Hey there, Tom here.

Hello from sunny, hot, and humid Varkala, India!

I just arrived in India after a couple of weeks trekking in Nepal. The idea is to take a break from the cold, get some surfing in, and honestly eat as much food as humanly possible in the time that I’m here 😂

But I wanted to send out a short email today that again shares a little bit more of a personal look at what I’m up to here at WiFi Wealth these days.

Specifically, I want to share how I keep my different media businesses running while traveling so that they still make money and continue growing.

This is a question I’ve gotten over the years as a digital nomad.

SO I want to share a bit of context about how I manage different businesses while being fully remote.

This includes some useful strategies on outsourcing, how I approach scaling different projects, and some general notes on work-life balance.

Let’s get to it 😎

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I’ve been at this digital nomad thing since about 2020. And honestly, most of my productive moments and business breakthroughs have come when I head somewhere new and invigorating.

BUT contrary to what you see on Instagram, this lifestyle doesn’t involve working from the beach with your laptop, sipping mojitos. I’ve straight up never worked from a beach 😂 Sand gets everywhere and you can’t even see your screen!

The first blunt truth is that I still spend anywhere from 30-60 hours per week most weeks on my businesses.

Granted, I sometimes spend zero time on my businesses, like during my trek to Everest Base Camp last month. But for the most part, I’m working fairly regular hours in an effort to create multiple income streams.

HOWEVER, being in different time zones than brand partners, clients, and advertisers means I get a much more flexible schedule. Here’s a snapshot of what a day looks like currently since I got to India:

5:30am - 8:00am: Wake up and do something fun outside, like surfing or exploring a new part of town, before getting breakfast somewhere (ideally healthy and low-cost! Cost of living here in Varkala is very foreigner-friendly.)

8:00am - 12:00pm: Get the first work session of the day done. This mostly involves scheduling content, responding to emails like brand sponsor requests, planning out more content, and sending out tasks to various freelancers who help me with tasks like scripting and video editing.

12:00pm - 2:00pm: Since this is the heat of the day here in Varkala, I’ll make lunch and try to get to the gym or again, find something interesting and new in town to do that’s ideally out of the heat.

2:00pm - 7:00pm: This is the second work block for the day. Since Western partners are waking up during this time, I typically schedule any of the few calls I have in this window. I might send more tasks to the team, film YouTube content, or plan out newer growth ideas for my different content businesses.

7:00pm - 8:30pm: Again, since I’m somewhere new right now, I want to do some exploring. I’ll likely grab dinner somewhere in Varkala, walk around the beach, and enjoy the cooler temp as the sun is down.

8:30pm - 11:00pm: This one is a mixed bag 😂 I’m often enjoying some AC while chipping away at more work, with something playing in the background. I might read, send some more emails, or have a social evening or sorts. It really depends on how much work there is to do and what the day has been like.

Overall, I find that most days I have two very dedicated working chunks that are also distraction free. This is one of the reasons I like being on the other side of the world from most of the companies I work with 😂

I also find that task-switching keeps energy high. It’s easy to work for a few hours of focus, go surf, and then get back into the flow of work without feeling the crash you get in an office.

This is the rough routine that works for me, anyways. It’s far from the only way to live and run several media businesses.

💡 What I will say is that keeping a content calendar/business plan is how you stay on track. Having freelancers or a virtual assistant on your team you can outsource tasks to has also been a game-changer for my online income growth.

If you’re also working online, my advice is to start time-tracking different aspects of your daily workflow. Actually map out where you spend the most time and what your lowest-impact activities are. Start creating SOPs and guides, bring on freelancer help, and delegate the time-consuming activities away so you have time for higher-leverage focus.

Seriously, it sounds silly tracking your own time. But if you do this for a few days, you’ll uncover inefficiencies that need patching up. I guarantee it.

Essentially, my goal is to always have something moving forwards for my business even when I’m not working actively.

This means content is getting scripted, edited, and scheduled for posting. Emails are getting sent out. Or I’m using some kind of AI tools or money-making automations to always be moving forwards.

It takes time to create these sorts of systems.

But one of the things I love about making money on the internet is that you are in the driver’s seat. The only limit is your creativity and the systems you can build for yourself. And I think that’s pretty cool 😎

NOW if you’re newer to making money online, don’t sweat it…You don’t need to build a media business overnight or stress about hiring different team members.

Instead, I put together a post covering 10 realistic micro-income streams you can build.

This is a great starting point for increasing your income and, more importantly, experimenting with new ideas. Give it a read and start creating a new income stream or two this month!