Weekly Digest: September 9, 2016

Haye (hi in Somali)! Here is your weekly dose of my best tips for how to travel the world while your grow your career and make a difference.

Travel the world

I recently started getting active on Quora and I came across one of the best online travel discussions I have ever seen: What should every foreigner know about your country? It gives a thought-provoking and honest account about each country from the perspective of a local. People share the best, worst, and most misunderstood aspects of their country and the pictures are incredible. There have been hundreds of submissions (perhaps thousands), but there is curated list of best answers at the top.

Grow your career

As a digital nomad, my schedule and environment are usually unpredictable. My office is regularly a new co-working space or coffee shop around the world. I therefore need to focus even more on optimizing my work routines to stay productive in any environment. Through lots of testing, here are the daily work routines I have found to make me the most productive (here is the detailed post):

• Do not check email during the first 2 hours of your day
• Always do your most important (often the most uncomfortable) task of the day first
• Set defined time limits for tasks
• Prioritize 90-minute deep work sprints without distraction
• Batch similar tasks together to prevent context switching
• Take a moment to think before executing
• Start the day in the right mental state
• Develop ways to reenergize during the day

Make a difference

“I want to make a difference and change the world” sounds daunting. Vague and distant objectives like that open the door to uncertainty, insecurity, and procrastination. I was recently inspired by a story I read about Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize winner and founder of microfinance. He did not set out to make nearly 10 billion microloans and lift thousands of people out of extreme poverty. He simply talked to people while visiting a village and realized how much he could help a group of women by lending them $27 of his own money. He saw how a small loan could make a disproportionate difference to someone in extreme poverty and did it again. And then again. So instead of “changing the world,” think about one thing you can do in the next 24 hours that helps change the lives of three people and do it. Pick an issue that bothers you, is nearby, or simply the first one you think of (after all, you are not dedicating your life and fortune to it). I would like to feature a few people in an upcoming blog post, so please let me know what you do!

Fun updates:

• Most popular post on Instagram  –  In honor of my featured article about Somaliland (Somalia), here is a picture of Mahmoud, the armed military guard the government required me to hire.
• Featured article  –  I wrote a blog post about my trip to Somaliland. It was one of the most fascinating trips I have taken: Somaliland Travel Blog: Journeys of Independence in Somalia
• Quote of the week  –  “Life’s too short to waste your time doing things that don’t light your fire.” – Richard Branson

Thanks for reading and have an awesome weekend!

Konrad

P.S. — Do you enjoy this weekly digest? If so, please share this with a friend and suggest they sign up!