Welcome to the new world.

This is a world where over 55% of the global workforce has some form of remote working option.

It is the same world that saw e-commerce platform sales hit all-time highs in the final quarter of 2020.

This is a world that is filled connectivity, yet void of real connection.

It is a world where boundaries are blurred between what is “work time” and “home time”.

It is a world that screams for our constant attention away from the very thing we work so hard for — quality time with those we love most.

So, where do you fit in this new world?

Are you a person who feels simultaneously more connected than ever yet less emotionally connected than ever before?

Are you the person who works longer hours due to feelings of imposter syndrome (i.e — If I work harder, I will prove my worth and be “enough”) or are you packing it in when the day is done?

Are you scrambling for emotional energy to feed the hearts of your family or those closest to you?

If you are any (or all) of these things, you are not alone. You are a cog in the wheel of the pandemic economy.

Whether you like it or not, remote work is the fuel that burns this new pandemic economy and none of us had the time to stop and think about what this would look like a year later; we’ve been too busy living month-to-month.

That’s right — we’ve made one full cycle around the sun with this pandemic challenging our society and ways of doing business, all the while dictating when we can have a physical interaction and with whom.

Whether you believe it or not, it is time for you and me to take our lives back in this new economy. It’s time to stop living month-to-month. What we do today remotely, matters. It matters because it is going to make for a more vibrant future in the new way of working.

We need structure to create freedom.

We need hope to fight despair.

We need confidence to destroy feeling like an imposter.

We need systems, routines and strategies to make our days powerful.

We need to crave belonging and purpose for our very survival.

But can we actually thrive?

In my latest book, “How to Thrive in Remote Working Environments”, I unpack the strategies, systems, and routines needed to move from a frail state of surviving to a secure state of thriving.

Like you, I was thrown into a fully remote working environment in the spring of 2020. I was both excited and terrified as hell. I was ambitious yet cautious.

My remote office had an old chair from the early 2000s, and a hand-me-down wooden table with a seat cushion from Ikea. My command center was weak. I thought to myself, “don’t worry, this is temporary”.

We both know I was wrong.

I knew I needed to test new systems, tools, strategies and routines to figure out how to function at an optimal level within my job in this new remote setting.

Like you — I was maturing.

Fast.

Fast forward a year later, and well, here we are. While I still use that hand-me-down table for my desk, I’ve upgraded the botanical pieces around my remote office, created a hygge reading space, added a better lamp, a second monitor, and of course, a more ergonomic chair.

I have fine-tuned my morning routines to keep me functioning in a thriving state each day.

I’ve upgraded my sleep routine and evening routine to allow me to feel focused and ready for the following day.

I’ve learned to cook better meals and when ‘enough is enough’ with screen time.

I created new systems and strategies to become even better at my job.

I figured out how to thrive.

This is my sincere hope for you as well. I hope that in your remote working environments, you have figured out how to thrive for a long-haul career in this new way of working. I hope you’ve pivoted, grown, and sown more seeds for success in the past 12 months than your entire street combined.

If by some chance, this is not you and you would consider yourself to be surviving rather than thriving in this new way of working, let me share with you three ways you can turn the car around today to make for a better trip tomorrow.

Start With Activity

30-minutes of heart pumping activity is the difference between a good day and a great day.

You already know this from the numerous articles you’ve read on Medium but it’s worth repeating. Starting your morning with 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity is a keystone habit that can make or break the remainder of your day. This habit can help you eat less, focus more, and feel a sense of achievement before you attend to the work of the day.

End With Review and Sleep

How we end one day is how we start another.

Former President Barack Obama was known to spend a portion of his evening routine looking at the tasks for the following day. Unplugging from the demands of the current day to focus on another sets you up to thrive tomorrow. This act, along with getting a good night’s sleep (7–9 quality hours of sleep for adults) is a sure way to allow you to thrive in the pandemic economy.

Read My Upcoming Book

Remote work is here to stay.

How to Thrive in Remote Working Environments is pretty self-explanatory. This is a book about how to thrive remotely. Period. It was built for remote workers like me who were thrown into a massive petri dish in the spring of 2020 and expected to perform like it was 1999. It was carefully crafted while in isolation with two cats (I was channelling my inner Mark Twain) and finished while in complete lockdown. Yes, this is a book that was birthed at a time where the tide was constantly pushing my boat ashore. Where -30 workouts were the only way to be active and where the hours of darkness were longer than the hours of light in a deep Canadian winter.

We are not meant to simply life. We are meant to live well. Being remote should not remove that opportunity for us. We all deserve to live well. This book will help you do that in this new way of working. It’s up to all of us to rise to the challenge of becoming our best, remotely.