Jayantika Soni is the co-founder & CTO at Resync, an AI-driven intelligent energy cloud solution for smart cities and distributed energy assets.

Learn how the most successful people in the world structure and manage their days. Sign to the Balance the Grind newsletter!

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I am the co-founder and CTO of Resync, an intelligent energy management startup based in Singapore. I am a power and energy engineer by training and hold a PhD in the same field. At Resync, we make assets like renewables, buildings, microgrids more efficient using an IoT and machine learning solution. 

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

My typical workday starts with a quick 30 minute strength training workout followed by breakfast. After that I head to the office/desk, where I start work by having a quick catchup with the engineering team.

It is followed by a few meetings for the day with either specific product team or delivery team and replying to emails. In the afternoon, I typically set some time aside for deep work which can revolve around improvements and documentation in product, delivery process, or reviewing the work from the team.

We are currently on a hiring spree, so often a few afternoons in the week will be spent speaking to prospective candidates and evaluating them. I will wind down my day by doing some meditation, having a homemade meal with my husband, cuddling with my cats, and a quick walk around the block. 

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

Yes, there’s flexibility to work remotely. We are a team with a presence both locally in Singapore and overseas, so we are not strangers to remote work from day one. However, face time in the office makes a big difference to team bonding and working towards a common goal. Honestly, I am not a stickler for either and prefer a hybrid of both in-office and remote work. Both days tend to bring their

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

It is hard for entrepreneurs to define work-life balance well. My work-life balance goal is to be present in whatever activity I am doing, be it working on product development, hiring, or at home. As long as I do my work/task at hand mindfully, it will be a rewarding day for me.  

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

I started incorporating daily strength training workouts and eating at home, it has changed my life in general. Also, setting aside time for deep work a few days a week, helps me think of strategies / research on product improvement and planning the vision of Resync.  

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

I loved The Sapiens series from Yuval Noah Harari, it brought a perspective to understand how interconnected humans and stories are. I am a history buff so I enjoyed the anthropological angle. Some podcasts that I listen to daily are Freakonomics, Radiolab, Planet Money. I highly recommend the TL;DR newsletter for the product owners and technologists out there. 

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

On a professional level, I use a myriad of  Slack, Jira, Confluence, Miro, social media like Whatsapp, LinkedIn, etc. and honestly couldn’t work without them. On a personal level, Headspace is one of my favourite apps and Youtube and Instagram are my guilty pleasure.

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

It’s an interesting question, it depends on the stage of your life. Right now, I think it would be best to learn from other women tech founders/CTOs such as Melanie Perkins, founder of Canva.  

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

In my humble opinion, practising mindfulness makes a tremendous amount of difference in satisfaction one derives in their work and life.

Before you go…

If you’d like to sponsor or advertise with Balance the Grind, let’s talk here.

Join our community and never miss a conversation about work, life & balance – subscribe to our newsletter.