5 useful tips for when you want to work from abroad

You have life before corona and life after corona, and if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that an office does not need to have four walls. That is why more and more office tigers are working a week or month from abroad. But: how do you approach that?

Now that I am leaving I suddenly get questions about how I am going to do my work abroad. I am lucky that my office is in my laptop, which allows me to unfold it anywhere. That is a requirement for working remotely. But I have also worked a lot with people who logged in from another location, which means I can already tackle the frustrations of those who stay behind for you. Here are five useful tips for working from a location other than the office.

1. Agree on results, not hours

As a freelancer working with assignments, this is easier, but if you are working a 40-hour workweek, it ultimately comes down to the results at the end. Make an overview of the work you accomplish in those 40 hours and agree that these are the results you deliver each week.

2. Use your focus

You usually know when during the day you are most productive. For me, that is the first hours in the morning, preferably before the working world is at work. Turn off everything that can distract you, including friends and loved ones, and use that time for the tasks that require your most concentration. An unreachable day per week works by the way.

3. Wifi is the holy grail

The biggest killjoy for people waiting on your work is that you have no wifi. Enter: the mifi router. This is a mobile router that works with a SIM card. It is faster because you are not dependent on wifi at the location and it works much more securely because you have your own connection. That is nice when dealing with confidential documents. Always ensure a backup of your sent work or a shared cloud that your colleagues can access. Nothing is as stupid as being on a boat trip and there is panic everywhere because no one can access your documents, including yourself.

4. Be clear

You must be crystal clear when working from another location. To yourself, to your travel partner(s), to your manager or employer, and to your colleagues. When do you work, when do you not work, when do you deliver the work, and when are you available for consultation? The clearer it is, the easier the work. For example, I work from Greece four days a week from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon and I build in another half hour at the end of the afternoon to respond to messages or emails. Also, take the time difference into account; I work from seven to one in the Netherlands. The first three hours are focus hours, the second half of my workday is for consultation.

5. Set your own agenda

Nine out of ten people let their agenda be determined by external factors. And yes, your colleague is also an external factor in this case, and perhaps the biggest one. Plan your own day hour by hour and build in half an hour at the end for those emails and messages (you really only need to check your email twice a day) from colleagues. This way you get done what you need to get done and have time for the rest later.

Extra tip for freelance entrepreneurs: secure your jobs in advance if possible. It works much more calmly if you know in advance that you have enough to do.