Guest Post: Tips to Stay Productive While Traveling
Working as a digital nomad has become increasingly popular over the last few years, and choosing to become one has its advantages and drawbacks. Being able to travel and make money at the same time is a very appealing idea. If you think you’re disciplined enough to balance out business and pleasure on your trips, then you should definitely think about working while traveling. However, there are numerous things that could go wrong on such journeys, and here are a few tips on how to avoid them.
Always plan ahead
First of all, it’s absolutely crucial to have a detailed plan on how you’re going to organize your typical day. You’ll have to establish some routines. If you don’t do that, you might end up not being focused enough while working, while on the other hand not enjoying your free time because you know you’re behind schedule with your work.
Your plan will, naturally, depend on the type of job you do, amount of work you have, as well as what you intend to do on your trips and your general habits and routines. It’s vital that you don’t think about work during your free time and vice versa – if you don’t separate the two, you’ll get yourself into trouble and you’re not going to enjoy your stay. Also, have in mind you’ll always need a few days to adapt to a new place, especially if there’s jet lag. So try to design your plan in such a way that you don’t have to work too much in the first few days and that you don’t stay at new places for less than a week.
Break your tasks down
It’s often hard to focus when you know there’s a huge project ahead of you and you haven’t even started working on it. Just the thought of the amount of effort you need to put in might be discouraging, especially if you’re on the road. Therefore, it’s important to take baby steps. Break big tasks into little bits, and think only about completing the next stage. It will be easier for you to concentrate and start working, and the sense of accomplishment after every finished stage will continually push you through your next task.
Work space
One of the things you should seriously think about if you choose to work while traveling is your work space. Ideally, your hotel room or the flat you’re renting can serve as one. But if you’re the type of person that gets distracted a lot when working from home, then working from a hotel room might be even more difficult. In addition to your coy bed and cable TV, there’s a whole world of things out there to discover at this new place and it’s hard to resist to just go out and play. That’s why you should consider other options as well.
In places where there are a lot of freelancers and digital nomads, such as Australia for instance, it’s not difficult to find an inexpensive co-working space or office for rent. Serviced offices are also a reasonable option, because they are more affordable and available immediately or on a short notice. You can find them in buildings run by facility management companies that will provide you with support staff as well. It’s easy to contact them online, so if you’re traveling around places like Australia, renting a serviced office in Melbourne or Sydney is simple and quick.
Charging your devices
Sometimes, you won’t be able to plan everything ahead and you’ll have to carry your laptop around while sightseeing or exploring the city, because you have a scheduled conference call or some work that can’t be postponed. Get used to always having your chargers with you and get an external charger in case there’s no power supply. It’s necessary to carry these with you at all times, since for you they’re just as important as your wallet or documents. Getting a solar-powered charger is not a bad idea as well. It’s easy to use the lack of power supply as an excuse and you simply mustn’t do that.
Prepare for offline situations
There will be times on your trip when there’s simply no internet whatsoever, especially while on the plane or on the bus. A solution to this problem is to download everything you might need in advance, so that you can do some work while being offline as well. Copy-paste important emails, download your tasks, projects and even articles about your industry that you wanted to check out. If you planned ahead to dedicate a few hours to your work, it’s important not to waste them, no matter whether you’re online or not.
Everything said above can be summed up into four words – discipline is key. You’ll be constantly tempted to break established routines but avoid that at all costs. Once you break the deal you made with yourself for the first time, there’s a good chance it’ll be happening again and again. Being spontaneous and impulsive on your trip is appealing, but if this is how you’re going to do it, then you should just simply take some time off and travel around. If you want to work and travel at the same time, then you won’t be able to think and act like an ordinary tourist, and the sooner you realize that, the better.
Lauren Wiseman is marketing specialist, contributor to bizzmarkblog.com and entrepreneur. She helps clients grow their personal and professional brands in a fast-changing and demanding market, strongly believing in a holistic approach to business.
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