The dream of working remotely is often sold to us as a laptop on a beach, a coconut in hand and not a care in the world. The reality is usually a little different….and not nearly as glamorous! But that’s not to say it isn’t incredible.
I’ve been self employed for 15 years so I have the freedom to work from wherever. I’ve worked remotely from hotel rooms, airport lounges, campervans, holiday cottages, cafés, trains and more dining tables than I can count. While I absolutely love the freedom that comes with remote work, I’ve also learnt that working from anywhere only feels effortless when you’ve got a few not-so-effortless systems in place.
Without them, you’re constantly battling patchy Wi-Fi, searching for chargers, worrying about deadlines, flitting between tasks without getting anything done and trying to remember which time zone you’re in.
The good news is that remote working doesn’t have to be stressful. Whether you’re extending a family holiday by a few days, heading off on a workcation with friends or embracing a more flexible working lifestyle, there are a few simple things that make a huge difference.
Online security
First things first. This isn’t sexy but internet security is important!. If you’re regularly connecting to hotel, airport or café Wi-Fi, using a VPN is one of those simple travel habits that can help protect your personal information and give you extra peace of mind when you’re working online away from home. If you’re logging onto a work intranet then it may even be required. You can use something like ExpressVPNwhich will work across all your devices and you can grab ExpressVPN from their official site
Once you’ve got the basics covered, remote working becomes much more enjoyable. You stop worrying about the logistics and start enjoying the freedom.
Your portable office
You don’t need to recreate your entire home office when you’re working remotely.
Create a simple, portable office with the essentials that genuinely improve your working day.
For me, that includes:
- A laptop with a long battery life – I use a macbook Pro
- Noise-cancelling headphones
- A universal travel adapter
- An external hard drive
- Sometimes a mobile router
I like to keep them in a large laptop case with lots of pockets so I can keep everything together.
Embrace flexible working hours
One of the greatest benefits of remote work is flexibility, yet many people accidentally recreate the exact same rigid schedule they had at home or in the office. You may need to overlap some of your work time with colleagues but, for the majority of us, the amount of time we need to be in face to face meetings is limited.
When you’re travelling, flexibility is your friend but working 9-5 is a weirdly hard habit to break.
I like to start work early in the morning, enjoy the middle of the day exploring and then finish a few tasks later in the evening. If I’m travelling with friends or family, I try to arrange my work around shared experiences rather than the other way around.
The whole point of working remotely is to enjoy more freedom. If your schedule is preventing you from enjoying where you are, it’s worth asking whether you need to be quite so strict.
I’ve got lots of helpful posts about travel blogging here if it’s an industry you’re interested in!
Limit alcohol
I don’t want to be a spoilt sport here but one thing that really limits my ability to work remotely is drinking in the evening like I’m on holiday!
I like to get up early in the morning to get the bulk of my work done before anyone else is even awake, and I can’t do that when I’ve had a few drinks the night before.
I like to stick to the 2-drink rule and that usually keeps me on track!
Focus on your MIT
When I’m working remotely I can end up feeling a bit scatty and I lose my focus. I guess my head is really in holiday mode and I’m thinking about what I’ll be doing later in the day!
I get past this by focusing on a daily MIT, or a Most Important Task. I choose one big task for the day and do that and I know once it’s complete I can finish work for the day.
For me, it isn’t always about working 8 hours a day and clocking up that time at my laptop, it’s about finishing my daily MIT and then enjoying life!
Don’t rely on one internet connection
OK, back to practicalities!
Now this might come as a bit of a shock but the worst internet connections I’ve encountered while working remotely are always in the UK! The rest of the world seemed to get the hang of remote Wi-Fi years ago but I still find the UK’s internet to be glitchy and temperamental.
In the UK I use a mobile router which is on a pre-paid EE sim. When I’m abroad I try to work in places with a decent WiFi connection but I’ll use my phone as a backup and hotspot from my phone. To avoid massive roaming charges, I use an eSim.
Communicate more than you think you need to
One thing that makes remote working stressful is worrying that people don’t know what you’re doing. The solution is usually simple.
Communicate more.
Let people know your working hours and tell them when you’re unavailable. Tell them if you’ll be travelling between locations. Mention any significant time zone differences.
