Work Like a Nomad | Blue Monkey Dev

Everything does not need to be done at your desk

Technically I can work from anywhere. Everything I need has been digitized and is accessible by me from anyplace with an internet connection. If my office was quarantined tomorrow, I would not miss a beat — nor would I miss my office. Because I’m a nomad, I often work outside of the office. And by “work”, I don’t mean checking email with my cell phone.

Being a nomad allows me to work from a coffee shop, finish up a last minute project in the evening, tackle that emergency task from an interstate rest stop, and even catch up from a hotel room after a long day. Let me explain how I have accomplished my nomad ability:

My Android cell phone acts as a 4G wifi hotspot to tether my laptop to the internet. Good luck, Apple fans!
My primary computer is located at my office, which I can access with a VPN connection. I can remotely pick up exactly where I left off at the office, and everything is right where I left it when I walked out the door.
My primary phone number is Google Voice and rings me everywhere. One phone number rings my cell, Skype and Google Hangouts simultaneously. I can even switch between devices during a phone call.
My DropBox tracks currently working files everywhere I go. I currently have them synced across two desktop computers, one laptop, and my cell phone.
I never take written notes because they will inevitably be somewhere else when I need them. Instead everything goes directly into Evernote or DropBox.
We do not host any internal software solutions; everything is licensed as a software-as-a-service. This includes email, project management and customer relationship management; therefore they are all accessible from anywhere.
We operate all of our servers through the Amazon Web Services. Since they are all virtual anyway, they don’t know or care where I am.
Lastly, with both Chrome and Firefox, every Web page I am viewing is automatically synced across all my devices, including my cell phone. LastPass keeps each passwords secure and available, so any device can be used to pick up where I left off Web browsing.

I have worked like a nomad for years, and can’t even remember a time when I couldn’t connect to my primary computer remotely to conduct business. I love being able to pick up work anywhere at anytime without missing a beat. Working as a nomad makes me more efficient than if I was tied to my office.

Try taking your work out of the office for a few days per week and see how it goes. I typically work outside of the office about 10-15 hours per week.

I would love to hear about your nomad experiences. Please send me a Tweet at @wbushee, or drop me an email. After all, shouldn’t we all work when inspiration strikes?