✍️ Desk of Amy Suto: A Week in a Writer's Life Working Remotely in Madeira, Portugal
Writing, enjoying the island life, and staying productive.
In this post you’ll read about…
✍️ What a week in a sleepy village in Madeira looks like
📚 How I spend my time as a freelance memoir ghostwriter, creator, and fiction author
✨ How I balance fiction writing with all of my other projects
📖 3-Minute Story: A Week in a Writer's Life Working Remotely in Madeira, Portugal
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This month, we’re staying in a co-living digital nomad hotel known as Outsite*, and their Ponta Do Sol, Madeira location has been my favorite so far.
While Kyle and I have been running around the island and visiting the foggy forest and some gorgeous hikes on the island, I also wanted to share a “realistic” deep work week in my life here in our quaint little village.
Sunday | My Sunday Reset Routine
10am: Dip in the Ocean and Breakfast. My partner Kyle and I wake up, swim in the ocean, and then make eggs for breakfast. We meet some new people who have checked into the house — always a nice perk of the digital nomad life.
11:30am: My Sunday Reset Rituals. My focus is on my weekly Sunday Reset rituals, such as journaling, getting to inbox zero, and writing my Substack posts for the upcoming week or two. Kyle and I didn’t sleep super well as there was a local festival going on, so we spend a few hours working before calling it a day and meal prep some vegetable soup for the week.
Monday | Deep Work & Meeting Day
10am: Breakfast and Deep Work. I skip the ocean swim today because I have some exciting projects to kick off! I spend my morning doing some less-than-fun admin work, but I feel so much satisfaction when the hard boring parts of running a business are completed and taken care of.
2pm-6pm: Client Kickoff Calls and Discovery Calls. It’s a big meeting day today, so I’ve got a little less than 4 hours of calls with some wonderful new clients and potential clients who are interested in having my help with their book projects. I’ve been really enjoying my work as a book ghostwriter and editor for the past 8 years, and the kickoff calls today were so much fun. I love supporting other authors with their books. This process is hard, and writing and publishing a book is more of a team sport than people realize!
6pm-7pm: Post-Call Follow-Ups. After my calls, I do some wrap-up work such as sending off contracts and invoices. Then, I eat some dinner with my partner Kyle. There aren’t many great restaurants in our part of the island, so we’ve been cooking in the gigantic kitchen in the Outsite for most of our meals, which is a nice change of pace.
Tuesday | Deep Work, Social Posts, Podcast Interview
9:30am-noon: Breakfast and Social Media Post Editing. I’m up a little earlier than normal because I’ve got a lot I want to accomplish today, starting with some short-form video editing. Last week, Kyle and I shot some short TikTok videos in the Madeira foggy forest to promote my favorite travel gadget ever — the Ororo Heated Jacket, which is discounted on TikTok shop or you can grab it from my Amazon shop here.* I take some time to edit the footage, and I’m thrilled to share it with y’all as I genuinely believe this is the secret to staying warm everywhere I travel, and it allows me to be a minimalist who travels full-time with just a carry-on suitcase with a wardrobe that works great with all 4 seasons. Ororo was kind enough to offer to ship me one of their new jackets to try out and review, so I’ll keep you posted on what I think of their latest jacket whenever I’m able to get back to the States for long enough to receive mail. 😊
Noon-4pm: Deep Work. I spend the rest of my deep work time doing writing work, filming Substack audits for two amazing writers, and staying on top of my inbox (which sometimes feels like its own full-time job!)
4pm-5pm: Podcast Interview. I wrap up my work for the day by doing a podcast interview to promote my new fiction book, The Nomad Detective: Volume I which has been getting glowing reviews. I’ve been working on the stories for Volume II, so can’t wait to share those with you in early 2025!
5pm-11pm: Dinner, Waterfall Hike, and Fiction Writing. After work is done for the day, my partner Kyle and I grab some dinner from a local restaurant (Kyle gets a burger, I get a cauliflower steak) and then we embark on a waterfall hike as the sun sets. When we get back, I still have some energy, so I spend a few hours writing my new romantasy novel that is inspired by the setting of Madeira.
Wednesday | Deep Work & Fiction Writing Day
10am-noon: Breakfast and Emails. We start the day with some breakfast, and I make my morning hot chocolate with cacao and some oat milk. I’m still caffeine-free and feeling great (no coffee, no chai, no matcha, no caffeinated tea!) but I’m a sucker for a sweet treat so my little hot chocolate in the morning is my gift to myself for crushing my inbox each day. (Also, I don’t believe chocolate counts as caffeine. Fight me in the comments if you disagree!)
Noon-5pm: Deep Work and Cooking Green Curry. Kyle and I spend the day doing the “boring” part of this lifestyle that never hits the ‘gram. We spend the day working, cooking some epic green curry with whatever vegetables we find left in our fridge shelf, and do some laundry. Perks of being able to work from “home” is being able to throw laundry into the wash in-between emails.
5pm-midnight: Reading, Waterfall Hike, and Fiction Writing. After dinner, we go on a waterfall hike at sunset again, stopping by a local self-serve banana farm on our way. When we get back, I finish reading Quicksilver, and despite immediately falling into a reading slump and trying to find my next book hit, I get some great inspiration for the romantasy novel I’m working on. I spend the rest of the evening working on my book!