Most workplace frustrations come from uncertainty rather than the actual situation itself.
Get comfortable saying no and setting boundaries
When you’re working remotely, it’s surprisingly easy to feel like you need to be available all the time. Just because you can work anywhere at any time, it doesn’t mean you have to.
One of the healthiest remote working habits I’ve developed is setting clear boundaries.
When I’m finished for the day, I try to switch off properly. I don’t constantly check emails while having dinner. I don’t spend every evening catching up on admin.
Protecting your personal time is just as important as managing your work time.
Choose accommodation with work in mind
When I’m booking accommodation for a remote working trip, I look at it very differently compared to a normal holiday.
A beautiful swimming pool is lovely. Fast Wi-Fi is better.
To be honest, most accommodations do have great Wi-Fi these days but not all! I pay close attention to photos of the potential workspace. Is there an actual table and chair? Is there natural light? Are there multiple plug sockets nearby?
I like the idea of always working in cafes and bars but in reality, this doesn’t always work for me because it’s too noisy and you’re restricted by opening times.
These details sound boring until you’re trying to spend six hours working from the edge of a bed. I’ve done that before and I wouldn’t recommend it.
When I’m travelling with someone else, I’ll always book an apartment with a living space so I can sneak out of bed early and start working before they wake up. This is difficult to do if you’re working at the desk in the same bedroom where they’re sleeping.
Sometimes spending a little more on accommodation can make a huge difference to your overall experience.
Plan your days
Not everything always goes to plan but I like to have a rough idea of what I’m working on each morning and what I’ll be doing with my ‘holiday’ in the afternoon.
I know travel is unpredictable and not everything goes to plan but this stops me spending my work time researching what we’ll do for the rest of the day!
Make time to enjoy where you are
This sounds obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget.
Many remote workers fall into the trap of travelling somewhere amazing and then spending all their time indoors working.
You don’t need to become a tourist every day but make sure you’re actually experiencing your destination. Go for a morning walk. Watch the sunset. Meet friends for dinner. Visit the local market. Take an extra day before flying home.
These moments are often the reason you wanted to work remotely in the first place.
Have a routine
I’m not naturally a routine person but it really helps me to get everything done while I’m working remotely. It also stops the constant ‘I need to this and go here and do that’ panic that’s running through my brain.
A few consistent habits helps enormously when working remotely.
My remote working routine includes both work and my own wellness, because I can’t work if I don’t feel well so I think they’re closely combined.
My routine looks like this:
- 5.30am – Wake up
- 5.45 – 8.45 – Work on my MIT, drink coffee, drink water and have a light breakfast
- 8.45-9.30 – Quick workout and get ready
- 9.30-11.30 – Go out for breakfast and continue working
- 11.30 – Free for the day
- 9pm – Reply to emails, plan tomorrow’s MIT and be asleep by 10pm.
A little structure creates stability without taking away the freedom.
Don’t try to do everything
This might be the most important lesson of all.
You cannot be the perfect employee, the perfect traveller, the perfect parent, the perfect friend and the perfect partner every single day. Something will occasionally have to give and that’s okay.
Some days you’ll spend more time working than exploring.
Other days you’ll close your laptop early because your friends have found an amazing rooftop bar and you’d rather be there.
Remote working isn’t about achieving perfect balance every moment of every day, it’s about creating a lifestyle that gives you more choices.
The freedom is worth it
Remote working isn’t always glamorous.
Sometimes you’re taking calls from a hotel corridor because it’s quieter than your room. Sometimes you’re hunting for plug sockets in airports. Sometimes you’re trying to calculate time zones while ordering breakfast.
But despite the occasional challenges, I genuinely believe the freedom is worth it.
The ability to extend a holiday, spend more time with friends and family, work from inspiring locations and build a life with more flexibility is something I never take for granted. And it’s something that wasn’t even possible a few years ago! We’re so lucky to live in this day and age where remote working is an option for so many of us.
You don’t need to be a digital nomad living out of a backpack. You don’t need to quit your job and travel the world. You simply need a few smart systems, realistic expectations and the confidence to make remote working work for you.
Because when you remove the stress, you’re left with the best part of all. The freedom to work from almost anywhere while still living life on your own terms.
