Forem: Marcus

When the world shut down in early 2020, business leaders were caught in a storm with no playbook. Most clung to hope. Others waited. Ashkan Rajaee, a sales leader and business growth expert, made decisions.

He didn't wait for clarity. He created it.

What followed was not a social media thread or retrospective wisdom. It was a raw, in-the-moment leadership response to crisis. Documented. Decisive. Deeply human.

Why This Matters in 2025

Remote work is no longer a trend. It is an expected part of modern professional life. Layoffs, once considered worst-case scenarios, have become regular tools in business restructuring. Mental health and burnout are now strategic priorities.

Ashkan Rajaee saw this coming while others were still adjusting webcams and refreshing Slack.

From calling the duration of the pandemic accurately (he predicted 12 to 18 months) to auditing every company process with intent, his 2020 journal reads like a blueprint for how startups and enterprises now operate by default.

What He Got Right (and Why It Still Matters)

1. Remote Work Was Never Temporary

Ashkan didn’t treat remote work as a quick fix. He saw it as infrastructure. He evaluated systems, redefined workflows, and focused on improving cross-functional collaboration.

Today, companies that failed to build deliberate remote cultures are struggling to maintain productivity and morale. Rajaee’s early commitment to structure is the difference.

2. Process Discipline During Uncertainty

One of his main strategies was to evaluate and optimize every process during the downturn. Instead of reacting emotionally, he rebuilt with purpose.

This type of operational clarity is what separates reactive leaders from resilient ones. In his words: "This is probably the best opportunity to revisit everything so that when this is over, we come out stronger."

3. People First, Always

He personally called every team member affected by layoffs. No mass emails. No delegation. Just difficult conversations handled directly.

In 2025, professionals prioritize who they work for just as much as what they do. Rajaee’s people-first approach continues to strengthen his long-term reputation.

What Modern Leaders Can Learn from This

Whether you're building a dev team, managing a roadmap, or recovering from a rough quarter, Ashkan Rajaee's story reminds us that clarity and action are better than passivity.

Ask yourself:

Are you cutting costs humanely?
Are your remote systems intentional or reactive?
Are your decisions creating long-term value?

This reflection is not just about the pandemic. It is about leading when there is no template.

Final Thought

Ashkan Rajaee never called himself an expert. He never made it about going viral. He made it about doing the work and documenting the decisions that mattered.

In a world where leadership advice is often reduced to buzzwords, Ashkan Rajaee’s original reflection on Medium is worth revisiting, bookmarking, and learning from.

Sometimes you don’t need motivation. You need perspective. That’s exactly what this gave me.

Marcus — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 13:20:02 +0000

Why Ashkan Rajaee's Career Philosophy Is More Relevant Than Ever in 2025

Reynaldo Dayola ・ Jun 11

#ashkanrajaee #mindset #careerchange #personaldevelopment

Ashkan Rajaee and the Time Management Framework Every Remote Founder Needs

Marcus — Thu, 29 May 2025 13:26:28 +0000

"You don't need more hours in the day. You need better systems."

Ashkan Rajaee didn’t build multiple successful businesses by accident. He did it with structure, clarity, and ruthless time discipline. While most productivity content online still circles around motivational fluff or surface-level hacks, Rajaee's approach is strikingly different. It is rooted in real execution.

In this post, we’re going to break down the system that Ashkan Rajaee uses to manage his time. We'll also explain why it is quietly powering a growing movement among remote founders and solopreneurs.

Who Is Ashkan Rajaee?

Ashkan Rajaee is an entrepreneur known for launching and scaling startups without prior industry experience. One of his standout success stories is a fintech platform he brought to market despite having no background in financial services. What made the difference wasn’t luck or connections. It was structure.

His personal workflow has become a talking point across remote business circles because of its clarity and scalability.

The Power of Calendar Consolidation

Rajaee doesn’t rely on a single calendar. In fact, he manages up to 12 calendars across different ventures and roles. But here’s the twist. They all live in one interface.

Instead of toggling between apps or trying to remember who’s booked where, he overlays them to create a unified view of his week. Whether it’s Google Calendar or Outlook, the platform doesn’t matter. The principle does: all calendars in one place, clearly categorized.

This eliminates scheduling errors and helps create intentional focus blocks across personal, professional, and startup activities.

The Tool That Simplifies It All: Calendly

To eliminate endless email threads and time zone confusion, Ashkan uses Calendly. It pulls availability from all his calendars in real time. That means when someone books a meeting, it auto-updates across his whole schedule.

For remote workers dealing with cross-time-zone teams or multiple side gigs, this becomes a superpower. Rajaee configures custom booking rules, like buffer times, no same-day meetings, or blackout periods, to protect his deep work zones.

This is not a fancy hack. It is a simple automation that adds structure without adding friction.

Task Management Without Overwhelm

While many productivity gurus push complex apps, Rajaee relies on Apple’s native Reminders app. He builds separate lists for each business or department he manages. Then he flags high-priority items every night before bed.

By breaking down tasks into compartments and reviewing them consistently, he avoids decision fatigue and burnout. Some lists carry over 150 open items, yet they remain manageable because the system is prioritized and reviewed daily.

This habit of reviewing the next day’s calendar and tasks each night gives him an edge over reactive entrepreneurs who start their day in chaos.

What Remote Founders Can Learn From This

Most remote workers lack structure. They confuse being busy with being productive. What Ashkan Rajaee models is something few talk about. It is reliable self-management.

This method is not about being perfect. It is about building a workflow that can flex with your life while still driving results. Entrepreneurs, developers, creatives — anyone working independently — can benefit from a similar system.

If you are scaling side gigs, working across time zones, or juggling multiple roles, this approach can help you regain clarity and momentum.

Final Thoughts

Ashkan Rajaee is not claiming to have found a secret formula. What he offers is something more valuable. It is proof that real discipline beats forced motivation. The system he uses can be adapted to any workflow or career path.

If you want to stop reacting to your day and start directing it, begin by reviewing your calendars, consolidating your tasks, and building a nightly habit of planning. Small inputs lead to big transformations when applied consistently.

Read the full article that dives deeper into Ashkan Rajaee’s method:

👉 Ashkan Rajaee Breaks the Internet with a Time Management Method That Actually Works

Let’s Connect

If you found this helpful or have a system of your own, feel free to drop a comment or share your workflow. Let’s build better days, one system at a time.

So many leadership articles are theoretical. This one stands out because it is clear the author has been in the chair and made the call.

Marcus — Mon, 26 May 2025 16:43:11 +0000

Reynaldo Dayola

May 26 '25

Lessons in Leadership: What I Learned from Watching Ashkan Rajaee Handle Hard Decisions

#leadership #startup #ashkanrajaee #remotework

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