Author Archives: RCTRL

About RCTRL

I like getting people excited about making their lives better in whatever form or fashion that may be. I started Remote Control to help people get control of their space and time. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/RemoteControlNoel Blog: http://rctrl.org
by | September 8, 2015 · 7:42 am

The Four Day Work Week (4DWW)

https://nadyneharts.wordpress.com/

Image: Nadyne Harts

This isn’t a post about the 4 Hour Work Week, best selling book by Lifestyle Design guru Tim Ferris that happens to be a big motivator to those in the Digital Nomad community. Nothing wrong with a 4HWW, but it’s a personal situation that involves outsourcing your work to other people who are working so you can be absent. The 4DWW is about sharing in that time off with employees so that everyone has a little more time to enjoy and live their lives.

4DWW: The Pilot

We recently started a 4DWW pilot program at my company. I shared my story (below) and the slide deck I presented from at the company meeting (our last Friday before starting) on Facebook. I got some incredible feedback in the comments, people asked me to post this online so others could see it. We’re not the first and PR wasn’t the goal. My sincere hope is that by sharing our experience, other companies will have the confidence to take the leap and give this a shot. We ARE out to prove that we can be a leading company in our space, highly competitive and continue serving our customers through the friendly support they’ve always had, while giving ourselves and families more time, which is truly our most valuable commodity.

Results (So Far)

One month in, I can honestly say it has been wonderful, but not necessarily easy. Any big shift in work requires change. Change in your mindset, processes and approach to your workload. Sundays are no longer “oh man, tomorrow is Monday”, they have turned to “I gotta get my list together, I have limited time to knock things out”, which I’ve found is a much better way to approach the week.

Here’s my story and the presentation:

“Today we started a 4 Day Work Week pilot program at Mosio. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for awhile now and we finally have the team, the traction and the systems in place to make it a success.

This move is very personal to me. I had a dark, horrible year in 2013, in the middle of difficult, but necessary changes at the company, and the death of my grandmother (Papa), my biggest entrepreneurial inspiration. For 5+ months I was working 60-70 hour weeks. Stressed, depressed, but chugging along, hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.

I would work a full day, dinner with the family, kid in bed and then back to work until 1-2am, off to sleep/worry, only to do it again the next day with a baby on the way. At one point I told my wife “I would never do anything to hurt myself, but right now I don’t care if I live or die.” Seriously heavy shit. I kept telling myself “right the ship, then make the change”, that got me through it.

I know that many people in the world are literally working themselves sick. Chronic stress is linked to the 6 leading causes of death. 18% of US workers work 60 hours per week, some are barely making ends meet. I feel privileged we are able to offer this extra day per week to our team, our families and ourselves.

If you’re interested, here’s my presentation, the final slide has links to references we researched in making the move.

Noel”

4DWW Presentation (click the link to download)

 

Other 4DWW Companies:

Serps Invaders Introduce Four-Day Work Week

Treehouse: This Company Has A 4-Day Work Week, Pays Its Workers A Full Salary And Is Super Successful

A La Mode: OKC Real Estate Company Offers Unlimited Vacation, Four-Day Work Week

 

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by | September 1, 2015 · 7:26 am

Bucket List Item: Paragliding (in Costa Rica)

Copyright Alex Badilla/Tandem Paraglide Costa Rica

Copyright Alex Badilla/Tandem Paraglide Costa Rica

I’ve wanted to go paragliding for about 22 years, basically when I first discovered it. Although I’ve been skydiving, it wasn’t one of those “I gotta do this!” activities that paragliding held for me. Anyway, having lived in Costa Rica for nearly a year and a half, on nice days I kept seeing gliders fly over our house from a launch just up the mountain.

I ended up getting in touch with Alex Badilla from Tandem Paraglide Costa Rica to set up a flight. Alex is super professional and another flyer told me at the launch site that he was known as “the guy” because of his working with one of the greats in Costa Rica named Grampa Ninja (recently deceased, though not from paragliding).

I brought a Go Pro and made a video about it. It’s definitely something I plan on doing more of, but with limited time for activities and my love of surfing, it may not take hold as much as it might otherwise. Flying gently through the sky in a chair made of nylon and webbing provides a perspective (and perma-grin) that is unmatched, I’d highly recommend it. To fly over the jungle and Pacific Ocean was truly magical.

If you have a bucket list or like me, are building one as you go, pick an item and go for it.

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac

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by | March 14, 2014 · 4:42 pm

Enjoying the Antifragility of a Location Independent Lifestyle

Ian-Location-Independence

I suffer from a deep seeded, subconscious, feeling that tells me that I should be doing something that sucks to make money. I often feel guilty about the amazing life I’ve created through a location independent business that finds me walking down a beautiful Gold Coast foot path on a sunny tuesday afternoon checking out the bikini-clad ladies cruising by on roller-skates and skateboards. Totally, 100% first rate problems… but problems none the less.
 
