Should you consider it?

With a few weeks left of summer, it’s not too late to consider a working holiday. Have you had a chance to read The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris? If you have, you may feel as though you were transported down the rabbit hole and into a world that is completely alien to you.  Did you secretly envy the author and daydream about this lifestyle? Then it hits you. You conclude that this way of life is unrealistic. It makes good reading however and if nothing else should prove something of an inspiration to you, so that you look at your life differently from here on.

While living as a total digital nomad, moving from one place to another with no roots at all may not be for you, do you really need to be tied to that desk when technology and communications have advanced to so much that freedom literally beckons you? Teleworking or workshifting are options that are available to a significant portion of the working population and while we may never be able to reduce our workweek to merely four hours, by adopting these new philosophies we can make our general life a lot more productive and enjoyable.

Let’s imagine a situation where you take an extended holiday, for example. This may have been out of the question in the past, simply because you couldn’t be away from your workplace for that long. This may have ruled out that extended road trip using that motor home, an opportunity to visit several cities in your neighboring provinces/states in just one trip. You’ve always wanted to drive coast to coast or if you live in Europe, through France and then on to Italy, haven’t you?

There is nothing to stop you from taking a family holiday like this while still being in touch with your workplace and being even more productive than you might have been before. Think about it.  What do you need in order to ensure this productivity? You will need mobile Internet access, something known as MiFi, allowing you to get broadband connectivity for multiple users at a time. Your motor home will probably have a power outlet so you need a power strip and transformers so that you can charge all your connectivity devices. Once you have Internet connection remember that you can use programs such as Skype to call home or work whenever you need to, so don’t forget to pack your USB headset.

Many of us are becoming used to working “in the cloud” these days and you should have your workstation setup so that all your important information is automatically backed up to the cloud and any work that you need to share can be put into the relevant programs, online, whenever necessary.

With a little bit of organization and planning you will be able to have a working holiday. You will have to set aside certain hours for productivity, of course, but the same philosophy is engaged when you workshift from home, anyway. There is so much to be said for changing the scenery around you from time to time and how it gives you a new and fresh perspective on life. There is no doubt at all that people who are more inspired are likely to be more engaged in everything they do.