Succeeding at Work as an Employed Digital Nomad

There are many kinds of digital nomads, but perhaps the most rare of them all are the nomads who are salaried employees. Since this is such a new concept, you'll have to have a pretty open minded boss/company that is cool with you working from wherever. It's a growing trend though, and when you're prepared with the right negotiation, work ethic, discipline, and game-plan to make sure you stay productive at work, you can be one of these elusive nomads too!

Succeeding at Work as a Digital Nomad

There are many kinds of digital nomads, but perhaps the most rare of them all are the nomads who are salaried employees. Since this is such a new concept, you'll have to have a pretty open minded boss/company that is cool with you working from wherever. Its a growing trend though, and when you're prepared with the right negotiation, work ethic, discipline, and game-plan to make sure you stay productive at work, you can be one of these elusive nomads too!

Can I Work Remotely? Having the Conversation With Your Office Boss

You can SKIP this section if you're already working remotely. But if you're working in an office day in and day out, and know for sure that you could do everything you're doing just as well from home, these articles will help you convince your boss of just that.

Proving Your Work Ethic and Avoiding FOMO

The single most imperative thing to success as a remote employee is demonstrating your work ethic.

  • Prove it! 7 things you should do to demonstrate a strong work ethic to your employer

    If your boss thinks for a moment that you are going to be distracted by your location or are prioritizing travel over your work, you're not going to be employed for very long. Read these tips to make sure you're constantly proving your work ethic.

  • Punctuality matters, even when working online

    Get to meetings on time, never miss a deadline, work late when you need to. Whatever time commitment would be required of you if you were in the office should be upheld when you work remotely too.

  • Forget FOMO. Accept the fact that, if you don't do your job, you're going to have to go home

    While the concept of working while traveling/ digital nomading has been in practice for years now, whenever I find myself in a new place, still, I constantly come across travelers who are completely mind-blown by it. They see me, a foreigner in a beautiful or fascinating place, and wonder how I could possibly manage to sit down and get my work done while there's so much temptation out there. In fact, the single most frequent question I get from these people is "but do you ACTUALLY work 40 hours a week?" The answer is yes, yes I do. And just like I did when I worked in an office, sometimes I even work 50 hours per week when duty calls. People who meet you in this situation will likely be jealous of your lifestyle, and they will make comments that may make you feel like the restrictions you put on yourself (such as avoiding the beach for your 8 working hours each day) hamper your experience in that new place. Just sigh and agree with them, and carry on living your best life. Travel slow, maximize your weekends, and remember that if you don't get your work done, you won't have a job and thus will have to give it all up. You'll never have FOMO again.

  • Avoid temptation & distraction: Learn how to say "I can't do that fun thing, I have to work today."

    Again, people you meet traveling may have a hard time understanding that you're not just traveling, you're traveling AND WORKING. This is why it's so important to learn how to say no to temptation and keep the fun stuff for nights (or mornings, depending on your work schedule) and weekends. Here are some great tips to successfully say no, and not feel bad about it.

  • Get disciplined! Make it a point to stick to a set schedule, just like you would if you were in an office.

    When you're working remotely, you may be constantly meeting other travelers who are not going to understand or respect the fact that you have work to do. Making sure your schedule is rock-solid will help you avoid temptation, maximize your efficiency and get your work done.

  • The slower you travel, the less FOMO and startup stress you'll have

    When you're working 40 hours per week, that only leaves you the weekends and nights (or mornings, depending on where in the world you are vs your company) to enjoy the place you're in. Giving yourself at least two full weekends in a place will allow you to feel like you've really seen it, plus it will let you get into a routine about where and when you'll spend the day working.

  • Getting set up in a new place takes research and effort. Here's how to streamline the set-up cost

    A few things you can do: Set your hours. Designate an office. Plan your day. Minimize distractions.... and more. Click to read!

  • Practice gratitude for your work and the fact that it allows you to have this lifestyle

    A key element of having good work ethic when working remotely is to remember that you are very lucky to be in the situation you are in. Practice gratitude daily, and don't be afraid to demonstrate it to your company!

Never Let Your Location Affect Your Work

This may not be an issue for freelancers or business owners, but when you are a remote employee your goal should be to never, ever let your location affect your work.

  • Never ask someone to remember or even respect your time zone. Always accommodate your team's schedule.

    Use this tool when you need to calculate time differences. This is key to never letting your location affect your work because when it does, it'll either 1) make you look unprofessional or 2) make your colleagues/clients resent the situation. So whether you're in California and working New York hours, or in Europe and working Mountain time, you should always be the one to adjust your time zone to make scheduling calls and meetings as easy as possible.

  • Avoid scheduling mishaps by keeping your time zone and your company's time zone visible on your calendar at all times.

    Use this method to set up your calendar appointments, and your schedule will always be accurate, no matter where you travel.

  • Get an international phone plan so your company can keep a local phone number for you on file

    From my research, T-Mobile international plans are the best option for international employees. They're not the cheapest option, but they allow anyone (in the US) to text you for free as they normally would, and also allows for anyone to call you without any weird stipulations. The only thing is that phone calls can be expensive, so my advice is to allow the calls to come in, pick up and ask if you can call the person right back from another phone number. Then call them right back using WIFI to talk for free.

  • Avoid expensive phone bills by using wifi-calling. Google Hangouts works great

    We all know WhatsApp is great for free texting and calling if both parties have the app installed, but what if you want to call your grandparents or other tech-illiterate people in your life? Google Hangouts lets you call both mobile and landline numbers in the US and Canada for FREE!

  • Do your research on a destination's wifi BEFORE you go

    Want to know what is the WORST? Showing up to a new city and not being able to find fast wifi. If you're used to working from the US, you may have never even considered the fact that other places don't have Fiber Optic yet. Depending on how fast you need your internet speed to be, this may be a deal breaker. NomadList.com is a decent starting point in my opinion, but better safe than sorry. Join local Facebook groups and ask for a speedtest before you arrive.

  • Stick to destinations that are reasonable for remote work

    Some destinations are better than others when it comes to getting your job done while traveling. Take vacation time when you want to go off the beaten path.

  • Speedtest by Ookla - Use this before you buy the coffee

    You will want at LEAST a 5 or above for Download speeds, and a 1.5 for Upload speeds if you're going to do basic internet work. The lower the ping number, the better. Take some time on a weekend to identify where you will work on Monday by testing the wifi speed at different locations.

Written by: Christa Romano

Ever since 2013, I have identified myself as a "traveler." Not just that I love to travel, (because of course I do!), but because since then travel has been one of the most significant aspects of my life. Since I adopted this lifestyle, I've spent time in over 60 countries, experienced two years living as an expat in Thailand, and another four years as a digital nomad. I've learned that not many people from the US know that traveling the way I do is a real possibility for them. All I have to say about that though is that they just need to make travel a priority! But of course knowing all the tips and tricks I mention above are really helpful too.