Alex Napier Holland Desk Setup

Alex Napier Holland is a freelance sales copywriter for more than 100 software and technology brands, including Adobe and Salesforce, over at gorillaflow.com .

He plans, writes, designs copy and wireframes for landing pages and websites from his home office in the Algarve, Portugal — a few minutes walk from the ocean.

He travelled around Asia and Australia as a digital nomad for several years, but finally has a base.
He still loves to travel and recently spent a month in a snowboard resort.

Follow Alex on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

What is the most useful item in your workspace?

My Macbook’s an obvious answer - Apple Silicon offers unbeatable power and value for money for any kind of creative work. I can work for an entire day on battery life alone.
But my Homepod and Nanoleaf bulbs are a more interesting answer.
It’s crucial to have the right colour and intensity of light throughout the day to suit my activities and circadian rhythm. Our entire apartment’s automated with Nanoleaf lighting and HomePods - so I have voice-controlled scenes and adaptive lighting to support my work, relaxation and sleep.

How do you spark creativity?

Creativity is a muscle - like any other - and it requires self-discipline and some kind of input to build creativity energy. For me, that input is exercise.
Scientific research continues to uncover countless benefits of cardiovascular and resistance exercise for wellbeing and peak mental performance; for example, the release of proteins associated with memory and cognitive performance.
I dedicate my morning to setting myself up with exercise - and work comes afterwards.
My girlfriend and I always start the day with hydration tablets and cardio - either cycling, running or a walk along the cliffs. Next, I’ll get a coffee and tackle my hardest tasks - maybe a headline or ‘hero’ section that I was stuck on the previous evening.
We hit the gym most afternoons - and then I’ll work through until late afternoon.
If there’s surf then I have the freedom and flexibility to take time off and work more the next day.
Golden hour is a great time for another walk or a bicycle ride - and once or twice a week we’ll get a couple of beers overlooking the ocean.
Depending on my workload I might do another couple of hours work after dinner, then we’ll relax and watch a film before bed.

How do you manage work-life balance?

I work, play and relax every single day. Weekends are the same as weekdays.
I wasted so much time when I first went freelance - with fruitless 10-12 hour days - until my friend Max pointed me to the book, ‘Deep Work’, which changed my life.
Now I work in 2-3 hour sprints and relax or exercise in between each sprint.
One sprint is ‘fine’. Two is a great day - and three is reserved for tight situations.
I never, ever miss workouts for client work - and I simply turn my laptop off as soon as I feel tired.
One hour of work after I feel tired takes away at least an hour of productive output the next day - so it’s a pointless exercise.
Paradoxically, I started to make more money as a freelancer when I imposed these restrictions.

What do you think is the main benefit of remote work/being a digital nomad?

Remote work has freed me to design a lifestyle that’s optimised for productivity.
My location, sleep schedule and sequence of alternating between workouts and work sprints enable me to do better creative work - and enjoy the benefits of physical fitness.
Being a digital nomad enabled me to seek out and make friends with entrepreneurs that I used to look up to on social media. There’s no way I’d be at the level I’m at now as a freelancer if I’d stayed in corporate and slowly climbed a ladder.