Keeping Up With Your Work On The Road
by Andy Hayes
You may have heard all about the latest trend of becoming a Location Independent writer. It seems great – and in fact, it is – being able to work wherever you want. But even if you aren’t cutting ties and taking your writing business on the road, there may be times when you will want to work while on the road. Here are a few tips for ensuring that you can keep enjoying freelancing and keep up your productivity habits while on unfamiliar ground.
Work on your Time Management Process
Do you have a diary where you record all major deadlines? This should be your number one priority while on the road – at the end of the day, if you’ve been delayed in travel or ill or otherwise, drop the marketing and other nice to haves and ensure that your paying clients receive what they asked for. On-time with an apology about further revisions needed is better than late with no follow-up.
Beyond your major deadlines, establish your to-do list. I use a white board at home to keep me right, so when on the road I have a Microsoft Word-based version that does the same thing. For extra security, put everything onto Google Docs, so in the event you have laptop issues and need to access from elsewhere.
Speaking of which…Backup, Backup, Backup
This is a case of do as I say, not as I do. Backup all your stuff. You’ll want to be prepared in the event of disaster: your laptop gets crushed under the wheels of a bus (hey, you never know), it is stolen from your hotel room, or you have an otherwise catastrophic technology failure. Again, Google Docs can help you here as a nice safety blanket.
Test Your Technology before you Go
Make sure that everything works the way you want before you go. Easy way to test? Spend the day in a local cafe. Maybe you’ll be going somewhere without Wifi or easy internet access – so go to a cafe without it. Otherwise, if you’re sure you can get online, then go somewhere with the Wifi and make sure that detached from your home creature comforts.
Take Advantage of Your Surroundings
It’s not just us travel writers that can take advantage of our surroundings. Are you a laser-sharp copywriter? See if a new locale inspires a new way to incorporate the call to action in your client’s copy. Fiction writer? People-watch and see if you can find a new charcter for that hard-to-position antagonist.
Decide Your Work-Enjoy Balance
I’m not a fan of work-life balance because I think you should enjoy what you do. So instead, decide your work-enjoy balance for your trip – in other words, how many hours do you need to work? If you’re location independent or on the road, part of the reason is to enjoy yourself. Don’t forget. If you’re only showing your laptop a new cafe or hotel room, then stay home – what’s the point?
What are your tips for having fun while working on the road?
Photo courtesy of novecentino
Andy Hayes is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He documents his travelogues of being location independent on his inspirational travel blog, Sharing Experiences.
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15 Responses to “Keeping Up With Your Work On The Road”
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I can heartily second backing up and testing technology–there are few things worse than losing your hard work, and meetings with clients are not the time to be working out the bugs of a new technology. I’ve failed at both of those strategies at one time or another, and it certainly pays to address them in advance!
Liz @ ExtremeTelecommute´s last blog ..Packing for Long-term International Travel: Gear and Gadgets
Backup is without doubt one of the most important part. I recommend everyone to have a map with all your important information and every time you connect with internet you send this map to some online storage. For an example, dropbox.
Stefan´s last blog ..Review: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko
I love the concept of the Work-Enjoy balance! We live it in concept… such an awesome counterpart to Work-Life balance that is so thrown around.
We’ve developed quite a nice life for ourselves around this concept – living, working and most importantly… playing, on the road full time! After 2 years at it, I think we’ve found a wonderful confluence of it all. And it really is hard to distinguish what is ‘fun’ vs what is ‘work’. It all just is a wonderful life!
– Cherie / http://www.technomadia.com
Technomadia´s last blog ..Technomadia featured on Indie Travel Podcast!
Backup, backup, backup – I couldn’t agree more, Stefan and Liz. I’ve failed to do that a couple of times causing great inconvenience. Now I go over the top the other way.
I also love the concept of the ‘work-enjoy balance’, Cherie. It struck the same kind of chord with me as when I first heard the phrase ‘location independent living’.
Sharon,
Absolutely one of the most helpful posts on mobile computing I’ve ever seen! And these tips don’t just apply to the world traveler – they are useful if you’re going to head to the local coffee shop for a change of scenery.
I’m bookmarking this to keep as a reminder.
Cheers
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog ..Is content theft a bad thing?
In fact, going to the coffee shop can be good preparation for the nomadic lifestyle, George. Andy’s done a cracking job with this post.
My goodness everyone, thanks for the feedback. I can hear everyone now scurrying off to enjoy an espresso and road testing their gear
Andy Hayes´s last blog ..Want to Live and Work from Anywhere you Choose?
I always travel with an eight gigabyte flash drive in my pocket. I back up my updated files after every work session and I always have my updated files with me.
Cost? About $15-20.
John Soares´s last blog ..What It Takes to Be A Successful Freelance Writer — Textbook Supplements or Otherwise
That’s such a cost effective solution, it would be a shame not to use it.
Another great feature I learned of recently is using jott.com Basically you sign up for free, and you can record your messages or even phone conversations and they will send you a copy in TEXT!! How cool is that.. you can be out kayaking and take notes of the beauty you see.
Caroline´s last blog ..Currency Day Trading: Understanding Currency Pairs
The other day my internet went down in my apartment in Brazil. I was forced to go to the nearest internet cafe. I dreaded this because I had peaked into others – dark rooms full of cubicles with desktops shining their unnatural light on the people huddled in front of them. But I had to go – so I went. Was I pleasantly surprised! My nearest internet cafe is above an actual cafe/bakery and has glass windows looking out onto a beautiful lake and mountains. Now, mountains, lake, my work, and croissants and coffee downstairs. That's what I call enjoy-enjoy balance!
Sounds tasty – send us a croissant, would ya, NuNomad?
Sounds wonderful – and sometimes it’s good to get away from your regular workspace. It can produce lots of new ideas.