8 Lessons Learned After Working Remote For One Month (Workcation in the US)
Working by the pool, working from the Bellagio in Vegas, working from under a palm tree. Sounds good?
Well, I did it for a month. And here is what I learned from it
I run my own social media company, where I manage social media for small companies. The whole idea behind this company, was that I wanted to be able to work from anywhere. I decided to test this with a one month workcation trip to the US. I went to Canada as well, and I think I visited 15 states in total.
1 - WIFI - SCHMAIFAI
I made sure that every place I would stay at had WIFI. Well, they all said they had WIFI. But did they?
Not at all. Especially in the desert, there was little or no connection to the outside world. At some hotels they had limitations to what websites you could visit too. So one of my translation tools didn't work at that hotel.
Also, the speed of the WIFI was horrible, so when a customer sent me a file, and it took 23 hours to open it, you know you are in trouble.
2 - Cellphone data is GREAT, if you have service
I bought a SIM card when I landed in New York, day 1. And I paid for 30 days of unlimited data.
Well, it worked fine, but some of the more remote places I went to had NO service... At all!
3 - Vegas happens
Do I really need to explain this one?
You can spot the desk in the background.. But...
4 - Life happens
I was getting sick a coupe of days before departure. Bad coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, a fever ++++
I was sick for 15 days! That totally ruined the holliday part in the beginning and also some of the working. I felt horrible, but I couldn't just do a couple of days in bed, because there was always a plane to catch or a roadtrip we had to do, to get to the different locations we had booked. That was not a great experience.
5 - Vacation happens
It's sunny, you have this ONE day with no plans and the pool is right outside your room. What do you do? Get work done, or go for a swim and tell yourself that you will do the work after?
This was a constant struggle. Also you need to go out for every meal, so that breaks up the work pretty often.
6 - No desk
I had a desk in some of the hotel rooms, but very I often I would find my self working from a bed, a coffe shop or something else. I am used to sitting at the office, on a clean desk and in quiet environments.
7 - Skype meetings at 1 AM happens
Due to the time difference between Phoenix and Norway, I had to do a couple of Skype meetings at night or early, early in the morning. Not exactly what you would want to do if you were on a normal cavation.
8 - Constant feeling of "I should've done more today"
Even if I worked for 3 hours, I still left my computer with a feeling of "I should have done just a little bit more."
Conclusion
Would I do a workcation again?
Absolutely!!
Do I need a normal vacation before doing it again?
Absolutely!!
Would I go to somewhere with the same time difference again (to work)?
Absolutely - not.
It was a great trip, and I'm so happy that I did it. But I have learned a lot of interesting leassons.
Also, I'm very grateful for the fact that I could pay for the trip with Steemit money, and my customers are so cool that they all said "have a great trip, we don't care where you work from." And although these 8 leasons sounds negative, it was a good experience. This is just some challenges that I wasn't prepared for. I'm VERY grateful for this opportunity, so don't get me wrong here.
On top of just my regular work for my own company, I also started a part time, remote working job for a Swedish tech company. And it just so happened to be, that my first days at this company was also the first days of my trip. That was probably the reason why I was so stressed the times where I didn't have WIFI, because I was scared that they were trying to get a hold of me.
It was bit hard sometimes, to just go back to my room and do some work, while the people I was hanging out with did other things. But then I just told myself "okay, I am here in this great place, with full salary, I have to get this done."
Have you ever tried working remote? How did it go for you?
Susanne
Great post.
Whenever we book a place to stay, I always try to ensure it has decent internet. Like you say, having good mobile phone reception and a good data plan is a life saver - last year, in the lake district, the internet was down due to a storm, but I was able to tether my phone to my laptop to update our website and Facebook etc.
HAHAHH! I love this GIF!
Thank you. I tried to make sure they all had WIFI, but there's no way a hotel would tell me up front "we do have WIFI, but it's not working too well". Ha ha.. Oh, I guess you can never prepare for a storm :(
Is your laptop waterproof if not then be-careful near water with your electronic equipment @susanne and last you should enjoy your vacation rather than working on your vacation as well.
Ha ha! Good point! It is not waterproof. :(
I know, but I wanted to try this. I just had 6 months of vacation in Australia, so I am just happy to be working again now. How are you ?
+1 this
Once you get into more out of the way places (Asia) then Internet can be a real pain.
You really need a backup plan.
I'll have to post the full story on my feed sometime, but there have definitely been days where I went to every place in a small city in Nepal before finding a computer shop that would let me use their Wifi... go figure the local techie has the only Internet in town that works all the time!
Cool gif!
Living the dream :) I'm glad to hear more people have found their way outside the rat-race. Most norwegians are too set to do it the "regular" way. Personally I prefer to work from home - but that's my personality. I'm more of a home-person (and I got kids). I also want to point out that Susanne is not "lucky". She has probably sacrificed a whole lot of certainty and taken risk to get where she is.
Oh, I do get how it's nice to work from home when you have kids!
And I did take risks to get here, but it was very, very worth it :) Thank you for the kind words.
I work for myself as well and even though I have a perfectly fine office at home I find that it actually helps me to go somewhere else. I live close to the beach so a cafe overlooking the ocean is not a bad place to have an office for the day. Besides that I find that I actually get more done as well because (believe it or not) I have less distractions! Apart from the occasional dip in the ocean haha.
Your point on wifi made me think about traveling through Africa for three months where every campsite said they had wifi, which they never did and even if they did, it was 'African wifi'. Like a lot of things in Africa, it just works (but not really). The 23 hours would have been 3 days there!
I used to have an office at my house, but I never got everything done there. There was too many distractions, that's why I got an office down in the city. I'm so much more efficient when I'm working there.
Sounds nice to go for a swim now and then, I can't really do that in cold ass Norway! :)
That sounds pretty simmilar to the WIFI I used in Kenya, it's frustrating, but also a bit charming. :)
You are living the life we all want.
Thanks for being you and your vote on my last.
P.S. Also I only voted this to be nearer the top of the list but it's slightly out of reach.
It is pretty good! :) You are very welcome! I really enjoy your posts.
Looks like you were having "Pool Meetings" We should have had a pool meeting over Skype at the very least!
Living the dream isn't easy, but someone has to do it!
Well, now that I'm back in Norway, it's to cold to be anywhere near a pool! Ha ha. I know, right? :)
this is what you call proper work
:)
From experience, when you try and combine conflicting activities such as work & holidays, or work & kids you end up trying to fit everything in but don't enjoy any of it the way you should ;)
Ha ha. that is probably very true! Like diet and weekends! :)
I think most your issues will be solve with a little more research about the places you are going to. Hotel and locations often like about their amenities to get customers through the door but yelp don't lie (as often).
In the topic, Any tips i'm trying to get my social media marketing agency off the ground
That's a good advice, thank you!
I have written some posts about my business earlier. There is also one about great tools you can use. My overall advice would be to set up really good social media channels for YOUR company, that works for getting the attention of business owners, and also it shows them that you are able to create engaging content.
My niche is small companies, but you could also try to go after a spesific industry, like small coffe shops, beauty salons or hospitality. Best of luck!
Hahahah!
@susanne you are indeed lucky.)) to be away from office pressure. However, I can bet that either you are a distraction to someone else's attention there, or someone might be trying to distract you in those outfit of yours..)))
Ha ha ha! That picture was taken in my aunt and uncle's house :)