Hey Insider, welcome back to another edition of Remote Insider, your man on the ground doing the heavy lifting of uncovering the top stories in the remote work world so you don’t have to

Today’s email is a 5min 50sec read:

• ❌ Real estate investor says “remote work is bullshit”

• 🇪🇺 New law could make EU citizenship easier to get

• 🤖 Why AI could be the best thing to happen to remote work

But first, we continue our Productivity Week by showing you what 8 productivity experts say you should (or should not) do before you start working…

💡 TIPS & TRICKS

Productivity Experts: What You Should Never, Ever Do Before Work

This is email #2 of our productivity week, on Monday we covered how to tackle procrastination, and today we’re talking about how to prime your day for productivity.

Here is what 8 productivity experts say you should never do before starting work if you want to have a productive day:

1. Don’t start working right away, instead come up with a morning “priming” routine

2. Don’t use a long to do list, this can make you feel overwhelmed, instead come up with a “focus three” tasks that are most important

3. Don’t check your phone first thing in the morning, this can set a negative attitude for the day

4. No tough conversations before work, this can drain your energy before you even sit down to work

5. Avoid an unstructured day, instead use time blocking to map out your available time

6. Avoid distractions - put your phone on do not disturb and spend a few minutes before starting to work on tidying up your space

7. Don’t ignore your mental health, taking a few minutes every day for “mental hygiene” can help prep you for a good workday

8. There is no one-size-fits-all model. Test and adjust your schedule and habits until you find a combination that works for you.

🔬 DEEP DIVE

Is Remote Work Bullshit?

Last week Sam Zell, a well-known real estate investor, spoke at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate where the conversation quickly turned to the effect of remote work on commercial real estate.

Which is when things got interesting…

• Zell said that “All of this discussion about work from home is basically a bunch of bullshit,“

• He said that you can’t “motivate by modem” & that remote work is simply not a substitute for personal interaction

• Zell then said that if you were to look at the recent tech layoffs there would likely be a large overlap with people who worked remotely.

Zell’s comments were received positively by the crowd with many laughing at his “bullshit” comments and nodding along with his points about why remote work does not work.

INSIDER TAKE: It makes a lot of sense for someone like Sam Zell to comment negatively on remote work when much of his fortune was built on the back of real estate.

It’s also been no secret that many C-suite leaders and those in managerial positions would like to forget all about remote work and go back to pre-COVID status quo, but the worker surveys show something quite different…

62% of employees say they are more productive working from home, and working remotely ranked as the 3rd most popular perk among new job seekers behind better pay and career opportunities.

While regular office work probably isn’t going to die any time soon, as upper management begins to be replaced by more tech-native Millennials, which as a generation is very remote work friendly, you can expect that more companies will transition to a remote-first mentality for better hiring options and office cost savings.

💬 FAV TWEET

Nothing else to say…

🤣 FUNNY STUFF

Elon Musk Says That Rocket Exploded Because it Insisted on Working Remotely

Last week, SpaceX’s new Starship rocket exploded just minutes after take-off and The New Yorker was quick to poke fun at Musk’s anti-remote work stance.

In the satirical piece, Musk says that the real reason why Starship exploded was that it was working remotely…

🚨 WORD ON THE WEB

🛩️ Has the pandemic disrupted corporate travel forever?

• While the leisure travel industry has for the most part bounced back, the pandemic proved to many that corporate travel was not as essential as previously thought

• Travel requests are being scrutinized more closely than in the past, since workers proved they can maintain relationships without traveling said Matthew Parsons, who covers business travel for Skift

• However, one company that has capitalized on the change is Airbnb, which has doubled down on the workleisure trend.

🇪🇺 Want to live in Europe? New rules may make it much easier to do so!

• Currently, if you want to get EU citizenship you need to live in the bloc for at least 5 years.

• The European Commission just proposed shortening that time to 3 years, which can spread out across multiple EU members

• EU governments still need to approve this amendment, but officials hope that the new legislation can be passed before European Parliament elections in Feb 2024

• INSIDER TAKE: This is a smart move for the EU which statistically has one of the fastest-aging populations in the world. Easing the citizenship requirements could make it easier for young people to move to European countries, which still dominate the top spots in terms of life quality

💊 “My health has greatly improved”: Meet the chronically ill digital nomads traveling the world

• The digital nomad lifestyle may seem like something that people with chronic illnesses may not have access to, but in fact, it could carry benefits that reduce the effect of these illnesses.

• Hannah Stevens suffers from a complex collection of conditions found that traveling with the weather has actually helped lower the chance & severity of flair-ups.

• The reduced pace of her work life has also allowed her to take more time and focus on her health

🤖 How the AI revolution is liberating workers from the office

• While many workers are concerned about AI taking their jobs, it may be the key to truly enabling remote work

• Generative AI could improve communication, productivity, and improve knowledge sharing across a company

• By incorporating AI into knowledge management systems, workers can more easily locate SOPs and other critical information for their work even if they’re located on the opposite side of the world from their coworkers/

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 24-28: Vivel [📍 Multiple Locations, Turkey] - networking meets music at this one-of-a-kind conference for location-independent professionals

May 28th-June 3: Nomad Cruise 11 [📍 Mediterranean Sea] - The original conference at sea is back! Join 250 digital nomads on board a cruise ship in the Med to discuss remote work, business, and personal growth

May 28-June 4: Porto Santo Nomad Fest [📍 Porto Santo, Portugal] - A festival celebrating the digital nomad community, on a beautiful island off the coast of Madeira. Limited attendance.

June 16-19: Camp Indie [📍 Kent, Connecticut] - adult summer camp & conference for digital nomads & those living an unconventional life

June 21-25: Remotion Festival [📍Burgas, Bulgaria] - A festival for remote workers, freelancers, & digital nomads highlighting the Burgas area as a hub for smart living

June 25-July 2: Bansko Nomad Fest [📍 Bansko, Bulgaria] - for digital nomads, freelancers, and founders in the mountains of Bulgaria

💾 TECH

Tester Claims to be “Blown Away” by Apple’s New VR Headset. Plus Apple’s New Journaling App

There’s been a lot of skepticism around the rumored unveiling of Apple’s new VR headset and its supposed $3000 price tag. However, one person who got to test the device said they were “blown away” by the headset in an interview with Apple leaker Evan Blass.

The tester said that they were originally skeptical of the product, but that Apple has made huge strides in the tech since last year and that it was now a “take my money” product.

In addition to the VR Headset, Apple is also planning to launch a daily journaling app as they double down on their investments in the mental and physical health sector.

🌍 WFA JOBS:

I've teamed up with THE remote job coach Jordan Carroll to provide you with handpicked work-from-anywhere jobs right here in this newsletter:

⭐️ Enterprise Sales Executive @ Toptal

⭐️ Treasury Manager @ Polygon Labs

⭐️ Senior User Experience Designer @ NowSecure

Want help finding the right remote job for you? Join the Remote Collective and get introductions to dozens of remote companies looking to hire people like you!

📊 POLLS

On Monday we covered the story of the psycho CEO who “honored” an employee for selling the family dog in order to focus on work. We asked how you felt about that and well… the results were definitive!

Thanks for spending a few minutes with us today! Let us know what you thought about this edition of the newsletter and what we can do better in the future 👇

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That's it from us this week, hope you have an amazing day!