The tasks of being a digital nomad are certainly unique in scope. If you want to stay productive you may find yourself having to adapt to a variety of patterns but also encounter a number of challenges. So if you’re looking to get on this adventure, let’s show you some of the toughest challenges for digital nomads and what you can do about them.
Keeping Organized
Amazingly, even if you are living your life in a suitcase you can still struggle to keep yourself organized. When you are on the move, you will always have your mind darting in a number of different directions. When it comes to working, it’s not just enough to ensure that you’ve got a backup of your laptop, but you’ve got to make sure that you can continue to work should you hit any issues. This is why having the lay of the land is so important if you keep hopping from country to country. If you make the swap from a standard laptop to a Mac, you’ve got to make life easier for yourself when it comes to transferring all the data. But luckily there are apps that write to NTFS drives, so if you have to change laptops, you can still recover your old files. But this is only one issue when it comes to being organized. Having a solid structure and filing system, as well as a proper backup, should the worst-case scenario happen is essential.
Medical Insurance
One of the more practical solutions can be one of the most difficult. Because if you really want to be a digital nomad in the true sense of the word, you will need medical insurance, but you’ve got to be prepared for fluctuating prices. The solution to expensive medical insurance is about staying in one place. If you stay in one country, it is usually cheaper to buy medical insurance for that country alone. So if you have concerns over your budget, this is definitely a worthwhile solution. Settle in a country that has the cheapest insurance and spend a year there before moving on.
Travel Problems
This is the one defining factor of the digital nomad. You don’t need to be on the road constantly, but you can set up a base of operations and stay there for up to six months at a time. But it’s the traveling where the disruptions can cause major issues, especially when it comes to meeting deadlines. Any traveler will tell you to prepare for any delays or cancellations. But does this mean you are going to have issues completing your work? The solution is about adequately preparing for your trip and finding ways to work despite travel disruptions. But if you are going to travel, it might be best just to send an email in advance to the person that hired you to say there could be disruptions or, even better, not work that day. And this is why you may want to make some financial preparations first.
Keeping Afloat Financially
Many people find that they have no choice but to work despite disruptions and traveling. Because digital nomads tend to be freelancers, therefore they don’t have any ongoing contracts. As a freelancer, you can run the risk of amazing jobs ending at a moment’s notice, resulting in a very challenging period. And it can be incredibly difficult and stressful to think about how you can deal with your loss of income, which is why freelancers never turn down work because they worry about the fallow periods. The ideal solution here is to diversify your working practices. You may have a certain skill set that puts you in a very specific industry, and you’ve been earning well from it, but this is where having a backup makes all the difference. You can find companies online that pay per task such as Pactera and Appen. The roles tend to consist of simple tasks that you can do almost anywhere. For example, transcribing voice commands or speaking commands into your phone, and this could be enough to keep you afloat.
Managing Your Paperwork
There are so many things you need to consider when you go to a new country, for example, visa restrictions, contract laws, and even if you need permission to work there. And it can be frustrating and boring to keep on top of these things, but wherever you go, you need to know the legal rules and regulations. Every country will have a different concept of what is classed as taxable earnings and this is why, as long-winded and difficult as it can be, research is so important. In fact, if you want to make life easier for yourself, you may want to choose countries that have less stringent regulations. While this could limit your traveling, if you want fewer headaches this approach could make all the difference.
The Banking Processes
When traveling, using your credit or debit cards is the best way but the fact is that wherever you go, you could find yourself at the receiving end of high fees. For example, if you get paid via PayPal, you may incur a number of fees to transfer the funds into your current currency. But there are ways to avoid high fees. For example, the company Wise is trying to make international transfers more affordable; you can own a borderless account where you can keep money in a variety of currencies and get local bank details in currencies such as euros and Australian dollars.
Work-Life Balance
Many digital nomads can struggle with this. If you have your mind on your deadlines and finances, you won’t necessarily have time to explore the country you’re in. The solution to this is all about having a structure in place that allows you to enjoy. Working as a freelancer means that we may have to deal with clients in another country so there are timezone issues. But setting yourself that strict eight-hour working day can be a godsend because you will finally have the opportunity to go and explore.
