The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richwas written by Tim Ferris in 2007.
Do you remember what you were doing in 2007?
The 4-Hour Workweek triggered a change in the way in which we view work and working hours. With this new mindset, we applied ourselves tirelessly to escape the 9-5 office life and work less for more money.
In this new age of opportunities we are characterized by the differences between our needs and values, especially when it’s work related.
2018 was a year that saw 4 generations in the professional sphere and workplace.
- Silents (Born between 1925 and 1946)
- Baby Boomers (Born between 1946 and 1964)
- Generation Xers (Born between 1965 and 1980)
- Generation Ys or Millennials (born after 1980)
Generation Xers, also called the “slacker” generation, traditionally question all authority figures and are responsible for creating the work/life balance concept. The Millennials, have interpreted this work/life balance concept in an extreme way. Often referred to by other generations as “the entitled ones”, Millennials are changing locations, careers and jobs more frequently than any other generation before.
“In a highly competitive world, enthusiasm matters.
We feel empowered, want to experiment, and have a completely different purpose in life than those before us, or even others around us. We want to be part of something larger than ourselves. We want to do something we can be proud of. We are all more entrepreneurial. We don’t settle quickly. We are continually looking for new challenges. We live in a world of seemingly endless possibilities and exist in a constant state of agitation.
It doesn’t matter what we aspire to be; the key point is that modern society affords a greater range of opportunities than ever before to create and engage in a meaningful life project through “work.” ” (from How the Gig Economy Is Changing Our Future)
Remote work is the future of work
But how?
The conversation around the work/life balance, or work/play synergy as we like to call it, has highlighted the possibility and concept of ditching the office altogether in favour of cafes, coworking spaces or even homes. In fact, remote work has been thrust into the limelight by Millennials as a viable alternative to the 9-5 option and it is gaining momentum.
A report by U.S. market research firm Gallup found that the number of American employees working remotely rose to 43 percent in 2016 from 39 percent in 2012.
In 2018, in the U.S. alone, 43% of the workforce has spent at least some time working remotely, and that number has steadily increased throughout recent years.
Around the world, 70% of people (full-time employees) work away from the office at least once every week, while 53 percent work remotely for at least half of the week, according to a study by Switzerland-based serviced office provider IWG.
Benefits of the remote life
Whether you are employed by a company, or you own your own business, the benefits of working remotely stretch to all positions across many industries. It has been proven to boost productivity and reduce stress levels whilst saving money and time linked with commuting, renting office space and wasting time in unnecessary meetings.
“In our daily lives, we are all spending time on things that don’t matter.
Real hustle is deploying your energy in an actionable way toward the pursuit of some goal. ” G Vaynerchuck
Struggles of remote workers
Some statistics and some solutions
After reading this, the conclusion is simple:
By working remotely, nomading or not, we struggle with:
- loneliness (21%)
- collaborating and/or communicating (21%)
- distractions at home (16%)
Those who were lucky enough to have open-minded bosses, or to own their own businesses have already tried all the cafes there are and figured out that there must be a better way to do it. Sure, you can get lucky with a great cafe, but the majority are not designed for remote workers and have not been built or established with them in mind. Don’t worry, we know how you feel. For example, the wifi goes down at a cafe, and nobody seems to care because you are the only one working on your laptop. The cafe becomes noisy with young families, so it is hard to hear yourself think, let alone get any work done or have a work call. Remote workers need a less noisy place and maybe one where you can find other people working, not just enjoying their coffees or meals.
Coworking
The concept of coworking originated with a hackerspace in 1995 in Berlin, Germany (http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-history-of-coworking-spaces-in-a-timeline), but the first official coworking space opened only in 2005 in San Francisco, when American computer scientist Brad Neuberg shared on his blog the opening of a new kind of space:
“Do you work for yourself from home? Do you miss community and structure?
Join Spiral Muse and Brad Neuberg in creating a new kind of work environment for free spirits!”
That was just the beginning, since then the number of coworking spaces and available seats have roughly doubled each year.
Coliving
Coliving became popular as a concept in late-2013 as a natural progression of the remote working/nomadic lifestyle. Joining a living space with a productive work environment and likeminded people is a new concept yet has been met enthusiastically by remote workers worldwide. It’s seen as a complete integration of nomads to help and nurture each other, both socially through community-style living and professionally through networking and skillsharing.
