My location-agnostic PR agency life | Giselle Villeta
Hello! I am Giselle Villeta, Digital and Insights consultant at Tyto, and this my location-agnostic life. In this series, we want to highlight the freedom our model enables and how we navigate any challenges it presents.
What’s your morning routine?
Quite predictable, but my mornings usually start with a cup of black coffee. I’m not much of an early morning person so I try to keep these as uplifting as possible by adding yummy fruit to my breakfast or tuning in to the Calm app as soon as I wake up. Music is usually on as soon as I open my eyes too!
How do you organise your day?
I like to add a little structure by prioritising my daily tasks in my notebook. Yes, I’m an old-school paper and pen fan. Nothing beats the feeling of marking off an item on your to-do list after you’ve completed it! I note which tasks need to be done earlier in the morning, which ones need collaboration and consider the schedules of those who are on the team for each project.
When are you the most productive?
I would say I’m most productive around mid-morning and early afternoon. But depending on the task, I prefer to do it at a specific time. I tend to reserve my mornings for content creation or the most creative bits as I like to approach them with a fresh mindset and leave my afternoon free for data analysis or more repetitive tasks like reporting.
What is your favourite workplace?
I am most comfortable at my home office in Madrid, which might seem a little boring when you can work from anywhere, but I’ve found I can concentrate a lot better and create my own little universe at home. Plus, I am one of those people who tend to be cold all the time, and at home, there are no limits to layers!
I do also enjoy visiting coworking offices at least a couple of times a month with my Madrid-based colleagues. And I’ve been a regular at the delicious coffee shop right in front of my apartment! Especially during the Spanish summertime, you need that AC.
What’s your favourite thing about working remotely?
Nothing quite beats the flexibility of being able to decide where and how you’re going to work. I can organise my day depending on my mood and my needs. In 2022 I was able to visit my family in the Dominican Republic (twice!) and work from my childhood home while escaping winter and spending some quality time with my loved ones. I was never able to do this freely before Tyto, and I can say my family and I appreciate this freedom greatly.
I also enjoy travelling, and this past year I was able to work from Rome, Paris, London, Barcelona, Sicily… Without missing any deadlines and with my team’s support. Trust is an essential ingredient to make this work. I read this somewhere, not long ago: work is not somewhere you go but something you do. At Tyto, thankfully, we share this approach.
What do you miss about working in an office?
The Spanish lunchtime moments with my colleagues, the morning coffee and afternoon tea conversations. We used to have a lot of fun in the office as my colleagues and I became very close during those years working together. Thankfully, I still share workplaces with two of them and we have those moments every time we can outside of the office! I also met some incredible people after joining Tyto in 2021 – and either by using our Passport scheme or by attending our Hackweeks, we meet whenever we can!
What’s your secret weapon?
My secret weapon must be my notebook. I keep a thorough (perhaps too thorough!) account of my different tasks, projects, deadlines, teams, etc. and I think this has helped me navigate the ever-changing agency world. I made the mistake of trying to remember every single thing very early on. Paper and pen have been my close friends ever since!