Growing up I was instilled with a work ethic that involved getting up at 6:30 am and working outside in the cold dirt all day. We build houses and this intense work ethic still lays the foundation for the way I see the world. It’s taken lots of leadership courses and business success to get me to the point now where I can say to myself, “It’s ok to be here. Keep going.”
 
It’s not like I work less. To be honest, I work all the time… but work is like play to me now. My company makes internet radio programs. We’re not millionaires yet, but we live lifestyles that I imagine many millionaires would be envious of.
 
So when I’m walking down a beautiful Australian on a tuesday afternoon, watching girls in bikinis; I’m also listening and taking notes for important books that will improve my decision making in the future. Books like Antifragile by Nicholas Nassim Taleb.
 
Antifragile is exactly what a location independent life is all about. It’s answering the question, “how do I build a life that improves with chaos?” If I were kicked out of Australia tomorrow, my business wouldn’t be effected. If the US economy collapsed tomorrow, my business would hurt, but because I have clients all over the world, I would simply have to restructure things.
 
We’re moving from the Gold Coast to Costa Rica soon and I see no impact on business. I’ll be able to cut down on expenses and the time zone will be better for working with a few clients in New York. But aside from that, there will be no impact on the business. That’s the anti-fragility of a location independent business.
 
Ian Robinson is a entrepreneur world traveler. You can listen to his podcast at LoveAffairTravel.com or learn more about self improvement at IanRobinson.net.

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by | February 16, 2014 · 9:42 am

Can Families Be Digital Nomads? (Resources for Information and Inspiration)

Location independence isn’t for the young and single only, although if you are, what have you got to lose?

I saw someone on a Digital Nomad forum ask this a couple of weeks ago. It seems a natural question as so many nomads appear to be single (or just a couple). I will be doing a video about this soon, but wanted to comment on this question, provide some resources and hopefully inspiration to anyone who currently has a family and is looking to go remote or is on their way to location independence and interested in starting a family in the future.

The short answer is ABSOLUTELY, my wife and I are living proof of successful remote professionals (we have two children, both under the age of 4). The speed of which you get things done and your flexibility to do things changes a little bit when you have children, but I sincerely believe it is a mindset. For some inspiration, I urge you to watch this wonderful, short video called The Only Road about a family traveling the world.

“You’re so lucky to be able to do this…”

Inevitably, when you make the decision to find a way to travel more or live in different places, you find a lot of people telling you how lucky you are. I always agree, knowing luck doesn’t play as big as a role as sure will to make it happen. That said, even among traveling families there are varying degrees of “I wish we could do that” and admittedly, when I first watched The Only Road, I literally said the same thing. You have to do what is best for you.

For my wife and I, what we’ve decided is best is to travel as much as possible, but also to live in different places while our children are young. Our daughter flew on 24 flights before her first birthday, she’s a traveling professional. Our choice, however, is not necessarily to be constantly nomadic, always on the move. We like having a home base and have had one in Tucson for the past two years, close to family. In March we’ll be living in Palm Springs, CA with some friends on a similar (same-same, but different) path, then we’re headed to Costa Rica on an open-ended trip. We think it may be 2 years and we’ve already discussed 1-2 month “jumps” to other countries while having Costa Rica as our home base during that time.

Additional Resources

One of the biggest motivators for me has been reading and exchanging stories with other people who have lived or are living this way. Here is a list of 10 sites/blogs to check out for great information and inspiration. If you have any questions, please feel free to use the contact page and ask. I’ll respond to emails as quickly as possible with any information or experiences I have.

Vagabond Family
MY LITTLE NOMADS
The Nomadic Family
World Travel Family
Travel with Bender
y Travel Blog
Bohemian Travelers
Going Anyway
Living Outside of the Box
Snaps and Blabs
With 2 Kids on Tow
Wagoners Abroad
Family on Bikes

If I’m missing any that should be added to the list, send an email or post a comment. 🙂

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by | February 3, 2014 · 1:48 pm

Inspiring Wallpapers for Going Remote

We created some (hopefully) inspiring images/quotes for your desktop or background on the device of your choice. Part of making the leap is visualizing it happening as often as possible. Feel free to use or share these as you wish. Click the link or one of the images below for more…

Remote Control Wallpapers

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by | January 13, 2014 · 9:50 am

Great Video: Sell your crap. Pay your debt. Do what you love.

This TEDx Talk from Adam Baker is a couple of years old, but the simple truths he outlines about the Work > Buy > Debt cycle are timeless. “What Does Freedom Mean to You?” Answering that question is the most important thing you can do for yourself in your life to obtain true happiness. Life is a hustle, it just is. Make the hustle worth it!

