The digital nomad life sounds pretty appealing from a POV, as they seem to be working and traveling everywhere as well. You might often wonder about what it takes to be a successful digital nomad or a freelancer. Can we actually be productive on the road? Yes! While all the responsibility can be daunting, this lifestyle is also very rewarding! Here are the best ways to improve your productivity while working and traveling as a freelancer/digital nomad.
1. Stick to a defined Schedule
Create a schedule with set work hours that reflect living in a typical home. Set your alarm every morning, take your dose of coffee if necessary, stretch, and then start working as soon as you are done. Find a regimen that suits your inclination if you are a night owl.
As long as you establish a habit and keep to your scheduled hours, it does not matter how much time you set aside for work.
2. Prioritize Tasks
If you approach your freelancing work with the same accountability you would while working for an employer, it will be simpler to stay motivated. You must know where to start if you want to complete something. Create a timetable and allocate tasks based on significance.
Write down a list of all your tasks for the day and cross off each thing as you finish it. Checking off each item provides a sense of success and helps to maintain motivation at high levels. If good old-fashioned paper lists do not work for you, there are many smartphone applications that can help.
3. Designate your Workspace
It might be difficult to become motivated to work if you are having trouble finding adequate space to accomplish it. A convenient workstation should be designated with everything you need to be productive, including a comfortable place to sit, decent Internet, a fully charged phone, and other amenities.
If you struggle to get access to what you need while working, it will be hard to be productive. The key here is to have everything you require during work hours within reach.
4. Reduce Distractions
Distractions are a part of life on the road, and it is especially difficult to get work done when you would rather be out exploring that cool area or going to that secret waterfall you have heard so much about.
While you maybe able to avoid performing these tasks right now by scheduling them for later, postponing some tasks can cause serious consequences. Here are some rules that can help you reduce the distractions around you:
☐ Reduce the amount of time you spend on social media. Switch off the notifications to help you focus on work better.
☐ Emails can be quite distracting. However, you cannot avoid it, especially during work hours. Hence, check it at designated times every day.
☐ Set ground rules to only work during work hours. If you are in a co-living agreement, ask that they respect your space during these hours.
5. Plan your Travels ahead of Time
Being a digital nomad does bring a level of spontaneity to your life. Nonetheless, that should not disrupt your income flow. If you have any trips or destinations you wish to see, set aside specific days for them well in advance.
In this manner, you can be sure that your job will be done and that you will have time to satisfy your desire to explore at different times. Knowing you have something exciting or adventurous on the horizon maybe really motivating and thus, increase productivity.
You do not have the luxury of paid vacation days when you are your own employer; instead, you must pay for your own time off. If you want to reach your income objectives, you must plan your time wisely.
6. Complete your Tasks in Batches
Completing tasks in batches is one of the most popular productivity recommendations for digital nomads and can help you manage your time better. The aim is to accomplish tasks of the same type together, which improves attention and overall productivity.
For example, make a list of all your phone-related meetings and complete as many as you can in one go. This way, you can focus on email-related tasks without any distractions.
7. Use project Management Tools
Freelancers and entrepreneurs can highly benefit from using project management tools. It could be useful for a number of things, including project planning, scheduling, and work delegation. What’s more, it also helps you keep track of completed and pending tasks!
8. Keep Track of your Time
Track your time effectively. There are several apps you may use for this, but even a stopwatch is really effective if you want to keep it simple. Not only will knowing how much time you are allotting to each item on your list help you improve it, but it will also help you stay focused.
However, you should be aware of which work is consuming the majority of your time. This does not imply that you should limit the time spent on tasks that require immediate attention.
9. Clarify your Doubts
It occasionally happens that you finish a meeting, work the entire day on a task, and submit it, only to find out that you did not deliver what the client asked for. On the contrary, you delivered something entirely different. Yes, it is a negative situation! But, do not worry, this happens to the best of us.
The next time you are unsure about a certain project or have doubts, check, double-check, triple-check, and clarify your doubts as many times as you need. This will ensure that no precious time is wasted and you complete your tasks efficiently in time.
10. Find a Workspace that Works for you
Working from bed might seem like a dream come true. On the contrary, it kills productivity. Not working in an office may mean that you do not have a fixed working space. Whether it is a work desk or out on the lawn, find a workspace that works best for you.
11. Finish the Dreadful Tasks First
Ignoring the dreadful tasks and letting them sit in the back of your head can affect your productivity with other tasks too. Identify tasks that are not only the most dreadful, but also the most impactful. Once you complete these specific tasks and get them out of the way, you will be relieved to have more headspace to focus on other vital tasks.
12. Do an End-of-the-Day Assessment
While this method is often overlooked, it can be quite rewarding. Doing an end-of-the-day assessment might assist you in identifying areas for development or what has shown to be effective for you. Here are some valuable questions to ask yourself at the end of the day:
☐ What did I manage to do today?
☐ What did I not get done today? Why?
☐ How can I improve tomorrow's performance?
☐ What are my objectives for tomorrow?
13. Learn To Say ‘No’
You must learn to say ‘no’. This holds true, especially if you are a freelancer and the freelance wok you are offered is well-paid. Well-paid jobs may tempt you to accept more work than you can manage. Failure to complete these tasks on time can lead to a negative reputation. When starting out, only accept the work you can complete within their respective deadlines.
14. Take Breaks
Complete the tasks you assign to yourself and reward yourself with a break. Use these breaks to move around, stretch, grab a bite, or do anything that helps you relax. Being relaxed will help you concentrate and work better. We recommend taking a 15-minute break every 2 hours to increase your productivity levels.
15. Keep learning and experimenting with new techniques
You can always be more productive, no matter how effective you believe you are. You can do this by learning more from online courses or our blogs.
16. Join Virtual Co-working Sessions
Co-working sessions are not as complicated as it sounds. Here, a bunch of digital nomads get together on a zoom call and hold each other accountable to finish specific tasks by the end of the session. Apart from focusing on tasks and completing them, it is also a great way to socialize and meet other digital nomads.
17. The ‘Must, Should, Want’ Method
You can gauge how urgent a task is by monitoring your progress. Make three columns on a sheet of paper. Sort the columns according to ‘must, should and Want’. You can see what you need to work on by organizing the remaining chores for the day with this method.
Conclusion
While the digital nomad life does sound quite appealing, it requires a stable source of income to live that life and explore all the destinations you desire to see. The only way to do this is by being dedicated to the freelance jobs you do for your clients. Improving your productivity rate will optimize your time and help you price your work better in the gig economy.
