Tino Ho is the founder and Chief Commercial Officer at The Social Revolution, a peer-to-peer social media marketing agency for B2B brands.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
My current role is Chief Commercial Officer at The Social Revolution, a peer-to-peer social marketing agency for B2B brands I founded in 2016.
Prior to this my career background includes working for a number of financial technology and financial services brands including Schroders Investment Management Limited, OFX and SocietyOne.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Wake up 5.30am, make my bed, drink min 500ml water, bike ride/run/yoga or gym (depending on the day). Then take Zara (my dog) for a walk (with my headphones in), get a coffee (I onto double ristrettos at the moment) on route back home for breakfast. I help get the kids ready for pre-school then drop them off with my better half. At my desk WFH ideally by 7.30am.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes, currently the whole team is set up for remote working. Given there isn’t the daily to / from work travel, I’m instead using that time to do other things including helping get the kids to school.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
An ideal state I work towards is work life integration, vs work life balance.
I will admit however, that I’m a bit of a workaholic so what might seem normal to me might not be for most. I don’t do the standard 40 hour week, it’s much closer to 70.
Work-life integration for me means I may not view a typical day as the conventional 9 to 5 work day, I also share my online calendar with my spouse, allowing her to book in personal and family commitments directly into the diary so it integrates with work commitments.
I also find compartmentalisation in small blocks throughout the day works well for me and knowing what part of the day I am most efficient. For example, in the morning from 7-11am, I schedule in high concentration tasks, then other activities and tasks usually happen outside of this window.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
Yes. I recently listened to a speech by an ex-Navy SEAL and tried applying what he said. This may sound a little weird and far-fetched, but there is wisdom in this routine that works for me, so I’ve been doing it every day.
Making my bed is the first task in the morning. He says if you make your bed in the morning you would have accomplished the first task of the day. It gives a small sense of pride and encourages me to do another task, then another, then by the end of the day that one task completed would have turned into many tasks completed.
It reinforces the fact that the little things in life matter, if you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that I made. And a made bed will give encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
I also regularly meditate before I go to bed, I treat this as a way of cleansing my mind. We take a shower to cleanse our bodies each day, why wouldn’t you do the same for your mind?
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
The two standouts for me in the motivational space include the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance on Netflix and a motivational speech on Spotify by Navy seal Admiral William McRaven.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
I like to think I can live without any app. I use the LinkedIn mobile app every day (given the work I do this is expected!) and the Google calendar mobile app!
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Jeff Bezos, however I’d love to see how it looked in the late 90s when he started Amazon, compared to now.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Learning how your own mind and body responds and behaves helps manage work and personal life (particularly having two young daughters), this for me is also an ongoing journey that I’m getting better at.
Five things I do that help me optimise this are:
- Tidy work space and desk = tidy and focus mind.
- Exercise (do something at least every second day).
- Meditation.
- Time blocks that are scheduled into diary.
- Turn off all notifications on phone, permanently!
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