Freedom is wealth. Being able to go wherever you want is ultimate happiness. I realize this all too well myself when I open my laptop again at a beautiful destination. By taking your work with you, you create a freer life for yourself in which you can travel more. Whether you are salaried or freelance, there is a lot you can do with remote working these days. In this blog, I’ll tell you more about the steps you need to take to create this free life for yourself.
What skills do you need for remote work?
There is a big difference between a vacation and working remotely. After all, you take your work with you to your temporary destination. That requires a number of skills. The most important is self-discipline. Some people naturally have a great sense of responsibility; for others, it’s harder to resist temptations. And believe me, those temptations will be there when you travel. The quality of your work should not suffer if you work remotely. The output should be the same. Therefore, take a critical look at yourself, know where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and avoid getting too distracted.
Pitfalls (and tips) for remote working
I myself have been traveling the world with my laptop under my arm for more than 6 years, both from employment and now as an entrepreneur. Did that always go well? Definitely not. I too have sometimes made mistakes in judgment, stupid choices and ended up in difficult situations. But you learn from that. And your advantage is that I share all my pitfalls with you in our online Remote Ready course, so you don’t have to make them. An example of a workation that didn’t go smoothly was in Malaga, where I went to work from this lovely city in the south of Spain for 3 weeks and I thought it would be fun to invite girlfriends over. They came to visit for a few days. Soon I noticed that it is then very inconvenient that I just work during the day and they want to do fun things. I got huge FOMO while I was working and they found it unsociable to sit on a terrace without me. I learned from that experience and so now I really choose for myself when I go out and don’t invite friends over.
Preparing your workstation
Your ideal life of freedom does not come easy. It’s not just a matter of packing your suitcase and leaving. Remote working involves a bit more preparation. When is a convenient time to leave, how long can you be missed at the office, how do you find a good workplace? Just some of the things you need to take care of beforehand to make your workstation a success.
Determining your workation destination
The world is big and there are countless places where you can work well remotely. The choice is very personal. Do you want to enjoy nature, do you go for a lively city? Do you stay close to home and take the train or would you rather go to a tropical resort on the other side of the world? When deciding on your destination, the first thing is that it must be suitable for remote working, read: good and reliable wifi. A cabin in the bush is not an ideal place for your remote working adventure. For those of you who have been following me on Instagram for a bit longer, you know that I love going to sunny destinations. I really enjoy escaping to a warm country in the winter. Sometimes it’s a week in Spain and right now I’m writing this blog from the Cape Verde Islands, where I spent 6 weeks. The next destination is still a secret, but it might just snow there. That too has its charm. I often try to discover a new destination, because I especially enjoy getting to know a new place in our beautiful world.
Productive remote working
You know those enviable images of people lying in a hammock with their laptop on their lap and cocktail in hand? So that’s not exactly the realistic image of remote working. Sure, it’s okay to tap an email from this spot, but ergonomically speaking, you’re not doing your back any favors if you work from that position for a long time. By the way, you also kill your laptop when you sit in the full sun and you can’t see anything on your screen either. No go! What then? Find a good workplace. Preferably before you leave, so you can get to work right away. There is plenty of information online about the possibilities. Think about a workspace where you can temporarily rent a desk, a café with workstations or choose an apartment with a nice kitchen table or even a desk where you can work well. Find a quiet space so you can work focused and productively.
Legal ground rules of remote working
Can you just go away and work from another place? In most cases, yes. But there are ground rules for working remotely. Especially if you are a salaried employee, you can’t just pack up your things, you have to coordinate things with your employer. Even if you’re self-employed, it’s decent to inform your regular clients. That doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be done, but is more a case of good communication. At Working Remotely, our advice is mainly about relatively short-term remote working. If you want to go away for a long time, say 6 months to Bali, then you need to consider the proper permit and visas. Certainly if you stay within the EU there are few obstacles legally.
Vamos, on to your remote work adventure
Do you want a freer life, where you can travel a lot and discover beautiful places in the world, without your work being idle? Then remote working is ideal. You combine work and travel and therefore simply have an income while traveling the world. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a lifestyle I would never want any other way. The freedom and flexibility to work completely location independent makes me very happy. Would you also like to create such a wonderful life? In the online course Remote Ready I take you step by step towards your remote working adventure. In about 4 to 5 hours I will teach you everything you need to know about remote working. The topics in this blog will be covered in depth, I’ll give you practical tips and advice and you’ll really get to work in a concrete way to take the first steps towards your remote working adventure. You can take the Remote Ready online course at your pace, whenever you want. In several video lessons you will learn how to create a freer life for yourself.