With the rise of depression in tech startup founders, and the loneliness mentioned by most of remote workers, such a community would tackle many of these issues head on, and create a productive, positive environment for its participants
Digital Nomad
Is the term for those remote workers who travel and work at the same time.
In 2018 the curious thing is that apparently, long-term nomading hasn’t seemed to fully catch on. A total of 43% of respondents said they spend 10% or less of their time traveling while working remotely. (State of remote work)
What about nomading + coworking + coliving, but for a limited time?
More and more Gen X and Gen Y workers are interested in working remotely from exotic locations as part of a group in fixed locations or changing destinations from time to time, usually on a monthly basis.
Here comes the real SEO struggle, this kind of work and travel solution for the modern nomad has various names and it can be found under so many different forms.
Retreats for digital nomads Or work + vacation => Workation or Coworkation
Since Levels.io made this list, a lot of other projects popped up.
Actually, we are sure someone is working right now on designing the next big thing, the perfect retreat for the nomad.
Since the spotlight has landed on the nomad lifestyle and the benefits are clear for all to see, people are investing heavily into it. More and more influential and wealthy business owners and executives in the tech industry are willing to invest in services that will improve themselves, their team and/or their company. These services could include coworking memberships for their employees, or go as far as paying for themselves and employees to attend a remote work retreat or ‘workation’.
Fixed location
As Tech In Asia says: Bali has a fast growing startup scene. There are many entrepreneurs, initiatives, events, startups, and some tech talent based on the island.
Project Getaway 17th of March – 6th of April 2019
Focused on achieving the work-life balance, Project Getaway is bringing together like-minded people from different corners of the world to Bali since 2010, when location independence seemed like a crazy thing among professionals.
With an outstanding support system provided by Livit, the only thing these carefully hand-picked entrepreneurs need to focus on is building great businesses, everything else being taken care of, at a high pampering level.
Project Getaway has been the birthplace of multiple successful start-ups such as Mailbird, AirHelp and many more. Thus, it is clear that the success of this retreat cannot be disputed.
Without a fixed location, drop in, drop out options, or committing to a whole year
What began as hosting small hackathons on a small beach in Costa Rica has now grown into a into one of the biggest companies for hosting retreats. Hacker Paradise now carry out expeditions in different corners of the world, all the way from Colombia to Taiwan. The company prides itself on bringing people together who are equally committed to having an adventure and achieving personal growth.
Unsettled brings people together who have a common desire to be the best version of their selves. Therefore, you can expect to meet people from vastly different backgrounds. They strongly believe in changing with the times by being fluid and flexible. They hold retreats in various locations around the world all the way from Nicaragua to Tuscany. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, they also have an option where you can choose to go sailing around the British Virgin Islands!
“There has got to be more than life than this.” Nomad MBA is perfect for those who are a little bit disillusioned with their 9 -5 schedule. Personal growth is one of their main aims which they seek to achieve by asking the hard questions, goal setting, and cultural immersion. The latter is done by hosting retreats through some of the most beautiful parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Pangea Dreams hold retreats that specifically focus on the growth and empowerment of women. Hand-picked, these women get to choose between spending their time in Bali, Greece and Mexico to work towards churning their passion into productive energy to build their business. Women get access to high quality workshops and exciting collaboration opportunities and build networks that last a lifetime.
Conferences
Running Remote Conference 2019
An event carefully curated to teach you next-level, actionable strategies and tactics you can utilize the very next day to build & scale your remote team. It has a great lineup of remote business leaders and innovators, tech companies, thought leaders and founders of global distributed teams.
Their focus is creating and shaping the future of work by educating founders & professionals.
If you are on a quest to find the perfect programme for you, it’s important to know your purpose for travel. Also, doing a proper research, and maybe interacting with ex-participants, is always a good idea. 2018 brought the end of a start-up that was focusing on organising retreats in different locations around the world. Bloomberg wrote an excellent piece about it, with a very catchy title: We Roam’s broken promises about a new life of remote work.
Coworking spaces and retreats should be powered by communities, by people who know how to build a business, understand the struggles, are as good at failing as they are at starting again.
And all this takes time to build.