Digital Dilemmas – 5 Digital Nomad Problems No-one Tells You About (And How To Solve Them)

It can feel like you’ve unlocked a secret bonus level in life when you first step into the digital nomad world. You can be working from a café in Paris one day and a rooftop bar in Venice the next. However, there are some unique problems that come along with this gig. To ensure you’re prepared, read on to learn how to solve the five biggest dilemmas faced by digital nomads:

1. Looking unprofessional

The beauty of being a digital nomad is that your office is wherever you happen to be at the time. While you may have confidence in your ability to work amidst the feet of fellow passengers on the floor of a crowded airport, for many high-paying clients, this comes across as decidedly unprofessional.

A virtual office package provides a clever and cost-effective answer to this problem, giving you a professional business address, mail and phone answering services, and some useful additional perks.

2. Losing wifi

There’s a special kind of stress that descends upon you when you realize the locale where you were supposed to have “reliable wifi” is shockingly deficient. Worse than not being able to get your work done is the fact that you can’t even communicate to your clients that you’re having an issue.

To ensure wifi drams never catch you off guard, it’s worth investing in an international wireless hotspot. That way, when travelers around you are cursing, sweating, and risking the safety of their laptops by trying to log into any old hotspot on the list, you can relax and work away in peace.

3. The time zone tango

If you’ve ever wondered what on Earth a client is thinking sending you a rush-job at midnight, only to realise it’s a very reasonable 9 am their time, you’ll understand the difficult choreography involved in the time zone tango.

To combat this, it’s essential to keep your clients updated on your whereabouts so they know what’s reasonable. The next step is to spice up your time zone choreography with the “deadline shuffle” – setting your own deadlines ahead of the ones you agree on with clients. If you hit these, you’re under-promising and over-delivering. If something unexpected comes up or you get a last-minute rush-job, you have wiggle room to deliver all projects on time.

4. Work-life balance

Many nomads admit to compromising a deadline here and there in order to enjoy a spontaneous day trip or night out. On the flip side, there are times when you realize you’ve been so work-focused you’re barely enjoying the beauty of the place you’re in.

To successfully balance your life as a digital nomad, it’s essential to master the art of scheduling. When combined with the deadline shuffle mentioned above, careful scheduling allows you to create a good balance of work and fun with some wiggle room for impromptu adventures.

5. Healthy lifestyle

Since digital nomads are, by definition, nomadic, it can be difficult to maintain healthy habits. Moving around means no yearly gym memberships and a constantly-changing array of food options. It also means plenty of time spent in transit where the convenience + hunger equation often overrides your health priorities.

To manage this, it’s essential to research each new destination top which you’re headed. Hit up the expat groups on social media before you get there and figure out your healthy food and safe exercise options in the area.

Final summary

The life of a digital nomad is as challenging as it is rewarding. However, if you follow the advice detailed above, you can tip the balance to give yourself a far more fulfilling experience.