My wife and I are in the middle of a big purge before our move. We went through one about 18 months ago when leaving San Francisco to move closer to family in Arizona. Now we’re going through it again, filtering, shedding more “things” to make room for experiences, flexibility and freedom. Admittedly, my hardest parts of the purge have been shoes and my motorcycle. A motorcycle is its own kind of freedom, but I can get another one. And I have a ridiculous amount of shoes. Along with watches they’ve been a pretty big weakness, purchase-wise. I can get more shoes if I want, but this process is helping me learn more and more that I don’t need all of the things I think I need. We didn’t “need” 50% of the stuff we brought with us from San Francisco to Arizona.

We actually did a pretty good job. Our goal of moving from a 1 bedroom apartment in the city (San Francisco) to a 3 bedroom house closer to the Catalina Mountains (Tucson) included us making a conscious and ongoing decision to not buy things to fill the space. We added a crib, a bookshelf, were given a queen bed for the guest bedroom and purchased chairs and small table to eat meals. After this move we’ll have everything we own in a 10′ x 10′ storage unit. Some art, antique lamps and warm clothes not worth taking with us.

Enjoy the video, hopefully it helps you realize what “crap” in your life is holding you back.

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by | January 7, 2014 · 11:07 pm

[VIDEO] One of the Best Kept Secrets About Becoming a Digital Nomad

Hey! Happy New Year to you (or Happy Birthday if it’s getting close).

With so much information online about being a location independent digital nomad (we call them Remote Professionals), you’d think that there are a lot more people doing it. There aren’t! The world is set up to make it easy for you to do so, the economy is ripe for living in another country (or countries) for awhile as you earn “home country” dollars and yet the average person says “wow, that would be nice.” Well it’s a new year and with new years come resolutions, goals, etc. If you’ve considered this lifestyle, make 2014 your year to GO FOR IT!

One of the ways you can learn more about how to go about this (besides subscribing to this blog and the videos, of course) is to ask other people who have successfully done it. Whether through informational interviews or simply asking people questions, there is a wealth of experience and knowledge available to you that can’t be found in a google search. Plus, you can ask questions specific to your needs. In this video I go over a few tips on the best way to go about asking questions and getting the best information from people. As I say in the video, if you have any questions, ask! I’m happy to answer anything I can to help you along. Ask in the comments or use our contact form, either myself or another Remote Controller will do our best to help you out, that’s what this project is all about. Ok, enough of this, let’s get to the video…

I hope you like the video and if you do, please subscribe to the Remote Control youtube channel!

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by | December 21, 2013 · 12:51 am

[VIDEO] Spanish Words I Probably Won’t Use in Costa Rica

I’m not going to lie, I made a handful of videos when I first started and tried to make them somewhat humorous. It’s not actually because I think I’m all that funny, but when I looked at the YouTubers I enjoyed watching (Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Tim Helbig, The Vlog Brothers), they all seemed to have a bit of humor in theirs.

Then a friend who I trust said (literally) “you’re funny and you don’t know it. Stop trying to be funny, it’s better that way and actually more funny.” The other point he (and my wife) made was that by trying to make videos about going the remote professional lifestyle funny, I was diluting my sincere passion for helping people do it as well as the power of the posts the writers on the RCTRL blog.

So I deleted most of the videos I’d made and started over with a little more seriousness, BUT not this one. I had too much fun making it, so it stays, funny or not. Enjoy!

I hope you like the video and if you do, please subscribe to the Remote Control youtube channel!

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by | December 14, 2013 · 11:22 pm

[VIDEO] Finding Your Tempo: Ensuring High Work Output While Traveling | Tips for Location Independence

Quite a few people seem to feel like getting to the point of being remote is the most difficult part. If you’re not yet there, that makes perfect sense. The trick afterwards is maintaining high work output while being location independent, whether that is working from a home office, on the road or literally on the move during travel days.

Traveling can be stressful, as can work days. In this video I share a few tips I’ve learned to ensure I have high output during my travel days and am able to do so with minimal stress on me and my family.

Practice makes perfect and I used to be pretty worthless, work-wise, on travel days. Then I got to a point where I was able to get a lot done, but was pretty stressed out and in some cases miserable in the process. I’m far from an expert at it, there’s always room for improvement, but these tips have helped me along the way and I’ve gotten a lot better at playing the game. I hope you like the video and if you do, please subscribe to the Remote Control youtube channel!

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by | December 1, 2013 · 11:23 pm

How to get more out of your travel plans by Trip Stacking

After you’ve achieved location freedom, every trip is an opportunity to see more and do more while you are traveling. My wife and I recently turned a 3 day wedding weekend into a 2 week trip to Northern California.

In this video I share some pointers I learned the hard way in trying to stack another set of trips in an attempt to turn 8 days into 3.5 weeks. We still got 18 days out of it, so no complaints, but I spent a lot of work researching the wrong things only to find out all of our trip scenarios weren’t doable for all of the people we wanted to see. If sharing these videos helps others learn from my mistakes, I’ll keep making them. 🙂


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