Whether you are a freelancer, a digital nomad or simply a busy business professional, finding the right balance between traveling and working can be challenging. Let’s be honest, working remotely, regardless of how you do it, has something special that attracts most of us to it. Be it the idea of freedom or simply the fact that you are not stacked in an office for the greater part of your life, working and traveling has become mainstream in the last few years.
In a 2018 research done by MBO Partners, it was found that almost 4.8 millions of Americans described themselves as digital nomads. On top of that,
by 2020, it is expected that 43% of the American workforce will be freelancing. In the eyes of many, working remotely has several advantages, among which the freedom of choice. You can work whenever and wherever you want.
Working and traveling, however, is not always easy. The ability to successfully balance both poses a greater threat to work efficiency.
Being productive while traveling is about finding your own “moment” and cut out all the distractions that come with it. Here we list the best apps to solve 4 common problems of working while traveling.
Problem 1. Lack Of Community
Working remotely or being on a plane 50% of the time doesn’t really help the traveler in feeling part of something bigger. Many companies have tried to create a more friendly environment for remote workers but have not succeeded. Companies keep treating remote workers like “normal” employees, without considering the
isolation factor. When you work remotely, you are free but you miss on many important interactions in the workplace. Making sure that your remote workforce feels part of your company is crucial to productivity.
To combat the lack of community among remote workers, the best solution is to open new channels of communication, making sure no one feels left out. For this reason,
Slack has proven to be the new mean of internal communication, that has replaced other messenger solutions.
One of the features that set Slack apart from the competition is the possibility to integrate 3rd party tools, creating an environment where information can flow freely.
Problem 2. Difficulty In Communication
An immediate consequence to lack of community is the communication issue. Remote workers have often problems syncing with the team in the office as well as sharing in the right way their thoughts.
Communication is already a crucial factor in a workforce that is not distributed across several locations. The challenge arises even further when you have a mobile workforce.
A staggering 97% between employees and executives believe that the lack of effective communication has a direct impact on the outcome of tasks.
To create better communication strategies around tasks deliverables project management apps can help remote workers align with local teams.
Basecamp allows your mobile workforce to check and contribute to projects also on-the-go. It is multi-platform, creating non-device dependency, which suits greatly travelers.
Problem 3. Lack Of Focus
Working from home or the beach is seen as a great opportunity by many. If only it wouldn’t be for all the distractions around us. One minute you are researching for important information on your latest presentation, the next one, you find yourself reading something completely unrelated.
With access to the World Wide Web, we have access to an incredible amount of information. Within a few milliseconds, we can get several hundreds of results for a keyword search on Google. As a business professional, even if working remotely, making sure to deliver whatever requested in a timely manner is crucial to maintain a working relationship.
To make sure there’s no lack of focus, aside from keeping away from other major distractions, remote workers can use the
Pocket app. This app allows users to save articles, videos or images easily for later. Once saved, these can be accessed from any devices connected to that account, giving you the possibility to enjoy that content at a later stage.
Problem 4. Manage Finance & Expenses
As a remote worker being able to successfully manage finances and expenses can be a real pain. Especially when it comes to payment, if you either need to send to or receive from abroad money, it can be a headache, due to many reasons. What fees should you charge? What about the conversion rate? For this reason,
Quickbooks is easy and straight to the point app. It helps manage your finances as well as making it easy for you not to worry about anything else than adding the data needed.
On the other hand, one of the main pain points of many business travelers is managing their expenses in a timely manner. Until a few years ago, depending on which country your company was based in, there was a need to submit only paper invoice. Today, thanks to technology we are moving towards a paperless expenses management. Some of the best apps to help you manage expenses successfully without too much pain are
Rydoo or
Expensify.
Losing productivity is not an issue limited to business travelers or remote workers. However, addressing these 4 major problems is a need for anyone who wishes to add some travel to their daily working life. Thanks to technology, nowadays, we have the possibility to increase our productivity regardless of our location.
