The last few days have been incredibly busy for me. As you know I am huge on prioritizing your tasks of the day in order to maximize your time and productivity and my current main project @appics has been taking up most of my time as well as a smaller crypto project of mine that is launching soon. Now that the @appics pre sale was a success thanks to our amazing community! and the next phase begins where a lot of focus is required it won't be easy to stick to everything else I planned. But because I actually enjoy writing a lot, sharing my thoughts as an outlet, plus I like to say "I don't have time, I only make time" .. and of course I want to keep you updated as well, you can finally expect blog posts more frequently from me again. I plan on doing a few recaps in my next posts, share with you my latest travel adventures and much more. As you know I went with a few of my friends and team members to Mauritius, an incredibly beautiful island in the Indian ocean, we are now in Thailand and it's not going to stop in 2018!  Now I’ve received the question "how I make a workation actually work" many ties.. how it's possible to work in such beautiful places, not get distracted and actually concentrate and work even better.

And it's true! You might think that it’s difficult to get work done when the sun is shining, especially when you are from a country like Germany where the weather is particularly bad all year long... However, working while traveling can either fail, or boost your productivity, depending on how well you prepare your workation.    

First of all traveling forces us grow! Because whenever you are outside of you daily routine, your usual environment, weather, views, people and energy.. you have to face life differently and because you break a certain pattern, which in result triggers you creativity and lets you approach your personal as well as work life  differently.

Truth is life is what you choose to make of it and it’s a decision wether you go on vacation twice a year and work the other days in a place you don’t want to be, or choose to learn how to make a workation work, travel all year around and stay productive at the same time.

The key as so often mentioned in my previous posts lies in: 

Time Management  
What I mean by „managing your time“ is structuring your day ahead of time, not leaving yourself a choice, planning your days in a way that lets you get the most out of your 24 hours, get work done and still explore, enjoy life and do something creative.  

„if you want something others can’t have, try doing something others won’t do.“  

It’s might easier to work at an actual office, especially when it's cold.. but it's a whole lot better to learn how to travel and work at the same time, explore countries, meet new cultures and people, experience new things, learn, grow and stay productive. 

So here are my Top 3 things you need  -  TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL WORKATION:

1. A great team
 

If you plan on going on a workation, I think it makes a lot more sense to go with some colleagues. Especially if you work on the same project or at least in the same field it will be a lot easier to have successful workation. For instance if your friends are on vacation and don’t have to work, the chances are higher that you don’t get as much done and don’t really enjoy the trip because you feel an obligation while everyone else is there to just have fun, which could harm the overall group harmony. So make sure everyone is one the same page. I feel lucky to be able to work with an amazing group of people that are also my friends. We work better when we travel together, we enjoy strict schedules and the mix of work and fun. We are also constantly in contact with the the other members of our team who stayed home or work remotely from other parts of the world and as long as the work gets done, the "how" is really what matters most, because it's a never ending journey. 

 3. A plan 

Without a plan a workation can easily fail, simply because when you are in a new country, traveling there are lots of exciting things to do and in order to find a balance your time management has to be on point. If you plan your days ahead of time and have a proper schedule in place, you won't fall into the trap of distractions and fun as easily. What I like to do is use fun things like exploring the country you're in, going to the beach etc. as a reward when you're done with work. 

To get your day started I always recommend some physical activity and of course if your environment allows it a jog on the beach and quick swim in the ocean is the perfect start. 

Morning Routine

As I mentioned many times in my previous posts, a proper morning and night routine is essential in order to get everything in between done. Going for a walk, jog, or yoga are great ways to get started. 

When you get back you are motivated to tackle all of your goals you set for the day. We usually work 4-5 hours and stick to the #1 rule: Work comes first! Once we are done with the most important tasks of the day we go out to eat something, then go on to visit places and allow us to have some fun adventure time and usually get back to work later at night (I am a night owl and enjoy working under the stars). Even though each day is quite unique time wise depending on meetings scheduled for each day,  the hours of work usually add up to about 10 hours for me, some days more, fewer days less. But what makes it possible is having an overview of what needs to get done each day, finishing the most important ones first and putting everything else second.

3. Wifi 

Lastly, make sure to check online if the apartment or hotel you are staying at has a strong internet connection! This is very important if you work from your laptop. For a few days our wifi at our place wasn't working and so we had to got to restaurants to stay connected. Of course if wifi is all you need to work, it has to be a top priority no matter where you go. Depending on the kind of work you do you might be able to be offline for a few days, but overall I would recommend to plan ahead and if you choose to work remotely, make sure to keep time zones for meetings in mind. If you already created the freedom to work from your laptop, take full advantage of it! Learn how to make a workation work. I personally would rather work all day long, under palmtrees.. than a few hours every day at an office. Of course this isn't always possible and I don't mind the office life, but I enjoy the combination of work and travel a lot more. And if you haven't yet started to create the life you are meant to live, make a choice and stick to it no matter what. There are no standards any longer. Let go of who you think you need to be and how you think you should live. Align yourself and be who you actually are! 

Much love,

- Mrs.Steemit