As some of you might know, we like to travel quite a bit! Not being stuck to a single place has become an essential need to us and a real way to bring home some new ideas. And so one of the things we are very proud of is to be able to keep doing our work while travelling. People wish us “happy holidays” or “enjoy your vacation” when they learn we’re packing our bags for a new trip, but only few of them, such as our clients and close friends know that we’re actually getting a good amount of work done between sipping icy mojitos or visiting a new place. Surprisingly so, we mostly get as much work done as when we’re back home.
Travelling generates a huge amount of our inspiration and it actually boosts our productivity. It’s also the subject that we tend to talk a lot about with other people as they tend to ask us a lot of questions about it: “BUT HOW DO YOU DO IT?”. Well, it takes some practice, but with some simple tricks and a little motivation, yes, you can get awesome work done while travelling.
SCHEDULE WORK & PLAY
When travelling, we get out of our routines and it’s hard to imagine out how the day will unfold. It’s good to try to figure it out though, depending on where you are and what you want to get done in your day besides your work (visiting places, shopping, eating, going to the beach, etc). When are you most likely to do these things? Depending on the answer to that question, you will be able to figure out a good balance between “work time” and “play time”. When we are travelling, we are generally out and about from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, and this is our “play time”. Which means that some time frames available for working in the early morning and also in the late afternoon, maybe even in the evening if there’s a lot of work to get done. If you’re travelling with other people such as family or friends, do let them know of your intentions, so that they’re aware that you will need some quiet time during these hours 😉
HAVE YOUR GEAR WITH YOU
Needless to say, you need to make sure you got your working essentials with you where you’re planning to get some work done. Carry your laptop and charger in a light case and maybe even get your hands on some basic extra tools:
– A Portable USB mouse and/or tablet.
– We also carry this awesome portable scanner with us, which weighs nothing and is great if you need to scan some documents such as files, photographs or illustrations!
– If you need to do some printing, it helps to research where print shops are, but if you need to print at a more regular pace, it’s a good idea to invest in a little lightweight portable printer.
– A planning agenda and/or notebook, to schedule your work and sketch or write your thoughts!
FIND YOUR SWEET SPOT
Wherever you may be travelling, it’s a good idea to find yourself a good spot in which you can get work done, or multiple ones, depending on your mood. When you arrive at your destination, scan your space a little bit and see what area inspires you for getting work done and in which you think you will feel inspired. Maybe it’s the coffee table in the living room, the little quiet nook upstairs, or the tiny table in your hotel room. Maybe you will even have to get out of there and feel better in a social setting such as a cozy coffee place or lounge! Take time to figure this one out and see what makes you comfortable. Also make sure this spot has a proper internet connection, of course!
WORK ON THE CLOUD
Storing your file within a physical device such as your computer or an external hard drive is not a very good idea when you are on the go. It is in fact quite risky and anything can break or have issues when you least want it to. Therefore a safe option is to always work on the cloud, as your files will always be accessible to you no matter what happens. You will be able to access your files with or without internet, through any device you’re logged into! You will only need to have proper internet access to synchronize them. We store all of our files on dropbox, and we can access them through our phones, ipad or laptops at any time of the day. It’s GENIUS!
GET CONNECTED
Being abroad doesn’t have to mean you’re inaccessible. You don’t have to worry about not being able to reach your clients or not being productive. It’s all a matter of using the right tools. Use a shared google calendar or evernote with your clients or coworkers to keep track of a project, do your meetings through skype, calls through whatsapp or viber, tell your clients to leave notes on your files so that you can get feedback as smooth as if you were physically there to witness it. We also use screenshare, which is great to be able to help out a client directly on their computer without even having to be there! Dropbox & Wetransfer are awesome for sharing large files with clients.
BALANCED EFFICIENCY
You want to get some work done, so it’s a good idea to:
A) Make a to do list at the beginning of every day
B) Keep track of your projects.
But do stay realistic: as your schedules and productivity are prone to some changes (hello, lost internet connection…), try not to have to deal with some crazy unrealistic deadlines. Be mindful of the time that you have and the issues or distractions you might encounter. Maybe you will not be able to work as much as when you are working from the comfort of your own home, and that’s ok. It’s part of a learning process, and you will manage to get more productive with some practice. Being nomadic ain’t easy!
LET YOUR TRAVELS INSPIRE YOU
Last but definitely NOT least… Let this whole new setup, new routine, new faces and new surrounding inspire you. Where you are, you will be able to find a huge amount of things that are done differently than at home. Soak up all the inspiration you can get, take notes, take pictures. Travelling can be like a giant Pinterest experience and can teach you so many new things!
