profile

Remotely Interesting

Work Style Profile: Marie Poulin

Published over 1 year ago • 4 min read

Welcome to the next profile in our Work Styles series! In each profile, we highlight one person's untraditional workday. You'll get an inside look at alternatives to the traditional 9-5, Monday-Friday schedule (and maybe pick up something new to try).

Today, we're featuring the lovely and talented Marie Poulin! Marie is the co-founder of Oki Doki and creator of Notion Mastery. At 37, she was diagnosed with ADHD and is passionate about helping folks customize their workflows and workspaces to meet their unique needs.

In this profile, we get an inside look at how she themes her workdays, schedules around low-energy mornings, and runs a successful business while having ADHD. Let's dive in!

Read this on the web | Subscribe

What does a day in your work life look like?

"Every day looks a little different, but generally speaking, I like to theme my days of the week.

  • Mondays tend to be focused on planning and administrative work, including team meetings
  • Tuesdays are teaching-focused
  • Wednesdays are for content creation and deep work
  • Thursdays are for marketing-focused activities and connecting with my network (podcast interviews, connection calls)
  • Fridays are buffer days.

Mornings always begin with coffee, sometimes with my husband, depending on whether or not he has any early morning meetings.

Then I start the day with quick wins, smaller administrative activities, and any tasks that help my team move forward on their work. Afternoons are when I'm able to focus on deep work.

Since I work with my husband, we often take a lunch break together, followed by a short walk. Most real work happens in the afternoons. Sometimes it's hard to break away for dinner because I'm usually just hitting my stride!

We'll eat dinner together around 6 or 7pm, and we try to coordinate that based on our evening activities (sports, volunteering, studies, etc). My husband and I both sometimes struggle to 'shut it down,' and we'll sometimes continue tinkering on projects in the evenings a few days of the week."

What approach did you take to optimize your work schedule for you?

"Figuring out my schedule has taken many years of trial and error, along with diligent journaling to notice patterns.

I have ADHD, which can make many aspects of my work challenging. I was only diagnosed in the last year, and I now realize how much of my scheduling, planning, and task management has been influenced by my ADHD unknowingly.

My days are entirely designed based on my energetic needs and personal preferences. It's taken lots of experimentation to understand what 'just enough structure' looked like for me.

I also used to have many more different products and services, and streamlining everything toward one product has made my schedule and attention much easier to manage!"

Why did you choose to go against the standard 9-5 schedule?

"I always knew a 9-5 schedule didn't work for me. It never did, and it likely never will. Getting to school on time was always a challenge. Getting to the office when I was employed was a challenge.

My sense of time was always distorted, and it was always a serious struggle to be "functional" in the morning, no matter how good my sleep hygiene was!

It takes a very long time for my brain to fully "wake up" in the morning, so nothing of any creative substance happens before lunch. My energy begins to peak in the late afternoon, and even moreso in the evenings.

It took a long time to stop feeling shame around this area of my life, but once I embraced that my body seems to have a different circadian rhythm and preferred work habits than the traditional 9-5 working world expects, things became so much easier. What is the point of running my own business if it isn't supporting my needs?"

What's one area you're still looking to improve?

"I'm still always looking to improve the consistency of my output, to even out the extremes of my working patterns! I'm very 'all or nothing,' but that's not ideal when you work with a team, so I do my best, but there's always room to improve!"

What is your top tip for someone wanting to transition away from the standard work schedule?

"Track your time and activities. Pay attention to what works.

Where is there friction? When do things feel easy? What gives you energy, and what takes your energy?

Consider how you can take steps toward shifting your focus toward energy-giving activities and reducing work that steals your energy. If you pay close attention, your body and spirit are giving you feedback all the time.

Consider what your ideal working scheduling would look like, and work toward taking tiny steps toward it. The transition may take time, so be willing to make those changes iteratively, and you'll have an easier time."

Big thank you to Marie Poulin for giving us an inside look at her workday schedule!

Highly recommend following Marie on Twitter and checking out her Notion Mastery course. I bought and completed the course earlier this year and highly recommend it to anyone interested in upgrading their Notion skills!

Finally, in case you missed it, in the last issue we did a deep dive on how to integrate the 7 types of rest into your remote workday.

I'd love to hear from you! What did you find interesting about Marie's workday? What could you potentially try out yourself?

Feel free to reply to this message or DM me on Twitter @mar15sa.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this. Hope you have a lovely day!

Marissa
​Founder, Remote Work Prep

P.S. Who's workday should we feature next? If you're interested in being featured, fill out this form.

If you liked this, consider supporting this free newsletter by leaving a tip or sharing this issue.

Also, don't forget to check out my free Slack Hacks guide and my Avoiding Burnout from Remote Work mini-course!

Remotely Interesting

9-5, Monday-Friday, in-person office work are all relics of the past. This thoughtful newsletter helps you reflect on your current way of life and create actionable steps for a more intentional future. Let's revolutionize how you live by changing how you work.

Read more from Remotely Interesting

Hey there, We're back after a 3-month hiatus. Hope you are well and apologies for my absence! While the media has been busy proclaiming "remote work is dead", my business has been growing like crazy. Haven't had a single free moment to write over these last couple of months 😅 Today, I'm back with the much-requested topic of why standups are outdated. This is a two-part issue. First, we'll discuss why standups suck and what you can do instead. Then, in the next issue, I'll dive into one of the...

8 months ago • 9 min read
Happy 2nd Birthday

Welcome back to another issue of Remotely Interesting! We recently celebrated the 2nd birthday of this newsletter 2 years 35 issues 0 to 2,399 subscribers Just want to take a moment to say thank you for all your support! I will forever appreciate the time you take to read, reply, and share my work. Every time I considered stopping, a kind comment came my way and kept me going. You all are the best! Here's to continuing the journey of revolutionizing how we live by changing how we work. Where...

about 1 year ago • 9 min read
Person thinking about resting, reading, working out, and taking care of themselves

Welcome back to another issue of Remotely Interesting! This week, we have something different. I'm kicking off a new series this year on uncommon but innovative benefits. In case you missed it, we did a series of Work Style interviews last year, profiling people with untraditional workdays. This latest series will be similar in that it will be occasional features over the next year with the goal of helping you see what unique benefits are out there and spark new ideas. This first benefit...

about 1 year ago • 12 min read
Share this post