
Every Accomplished Peep is different, with their own unique way of working and showing up in the world. Our conversation with Paul Campillo, Director of Brand & Communications at Typeform, perfectly displayed this. In this interview, Paul shares the habits he lives and works by that contribute to him successfully leading his remote team, from the side of a chaotic/everywhere mind, and how he says, he tames the beast (it's a process).
My role has been a little all over the place, including customer research, brand strategy, brand marketing, copywriting, partnerships, company spokesperson, and more.
A typical workday is never typical. I could start my day with early morning meetings and calls (I’m on the west coast US so I’m 9 hours behind Barcelona, Typeform’s HQ). Then I’ll get a walk in, have lunch, take a nap, and then get right back to it. I usually reserve evenings for creative/strategic work since I’m better with those tasks at night.
An adjustable desk (sitting to standing), a 24-inch monitor, a laptop, iPad (for taking all notes and tracking goals), and a mini-tripod for lighting (during Zoom calls) or for video. I also have a big whiteboard for brainstorming ideas. My workspace can range from cluttered to clean, depends on what’s cooking that day.
I think it’s something in the middle. When doing creative work, it might be a bit more chaotic. To get the creative ideas going, sometimes I need to spend some time reading (or listening to an audiobook) and writing. Sometimes it’s a call with a colleague. Sometimes I need to listen to music. Also, when there’s a deadline, the chaos runs through to the end of the day.
Meditation to start the day, journaling to end it. I also write what I want to accomplish the next day, which is usually a checklist of 4-5 things.
We generally use Slack for most async communication. Email also works, when you want to be more thoughtful and more formal in communicating something important. We also use our tools (Typeform for surveys, VideoAsk for capturing moments we want to share with others).
Distractions are easier to limit when you’re working in a different time zone than everyone else, but they’re still there. I welcome distractions when I’m not focused because sometimes they’re necessary when you’re stuck on a problem, or need to look at it in a different way.
I tend to listen to ambient music while working, and there are multiple YouTube channels for that. I also listen to Mixcloud and follow lowlightmixes (/lowlight) for all my ambient needs.
For podcasts, The Prof G Show.
Traveling and writing. Actually, I hate the act of traveling, I just like being in new places and destinations. So being in new places, and lots of reading and writing.
Ben & Jerry. They make great, unique tasting ice cream. They do lots of good in the community. The best of both worlds. For someone closer to my space, Rand Fishkin. Just a great, compassionate leader who is always happy to help others succeed.