Yeah, so there are two ways, really, that I primarily help people, which is a combination of coaching and an online course. So the coaching is just done like this, how we're talking through Zoom here, and I’m actually building the online course out at the moment, so it's not far from being completed. So when people listen to this, they'll be able to probably get access to the course or be near enough able to get access to it, so that's that. 

So they can either do one-to-one coaching with me, where they get the coaching and they get the course, or they can just get the course. So that's kind of two ways that they could work with me. And then consuming my content. It's just the normal channels of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and it's just ‘The Productive Nomad’ everyone can find me on. Really, really simple, easy to find, and I just put out tips on what we talked about – anti-procrastination and productivity. 

Jessica Grace Coleman

I'll make sure to put all those links in the show notes as well. You also have a free guide. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about that and where they can get it?

Ali West

Yeah, it's a seven-step ebook to break free from procrastination so that digital nomads can work and travel with purpose. So I go into procrastination and some tips on that, and they can download that via the link in my bio on Instagram and just go through that. And I have a video training as well called ‘The three reasons why you procrastinate as a digital nomad.’ So if people want access to that, I can send you the link and you can just drop it in the show notes. They can just click on that and watch that free training. So there's free training and a free course – plenty of free information out there that people can access. And then, if they want to take it a step further, if they are really kind of crippled by procrastination and want to be more productive and want to maximise this lifestyle, then that would be jumping on a quick discovery call and we sort things through and then see if it's a good fit for both of us. For me and for the person that needs the help.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Great! So, yeah, if anyone's listening, if you're a digital nomad and you have issues with procrastination and productivity – which I think we all do, especially as digital nomads – then check out all the links in the show notes and definitely give it a go. Okay, so is there anything else you want to mention or talk about before we go?

Ali West

No, I just think people listening to this – digital nomads listening to this, and the remote workers – you don't have to overly procrastinate, you don't have to feel guilty about the lifestyle or for procrastinating, and you can work and travel with purpose and really maximise and enjoy this lifestyle. You just need to put the right things in place and make the right decisions to make that a reality.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Totally agree. And I am going to go look at that Flow thing. I'm going to try the Pomodoro technique, the blocking. I'm going to do my plan for the week. Yeah, I'm going to do it all. So thank you so much for all the tips. They've been really helpful.

Ali West

No worries. The one last thing, actually, Jess, before you go, is that – and it will be helpful for you and for the people listening – is if you're not using Notion, then I'd highly recommend Notion for everyone, because I started getting into Notion pretty much when I became a digital nomad. And Notion is like a game changer for getting you organised. For all the stuff that we've spoken about today, it's the tool that I use the most. So if people aren't utilising Notion, or if they need any tips on how to use Notion effectively, then just reach out to me because Notion is an absolute game changer – and it's free.

Jessica Grace Coleman

That's really funny because ‘start using Notion’ has been on my to-do list for months and I haven't got around to it. And the irony is, if I did it months ago, it would have helped me in all the work I've done in the past few months. So I will definitely get on that now as well. Yeah, definitely check out Notion. Okay, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

Ali West

Thank you.

Jessica Grace Coleman

Yeah, you've given some great tips; I'm sure it's going to really help people. Thank you very much! 

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