Thursday | Deep Work & Podcast Interview
10am-5pm: Breakfast, Deep Work, Fiction Writing, Admin Work. Today is another eclectic work day because there’s been so much client activity and new projects lately. I juggle my client work with my fiction writing and admin work, and take stock of what I want to finish before the end of the year — and what I want for 2025. The best time to plan for the new year? It’s not on December 31st. It’s at the start of Q3.
5pm: Podcast Interview. I wrap up my day with a podcast interview — more promotion for my book! — and then it’s time to cook dinner and turn in early as I’ve had some late nights lately.
Friday | Last Work & Beach Days
9am-3pm: Emails, Breakfast, Client Work, Admin Stuff. I’m up earlier than normal today because our room is getting cleaned, so Kyle and I start our workday down in the co-working space. I’ve got a lot of “admin” tasks this week because new clients are starting, so the initial invoices and contracts are all getting finalized. My memoir ghostwriting projects sometimes require travel, so I’ve got to do some admin work by sorting out and finalizing travel dates and interviews with clients and their friends and family. I don’t mind it — I love making new travel plans, if you can’t tell! — and I do think the in person component can add some extra flavor and texture to a book (depending on the project.)
3:30pm: Podcast Interview. My work day ends with another podcast interview — this one discussing the benefits entrepreneurs can get from the book publishing process — and then it’s time to chill!
4:30pm: Ocean Swim. Kyle and I are feeling a bit low energy, so what better way to spend a sunny Friday than on the beach? We hop into the ocean for a swim, and the whole town is out suntanning and enjoying the last rays of summer. We’re still getting gorgeous days that are 70 degrees and sunny, but I know it’ll start to cool down in our seaside village soon.
Saturday | Farmer’s Market Trip & “Rest” Day
10am-11:30am: Farmer’s Market and Vegan Brunch. It’s my favorite day of the week! Kyle and I go to the farmer’s market where we run into one of our nomad friends at the kombucha booth. We purchase our weekly fresh kombucha and organic produce that is grown by local farmers on the island. Then, we head to a vegan restaurant nearby that’s only open two days per week and order some fresh juice and absolutely heavenly open-faced vegan sandwiches with homemade vegan cheese and carrot “lox.” We round out our errands by stopping at the only grocery store in town to pick up some last groceries for the soup we make each week here.
11:30am-Noon: Laundry, Emails. When we get back, I put our laundry into the wash and then sit down to do some emails — a very Sisyphean task, according to my weekly Toggl log that I keep for myself to see how much time I’m spending on different things.
Noon-3pm: Writing This Substack Post, Deep Work. I saw that y’all enjoyed my previous post about a week in a writer’s life working remotely in London, so I thought I’d do that for this week in Madeira! After writing this post and dropping it into Wondercraft AI* to make a podcast episode for my podcast feed, I switch gears to some other deep work.
3pm-7pm: Rest Time, Reading, and Ocean Swim. I just started reading The Witch Collector and am really digging this very beautifully written romantasy (and I’m trying to get over my Quicksilver reading slump!) so I take the afternoon to rest, read, and swim in the ocean.
7pm: Podcast Interview. Another day, another delightful podcast interview with a great host to promote my book The Nomad Detective: Volume I! I’ve got quite a few interviews coming up in the next few weeks, then I’ll have a bit of a break from the PR rush and I’ll begin to switch gears back to fully immersing myself in the writing process.
That’s my week! If you want to build a freelance writing business and travel the world, I have a spot left in my 30 Day Coaching Program: Freelancing Foundations that’s my signature one-on-one program that helps writers build and grow freelancing careers so they can work from their PJs or the island of Madeira.
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More posts of mine I think you’ll love…
✨ Products I’ve Loved This Week…
Each week, I highlight 2 of my favorite picks in the categories of travel gadgets, clean beauty, fashion, and more.
Here is this week’s list:
Taft’s Silk Pillowcase.* Every time I forget to put my silk pillowcase on my pillow, my skin and hair look a little worse for wear. I used to struggle with acne, but sleeping with a silk pillowcase helped so much to clear my skin that I travel with 2 of these so I’m never without it on laundry days!
Noise Cancelling Airpod Pros.* I ditched my over-ear headphones for these bad boys, and they’re my go-to for plane flights and daily work sessions. When co-working spaces can get a bit noisy, these are great antidotes so I can truly work anywhere without getting distracted.
💻 New Blog Posts on AmySuto.com
Book Review: Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy Book #1) by Callie Hart
Working Remotely in Spitalfields, London, England (Digital Nomad Travel Guide)
Working Remotely in Edinburgh, UK (Digital Nomad Travel Guide)
📸 Photo of the Week: Chasing Waterfalls
The waterfall hikes in Madeira are next level. Can’t recommend working here enough! A full travel guide is coming to my blog AmySuto.com at the end of the month.
Follow me on Substack Notes and Instagram for more!
Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,
-Amy
p.s. I create my newsletter voiceovers and my podcast episodes using the tool Wondercraft AI, a text-to-speech tool that speaks in YOUR voice. 🎙 Use my code SUTO50 or this link* to get 50% off your first month on Wondercraft!(paid/affiliate link)
That Saturday agenda is giving me nostalgia!