Remote Work Allows You The Opportunity To Design Your Life: Ali Pruitt

Ali Pruitt

Hi, Can you please introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Ali Pruitt, a Mexican chihuahua mom, digital slow-mad, lover of dark chocolate, the best Aunt in the world, and a Remote Work Productivity Consultant with a focus on work-life balance.

What’s your profession, what do you do?

As a Remote Work Productivity Consultant, I work with teams and individuals to increase productivity and unplug without the guilt to enjoy a more balanced life. I'm passionate about giving remote workers the tools and support to design a life of freedom, flexibility, and joy.

What company do you work for? Are you a freelancer or Digital Nomad?

My remote work career started in 2017 with a tech company based out of Dallas. I was the only digital nomad for the first few years and enjoyed inspiring others on the team to embrace the freedom of remote work in their own way.

Now, I'm the owner of Fully Remote with Ali and digital nomad turned digital slow-mad aka location independent. I'm currently in Manzanillo, Mexico. With a car! Which means lots of Mexican road trips with my dog, Lola!

How did you start with a remote work journey?

What a story this is! I'll give you the short version but make sure to catch some of the podcasts I've appeared on to get more of the story.

I had hit a point in my life of complete stagnation and extreme burnout. I asked myself if I would be happy with myself if this was my life in 5 years. The answer was "Hell no!"

I knew the only way that anything was going to change was if I took some big jumps, facing fears along the way, and MAKE the changes happen. The problem was I didn't really know what I wanted. The one thing I did know was it was time to leave the place I had called home for 35 years.

Not wanting a job to dictate my new home, I felt getting a remote job was the best idea to allow me the freedom to figure out what I wanted. I knew I needed to start designing my life to embrace the freedom. Even before landing the remote job, I took a big jump and sold my house and many of my possessions. The rest I gave to charity.

A few months after selling my house, I finally landed a remote job as a SaaS Implementation Consultant. I quickly realized the level of new found freedom I had. I didn't have to just pick another state in the US to work and live in, working from another country was also an option! And so I jumped, again! A 3 month trip to Fiji and New Zealand was when I learned what a digital nomad was. I've been at it ever since.

What do you think are the main benefits of working remotely?

Going fully remote is a very personal journey and the time freedom you gain allows you the opportunity to focus on what's most important....YOU! I am the very best version of myself right now because of the freedom and flexibility that comes with remote work.

Remote work allows you the opportunity to design your life in a way that you want and even need. Once you've learned the skills to balance it all, you'll have complete ownership over your days...over your life!

Do you think there are disadvantages or that you’re missing something by working remotely?

Sure! As with everything...there are pros and cons. Digital nomads can sometimes struggle with loneliness and finding community. If you're single, romantic relationships can be a challenge. For me, packing up everything has become exhausting after almost 5 years. Hence turning into a slow-mad looking for home base. ;)

So, it depends on the person and how they choose to design their life. You learn to accept the cons until they outweigh the pros.

From what cities or countries have you worked since you have become remote? What are your favourite countries or cities to work from?

I have worked from countless cities in the US, Jamaica, Bali, all over New Zealand, Fiji, many different cities in Colombia, Peru and the last 2 years, during the pandemic, has been spent in a few places throughout Mexico. Each location offered something different and unique during specific seasons of my life. For that, each place is special in it's own way. However, if it wasn't for the pollution, I'd likely make Medellin, Colombia home base. It's spring all year!

From what type of places do you prefer to work? Home, co-working spaces, coffee shops, or others?

Cafes and hotel lounges every day used to be my jam! Lately, I've been appreciating the consistency of home. Co-working with friends at a cafe is always motivating and inspiring. I've been known to create co-working communities in some of the places I've traveled to. I'm not much of a fan of co-working spaces as many of them don't usually have good food.

What places would you like to travel to while working remotely?

A few places on my list that were delayed due to the pandemic are Florianopolis, Brazil, Cape Town, South Africa, Greece, and a couple other places in Europe. I haven't spent much time there yet.

As a remote worker, setting boundaries and pushing back on them when crossed was my first struggle. However, setting and sticking to my boundaries, with myself and others, was the only way I was going to avoid burnout.

Outside of that, internet can be a struggle still. Doing your best to prepare with backup plans helps. Accept that there will be times you won't be as productive due to internet issues. Quickly find a solution to get you back on track.

What tools do you use to improve productivity and manage work efficiently?

Akiflow has been a recent add that I'm really enjoying. It really helps me to plan out very realistic days. My team and I like to use Telegram to communicate. Airtable, G Suite, Zoom, NexStand, noise cancelling headphones, to name a few others.

How do you manage your business and taxes as a remote working professional?

My accountant manages and advices on this.

What advice would you give to people looking to work remotely?

Learning to own your day, unplug from work and feel accomplished, enjoy more free time is the best way to enjoy all the benefits or remote work.

Go through my 6 Weeks to Remote Work-Life Balance program. Attend virtual coworking with CoWorkClub.io. Hire me for remote work consulting and webinars to help your team increase productivity and balance work and life.