Staying Sharp: Remote Work Tips for the Fighter in You
By Carlos — Boxing coach. East LA. Reads Marcus Aurelius. Been through it all. ·
The Gym Isn’t Just Four Walls
I’ve spent the last twenty-five years inside the same four walls of my gym in Boyle Heights. I know the smell of stale sweat, the sound of leather hitting a heavy bag, and the way the light hits the floor at 5:00 PM. But lately, I’ve been talking to a lot of the kids I counsel at the nonprofit who are doing their jobs from bedrooms, kitchen tables, or cramped apartments. They tell me they’re feeling scattered. They say the discipline is slipping.
I get it. When your workspace is your living space, the lines get blurry. You start losing that sense of 'going to work' and 'coming home.' But here’s the thing I tell my fighters: discipline isn’t about the environment. It’s about the mindset. Whether you’re training for a title fight or trying to hit a quarterly goal from your laptop, the fundamentals remain the same. If you don't have a structure, the chaos will eventually knock you out.
Control the Morning, Control the Day
Marcus Aurelius wrote, 'At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work—as a human being.' He wasn’t talking about a Zoom call, but the principle holds. If you roll out of bed and into your inbox, you’re already behind. You’re reacting to the world instead of dictating your terms.
My advice? Keep a morning ritual. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Put on your 'work clothes'—even if it’s just a clean shirt. Make your bed. Drink your coffee away from the screen. Give yourself thirty minutes to wake up your mind before you let the world demand anything from you. When you start the day on your own terms, you’re already one round up on the competition.
The Art of the 'Shadow Box' Schedule
In the gym, we don’t just throw punches at random. We shadow box. We move, we circle, we visualize the opponent. You need to treat your calendar the same way. Don’t just list tasks; map them out. I see too many of you trying to multitask. That’s a quick way to get your guard down and take a hit you didn't see coming.
Block your time. Give yourself ninety minutes for deep, heavy-lifting work—the stuff that actually moves the needle. Then, give yourself a break. Real recovery is part of the training. If you try to stay at 100% intensity for eight hours, you’re going to burn out by Wednesday. Work in rounds. Three minutes of focus, one minute of rest. If it works for a fighter, it’ll work for your spreadsheet.
Create a 'Sacred' Workspace
Even if you live in a place the size of a closet, you need to designate a 'training zone.' When I was young and living in a tiny apartment, I had one corner of a table where I did my reading and my budgeting. Nowhere else.
When you sit in that chair, you are 'at work.' When you stand up, you are 'off the clock.' If you work from your bed, your brain starts associating your rest space with stress, and then you can’t sleep. If you work from the couch, you’ll never truly relax. Define your space. Respect that boundary like you’d respect the ropes of the ring.
Don’t Forget the Human Element
One thing I’ve learned from twenty-five years of coaching: you can’t fight alone. Even the best boxers need a corner. If you’re working remotely, you’re missing the camaraderie of the gym. You’re missing the banter, the shared struggle, the guy next to you pushing you to go an extra set.
Don’t let the screen be your only contact. Pick up the phone. Have a real conversation. Check in on your teammates—not just about the project, but about how they’re holding up. Loneliness is a silent killer in the professional world, just like it is on the streets. You need your people. Make the effort to connect, even if it’s just a five-minute check-in. It keeps you sharp, and more importantly, it keeps you human.
The Final Bell
At the end of the day, remote work is just another test of your character. It’s easy to slack off when the boss isn't watching, but the only person you’re really cheating is yourself. You want to be the kind of person who shows up, does the work, and holds themselves to a high standard, whether you’re in a boardroom or a bedroom.
Remember: life is going to throw hooks at you. Things will break, Wi-Fi will go down, and projects will get complicated. But if you have your foundation, you can absorb the impact and keep moving forward.
How are you holding up with the remote grind? Are you finding your rhythm, or are you feeling like you’re slipping? Come by the comments and tell me what your biggest struggle is. We can talk through it—no gloves required.