Working remotely can be tricky for a lot of people. You can get lost really easily when you don’t have to go to an office every day of the week. Actually, working remotely doesn’t really mean working from the beach 5 days per week. It’s quite different than most of the people imagine. You’ll need to structure your day and work in inspiring places in order to keep performing in the long run.
Let me first introduce you some mistakes I faced when starting my journey:
Working from my own place: the problem here is that you don’t meet anyone except your laptop. Sending a few emails will clearly not solve the problem of loneliness you’ll face. We all need to interact with other human beings. Travelling offers a lot of opportunities to meet new people. So working remotely from home is clearly not an option.
Not meeting other peers: meeting other remote entrepreneurs and digital nomads living in the same city is incredibly valuable. Apart the fact that some of them could become at some point your future business partners, they can give you great tips to work remotely in the city you are staying in. Locals can also help and it’s good to get advice from both locals and foreigners.
Stopping some good habits: changing your environment can be really tricky. I use to do sport everyday (or at least every two days). I also pay attention to everything I am eating (I commonly eat healthy food). I also meditate every morning and play some advanced cerebral games for 10 min. But changing your environment every month can somehow stop your daily routine. So be aware of this and keep tracking your daily habits on a calendar to be sure you keep continue it – wherever you are.
This having been said, here are some solutions I found during the process:
– Try to find a place in each city that allow you to practise your daily routine. If you run every morning, try to book an apartment near to a park. If you need to meditate, be sure the places you book are mostly quiet and relaxing. It’s as simple as it’s important to keep going your positive habits. As for me, my habits have a huge impact on how I perform at work.
– Attend international (or English speaking) events: many events are hold in big cities in the world. Some of the most recurrent events are displayed on internations.org, meetup.com (or even couchsurfing). The idea is to attend these events as soon as possible when you move in into the city.
– Work in local offices, cafes, hotel halls and coworkings. If you have business connections in the city you are staying in, you can simply ask them if they could offer you a temporary desk in their office. The other options (cafes, hotel halls) can be great alternatives regarding the type of atmosphere you are looking for when working. I personally go to that kind of place when I don’t have to work deeply. Coworkings are obviously great for remote workers – you are more than likely to meet other peers there.
– You also need to plan your days in advance. Make sure your agenda is completed day after day. Write down the locations you’ll work from (don’t improvise it at the last minute). Spend as less time as possible at your place and work in different parts of the city. Even if no one force you to adopt the traditional 9 to 5 shift, it’s best for most of the people to work at day time and keep it as a reference point.
Working remotely is not as easy as it tends to look like. You need a strong inner discipline to wake up on time every day, keep your good habits up and frequently find new places to work.
