Ricky Martinez is the Associate Quality Manager at human data science company IQVIA. Previously he worked in project and relationship management.
1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Sure thing. I have been fortunate to be able to try my hand at numerous roles within business. I have held roles involving project management, relationship management, and now quality.
The organizations I’ve been able to partner with have been a huge help in formulating my working business acumen, as most of them have been leaders in their industries.
Early this year I chose to transition into the quality world, so that I could develop a new trade and better understand some of the organizational intricacies.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Currently, I am doing a ton of quality management system maintenance. I typically wake up anywhere between 5:15-5:45am and immediately start to structure my mind with wholesome thoughts, as well as get my body moving with some stretching or lymphatic system activation.
Within 25 minutes of waking up I try to head outside for a 30-45 min walk with a mentally engaging podcast session. After my walk and educational listening, I try to read a few pages from one of the books I’m currently committed to, which are more about shifting perspectives and the power of the mind.
From there I’ll usually start diving into my work by tackling the most achievable tasks first. This way I can build my confidence and work towards getting into a groove. Lunch will typically happen around 11:30am to 12:30pm for me and this will consist of a medium sized meal, with a 20-30 min walk somewhere in there before diving back into the computer.
After lunch, I am mainly taking care of scheduled action actions or participating in meetings. I usually try to hit another gear around 2:30pm to 2:45pm, as that would prompt me I only have about an hour to an hour and a half left of my workday.
Once work concludes, I try and head back outside for another walk so I can reorganize my thoughts and gain inspiration for some of the other creative elements I have going on in my life.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
My current role allows for both flexibility and remote working at the moment. Having this opportunity significantly plays into the way I like to structure my days and work towards occupational and life goals for myself.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
Work-life balance means that there is an equal importance and time allotment on home-life tasks and allowing work to creep into your time outside of work – non-negotiable.
Personally, I work to achieve this goal by making sure I schedule myself appropriately with all work matters and make no exceptions once it’s time to come together with the family. Essentially it’s about being able to plan realistically and honor your commitments.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
The last 12 months have been a huge transformation for me, as I’ve continuously improved my lifestyle and healthy habits. I started walking a significant amount more (which has done wonders for my mind), severely altered my eating habits, and started drinking tons more water.
I understood how important these things were as an athlete, but never realized how much I was hurting myself by not continuing them through adulthood.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Ah man this is of great interest to me and something that’s been growing exponentially as the days go on. One of the most intriguing books I’ve read within the last year was Virus of the Mind by Richard Brodie.
My podcast listening has pretty much been isolated to Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday on Spotify and I always find great thought provoking material from James Clear’s 3-2-1 Newsletter.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
I do quite a bit of shopping (books) on Amazon.com, so the Amazon app is in heavy rotation, but other than that I could live without much of what I utilize currently.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
I really admire any humans ability to be consistent and discipline, so James Clear or Jeff Bezos might be fun ones to read about.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Ultimately, I would just like to offer that these current times have really afforded most of us the opportunity to look within ourselves and truly determine what we want out of life.
If anything, the slowed pace of our day to day should be teaching us just how balanced our work-life relationships should be, no exceptions.
We have a limited amount of time here on Earth and I can guarantee you it’s not being granted to us so we can limit the time we spend on developing ourselves or with our friends and families, just to overdue it with work.
There is always going to be another opportunity for work, but the life we’ve been granted is a one time thing – yet we continue to mix this up.
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.