Working independently seems like a dream for many who are stuck in a cubicle 9 to 5. But with the perks come other demands that may need be so dreamy.

Personal discipline

The 40 hour work week is actually scheduling our work performance. Regimentation allows us to focus on projects without worrying about time or productivity. As a digital nomad, you need to be able to create your own personal performance structure. In other words, digital nomads create their own timeclock, setting personal deadlines for projects, defining how long a project will take to complete and making sure time working at home is time well spent. Working from home is full of distractions, after all, from kids  to chores, to the lure of unchecked leisure time. Disciplined digital nomads know when to put everything else on hold for work.

What Would a Digital Nomad Take to a Desert Island?

Tablet Gear

Smartphone Gear

Laptop Gear

Ability to work anywhere

The home office can be comfy, too comfy sometimes.  Away from the corporate cubicle, the home office can easily become more than an office, a personal sanctuary that appeals to our comforts, but may also weaken our ability to address challenges. Digital nomads pride themselves on being able to work at cafes, airports and even unfamiliar office environments where they may need to temporarily set up shop. Digital nomads thrive outside their comfort zone.

Working independently is also working alone

Being an independent worker seems like the perfect fit for a free spirit, but working independently can also mean being less connected to the home office team. Far from daily meetings and brainstorming, digital nomads may need to become less reliant on others for the completion of tasks and more dependent on themselves for essential information. This doesn’t mean that digital nomads are working without others, just that the lines of communication become less robust with their distance from headquarters. The availability of  other office associates in a corporate environment can mean face to face coordination to prevent misinformation, as well as the ability to maintain real time consistency in a project’s timeline performance. The remote factor increases the risk for miscommunication and mistakes.  Digital nomads know this and manage a strict schedule of confirmation emails and conference calls to ensure their place in  the successful completion of a project.