Remote work – and traveling while working remotely - has been on the rise around the globe, but many people remain hesitant to combine work and travel for fear that the quality of their work will suffer.
However, digital nomads are proving that it is possible to work successfully while globetrotting. Read on to learn what you must know about staying productive during an overseas venture.
The Keys to Productivity
Choose your workplace wisely
Our environments have a huge impact on our ability to focus, and thus our output, so it’s crucial that you invest the necessary effort into choosing your workplace.
When choosing to work in a foreign environment, you’ll need to do more recon than you would back home. Doing that research ahead of your arrival will allow you to get right to work, effectively freeing your mind from the stress of finding a workplace and the associated mental blockers to your productivity right from the start.
Another way to boost your productivity just from making the right decision about your workplace is to know what type of atmosphere you focus most in:
Is isolation your best bet? Try working from home or in a quiet corner of a public library.
Maybe silence isn’t for you – do you need to have some background noise? Perhaps a café would be a better place.
Have a preference for an office-type space? Fortunately for you, co-working spaces have now colonized many countries.
Your preference could be for other factors as well: natural light, a certain desk setup, a type of décor…
Wherever you choose to work from, the most important thing is to be conscientious about the power of your workplace to sway your productivity, and to remember that, if at any point you notice your productivity slipping, you’re free to change workplaces and give your focus a refreshing perspective in a new environment.
Create a customized routine
One of the best benefits of working remotely is that you (usually) have the flexibility to work when you want in addition to where you want.
As much as we may dread the word routine, regularity is important for making progress.
To ensure that the structure of your workday facilitates your productivity, understand the daily schedule of the local culture wherever you are as well as your unique, personal, biorhythm.
Aligning your work day activities with those of the local culture will allow you to feel more connected with your location, and paying attention to when you naturally feel most productive and when you do not is the smartest way to craft a routine that optimizes your ability to achieve your goals.
Know your vices
We all face daily distractions, each one a threat to our productivity.
Your awareness of, and how well you handle, even the littlest, seemingly benign, distractions will have a huge impact on your productivity - especially when compounded over time.
Start to notice what interrupts you throughout your workday and how large of an affect it has on your flow. Is it other people? Alerts on your phone? Wandering thoughts? A disinterest in the task at hand?
Whatever they are, once you’ve identified them, you can try to block them from recurring, or, if that’s not feasible, create a countermeasure that will prevent or minimize them from throwing you off track.
What those countermeasures are will likely be quite obvious once you’ve identified the perpetrator, but if you need assistance with separating yourself from your vices (especially those of the digital variety) many apps and browser extensions exist that can help you limit your exposure, or another option may be to elicit the help of a friend to keep you from straying.
These are three of the main factors that determine how productive – and successful – you’ll be when working remotely and traveling.
For a complete guide to being productive as a remote worker while traveling, check out Jessica’s online course for Remote Work Hub’s Go Remote School!
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