Advice in Managing your Business While Travelling
Traveling the world and operating a business at precisely the exact same time appears to be a glamorous lifestyle: you are able to work from anywhere you need, create your own schedule and be your own boss. However, the things that make it desirable additionally turn it horrible.
After all, with absolute freedom to select between adventuring to far-off lands and sitting at an online cafe performing SEO chores, participating in conference calls and composing e-mails, who’d decide to do the latter activities? Few men and women.
Given the choice, you’d likely shut your computer and go exploring. The digital-nomad lifestyle might appear attractive, but there is nothing glamorous about freaking out as your Internet connection in a little town abruptly went out two minutes prior to an important conference telephone or product launching.
Yet it is possible to discover a balance and successfully operate a business from the street, relying upon time management and careful preparation.
All this may seem intuitive but striking the ideal balance is not straightforward. It requires work to settle into a routine once you’re always changing locations and time zones. It’s easy to determine that work can wait when you’ve got people telling you to go with them to a festival or the famous tourist attraction of the town.
When I left to travel, running a company on the street wasn’t my intention. I only wished to travel. Starting a blog was an afterthought so as it began to get traction, I began to loath it as I had to give it more of my own time. I only wished to travel.
My company grew more slowly than it might have because I was not maximizing my time. I went offline for a week so that I could go sailing around the coast of Australia, thus missing four meeting and guest-posting chances. Traveling always has come first for me but I have always wanted my business to grow as well. So after my firm suffered years of mismanagement, I eventually developed a pattern for conducting a company abroad.
There is a way to balance out everything. It takes discipline, but by creating a program around your routine, it can be achieved. Here are my five tips:
- Know your best working hours
This is definitely the most significant part of running a company abroad. You have to understand when you work best and will be the most successful. By understanding yourself, you can plan your day out for optimum productivity.
I operate best in the evenings. So I really do just as much work as you can before dinner, then head outside to sightsee and revel in happy hours. I conserve my “busywork,” like network performance monitoring, e-mails and opinions, for after dinner when I wish to do a couple of things before going out for the day.
- Develop a Schedule
Keeping to a routine/schedule while travelling is tough as you’re constantly moving. But producing one, even in the event that you cannot stick to it all of the time, will allow you to pile your job on certain days, make your to-do list more manageable and free up time for all of the fun things that come with travel.
- Have a day away from travel.
Dedicate a day to do the job. Cloud computing services allows this to happen. Set aside a schedule whereby every couple of days, you sit down and just concentrate on work. This will allow you to catch up on things and free your mind, not having to worry about e-mails while you’re out sightseeing.
Your mind cannot be in two places at the same time. I found this out while in the Galapagos, when all I could think about was work, causing me to appreciate the trip a whole lot less than when I could give it my undivided attention.
As soon as I returned I knew something needed to change. I decided then that I’d dedicate every fourth day only to do the job. It has let me concentrate on where I was making me happier while still getting work done.
- Simply say no.
This works on two fronts: first, say no to matters which don’t assist your core business. It’s easy to say yes to interviews, guest articles, telephone calls and such, but if you are working and travelling, each moment of your day counts.
If something will not drive your company forward, do not say yes only out of courtesy. Learn how to say no.
Secondly, learn how to say no to people you meet on the street. They are most likely travelling on holiday rather than at that moment running a company just like you. They have a lot of time and will constantly be attempting to inspire you to go out. Resist. There’ll always be another night to party. Leaving one night out is not the end of the world.
- Plan ahead.
I am a planner plus a list maker. This enables me to prepare for intervals when I may be unable to get on the internet or I’m too busy enjoying life. Maintain a calendar, strategy and apply the days committed to work to remain on top of your schedule. Do not be responsive: be proactive. Use every second.
