A “Day-In-The-Life” of a Digital Nomad Remote Worker
Imagine waking up to the sound of waves against the shore, the salty sea breeze through your window and seeing palm trees moving in the gentle wind. This isn't just a dream—it's the reality for a digital nomad, whose office extends far beyond the confines of their four walls in their home country. Step into my day-in-the-life as a digital nomad, where every sunrise can bring a new destination and every sunset paints the sky with the colors of possibility.
I have worked from home since 2020 and started my journey as a digital nomad in 2021 with my husband and I love this lifestyle. However it is not for everyone and comes with it’s own set of challenges and you need to be very strategic in how you manage your day and time. Sometimes you can easily get distracted and play more then you work, especially if you are just starting this lifestyle.
I thought I would share my daily routine and how I balance work, travel and how I stay productive. Hopefully it will help you, whether you’re new at this or you have been a remote worker but are facing challenges in managing your day.
What is a Digital Nomad?
A digital nomad is someone who uses technology to work remotely and live a location-independent lifestyle. Instead of being tied to a specific location, as digital nomads we have the freedom to travel and work from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection. All you really need is a laptop, smartphone, and other digital tools to stay connected and productive while on the move.
Digital nomads are not only self-employed entrepreneurs or freelancers but they can also work in corporate and have a job as long as their boss and company allows them to be fully remote and travel.
You can also be a digital nomad in your own country, moving across the country and living in different cities. You can also do that in a van or even a boat. Why not right?
A Morning Routine
I’ve developed a morning routine that I can stick to no matter where I am. The most important is to get enough sleep and wake up early before you need to be in meetings or answering emails. This depends if you have to work between certain hours in a specific time zone. For me this doesn’t apply unless I have client meetings because it is in their time zone.
For me, my morning routine is very simple. After I’ve gotten ready for the day, I go for a nice coffee and a croissant with my husband to a local café. I love this time in the morning watching everyone going about their day and is a great slow start to our day.
Then we will walk back to our condo where we are staying and get on our laptops and start going through emails.
How I Stay Organized
I respond first to any urgent emails from clients, and clean up the rest and schedule out my calendar for the day on what I need to do at what time. I colour code my tasks in my calendar and I use the morning hours when I am most productive for my harder tasks that require more focus. Any admin work I save for later in the afternoon.
For any important tasks that I need to focus on, I make sure I turn off notifications during that time and put my phone away so I am not distracted.
I use Asana’s project management tool to stay organized on projects and tasks. If you haven’t used it, try it because it was a game-changer for me. They have a free and paid version but I find the free version, it works perfectly for me.
I think the number one thing it comes down to is being disciplined and pretending you have a boss even if you don’t.
Being Creative
I find the constant travel to new locations actually helps me be very creative and inspires me so much! Not only are me and my husband business owners of our own company but I am also a content creator and YouTuber so this lifestyle works so well for me.
After our work is done we like to go out for a coffee and a walk in the city or on the beach to watch sunset, depending on where we live at that time.
Another thing that helps me be creative is we often take our laptops to work in a local co-working space or a cafe.
Staying Healthy
This is something that is extremely important to manage as a digital nomad and one of my biggest challenges. You can completely let your health goals go out the window because you want to eat all the food and sightsee so you can say to yourself that you don’t have time to exercise.
I’ve been there but I realize that the longer I stay in a location the easier it is to cook at home and build a better routine because you’re not in a rush to do and see everything. I would say 3 months minimum is what you need in a location.
We always bring supplements when we travel and we try to go local natural health food stores to buy anything else we need during our stay.
Once the daily after work walk is done I will either make dinner at home or do a workout then make dinner depending on the level of hungriness.
Balancing Work and Fun
Because we can work any hours or days we want, we will either do sightseeing on the weekends, or we will work though the weekend and do sightseeing during the week when there are less crowds. We also take Fridays off completely or we will work half the day because we’re the boss!
During the week too we will go out for dinner a few times and we try to always go to a new place we’ve never been to before.
Do you want to experience being a digital nomad on a workation in Mexico City all expenses paid?
What is a workcation you may ask? It is an all-expenses paid one month stay that allows you to live and work in the beautiful Mexico City, Mexico.
You can win a one-month remote work retreat in beautiful Mexico City, Mexico with SafetyWing!
SafetyWing is my favourite nomad travel medical insurance company we use to keep us insured and covered for any unexpected illnesses or accidents and it came in handy a few times.
This contest is with SafetyWing in collaboration with Selina CoLive space.
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
· Round-trip flights to Mexico City (up to USD$2000 fare coverage)
· A month-long stay at Selina CoLive, a dream co-living and co-working space
· Nomad Insurance for the duration of your trip
HOW TO ENTER?
Simply use my referral link to create a SafetyWing account or log in to your existing account to enter. You don’t need to buy any travel insurance, just create an account or log in to your existing account to enter by 9am PST of May 16th 2024 by using my link here in order to be entered in the draw.
If you don’t win this time around, you can enter into this draw every time SafetyWing holds this contest. Remember when logging in or creating your account you have to do it by using my link here in order for you to be entered in the draw.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Once you enter, you will get an email to confirm your entry.
The winner will be announced at random on May 16th, 2024 and they will announce the next month’s destination for the contest.
Mexico City is vibrant and a cultural hub in Mexico City. You will be staying in a nice cozy room at Selina CoLive, a premier co-living and co-working space. They offer high-speed Wi-Fi, wellness classes, and a rooftop with regular events. It is perfectly set up for you to relax and be productive. When you’re not working, you can go off to explore Mexico City's rich culture with nearby food tours, urban green spaces, cultural landmarks, and lively nightlife.
If you want to learn more and enter, check out my link here.
Happy Travels,
~Asya