Being location independent in your working life is all about freedom. And yet, it seems that so many blogs on this topic are geared only towards a certain category of people? The millennials, the backpackers, the people that hate their 9-to-5. But isn’t the out-of-the-box lifestyle supposed to be accessible to anyone who wants it?
With Workstyling we want to show you that there are many ways of living a location independent lifestyle and many reasons why people want this. To start you need to find your own personal reasons to do so.
Location independence doesn’t necessarily lead you to a life on the move, following the latest Instagram trend. It doesn’t need to be a low budget, minimalist lifestyle. It doesn’t have to mean living out of a backpack in a remote paradise beach. It could be all of those things, if it’s what you want, but it doesn’t have to be limited to this “box” or stereotype.
You can choose location independence and a remote career for a variety of different reasons and motivations.
Here are some examples.
You want to choose where you live
I come from a small village in the Italian Alps. I know how it feels to grow up in a place that doesn’t have many opportunities for qualified jobs. Remote work can be a great solution for rural and isolated communities which gives young people the chance to stay in a place that offers beautiful landscapes, fresh air, and a great quality of life as well as career opportunities.
We are used to thinking that we have to choose a place to live based on work opportunities, that we need to shape our life according to the location where we find a job. What if you could live anywhere? What if you could shape your work around your favorite place to live instead?
Yes, it can be a beach in Thailand, but it can also be my mom’s kitchen while smelling the delicious food she is cooking for lunch today. Or the cafè where I used to study with my friends when we were in high school.
The freedom of traveling is great, but many of us want the freedom to choose our home base without being influenced by economic opportunities based on location.
You want to choose when you work
Working remotely is also a great way to finally set your priorities, not only concerning the location you want to live but also regarding how you want to spend your time. There are of course different levels of freedom around your working hours, depending on the path you choose to location independence (check out our quiz to figure out the best remote workstyle for the life you are looking for).
In general, your freedom when working remotely is definitely greater than in a 9-to-5 office job. You can choose to take breaks, walk your dog, go pick up your kids at school, go to the gym or the swimming pool when no-one else is around or attend courses in the middle of the day…
Why be limited to set working hours? Why work when you are supposed to and not when you get the inspiration or when you are the most productive? Especially if you have a creative job, I’m sure you’ve experienced those days when the words are not flowing, the inspiration is simply not there, your mind is elsewhere. It happens! It’s normal! But you are in an office, you need to stay there and you become more and more frustrated.
Imagine, working from home as a creative. You can take a break, change your surroundings, go for a walk, drink tea, and when you get back to your work you’ll be more creative and productive than ever.
You want to choose who you spend your time with
Working from home is lonely. That’s what we hear all the time. Is working in an office really not as lonely?
If you are lucky, you’ll find great colleagues, you’ll have amazing ‘water cooler’ conversations, you’ll get along with everyone and find yourself surrounded by inspiring people.
If you’re not lucky, you’ll end up sitting next to a person you don’t really admire, you’ll only talk to your colleagues about work because that’s the only thing you have in common, you’ll look forward every day to leaving the office and finally talking with your friends and family. You’ll feel different, lonely and isolated, even in an open space office full of people.
Remote work gives you many choices: you can stay at home and spend more time with your family; you can enjoy the peace and quiet of your home office; you can go out to a cafè or a coworking space and meet like-minded, inspiring people; you can go travel and work from the common area of a hostel; you can create a worldwide network of “virtual” friends and co-workers, meet them online and offline and create amazing collaborations. Does this sound lonely to you?
You want to choose how you live
Ultimately, the freedom of a remote career is the freedom to design your life. Design it around your priorities, your dreams, the people you love, the things you want to do in your free time.
That’s why working remotely is not only for backpackers, adventurers and travelers. It’s for everyone that wants to have a choice in how to design their job and their life. Do you want to start designing your life?
Sign up for our free 5-part email course, we’ll help you ask yourself the right questions to finally do it.
