Solopreneur Work/Life in Your Home City
Working nomadically is a challenge — a challenge to create multiple streams of income; a challenge to enable freedom. I outline how to do it – LOCALLY.
By Ken Morico on I’ve been fully self-employed for a year now with no stop to challenges encountered or topics yet to be learned. Working at home is great, but I wanted to make my routine more exciting, more adventurous, and more Instagramable! Once I figured out the local nomadic recipe, I am now compelled to share it with you, because I believe anyone can replicate my adventures and dramatically improve their work / life mix without any tricks or games.
I’ve discovered the freedom of movement is incredible. However, I’ve been more mobile in the past working remotely in places as far away as Indonesia. For family reasons I can’t be living a truly nomadic lifestyle living in other countries at the moment, so I’ve found innovative ways to feel like I’m moving around while working — locally.
What’s great about being nomadic locally is that it is something anyone who lives in a city can do. Being in a city is key. You can’t easily hop from place-to-place in a rural or suburban setting. And if you could, you would need a car to get around and need to worry about parking and the stress of driving.
The Main Ingredients for Going Nomadic, Locally
So what’s my recipe for going nomadic… locally and cheaply?
- Find a large city library with a quiet reading room
- Find co-working spaces that offer day passes with no expirations.
- Find a public transportation app and use the Google Maps app to schedule your trips to and from your working spaces.
- Plan things to do when you are out and do things that are on your route to the working space or on your way home.
- Get some good mobile gear and backpack for working remotely
- Spend a lot of money on your home office – you’ll be working here most of the time and you want to be productive.
How Do I Prepare to Work Nomadically, Locally?
You must be ready for change, and feel confident that you can make a major change in your life. Your success must be visualized before you achieve it. And realize if you fail, at least the attempt was a success in your life.
Working nomadically in a local setting is the same as working in other countries, with the exception that it is easier because you have options to work for companies in your local area that will pay you a standard salary, if you want that. Many large corporations are letting their workers work remotely 1 or more days a week. If you have any leverage, you should be able to ask for this. While I once worked for a corporation that allowed work from home days when I first joined the company, they were eventually taken away with changes in management. Keep that in mind and focus on working for yourself so you have many options.
I’ll tell you that when it is springtime and sunny outside the last place you want to be is an office. Give yourself options to enjoy life. Carpe diem, before there are no more diem.
What Skills Do I Need to Live Nomadic, Locally?
Nearly any office job can be performed remotely. Some popular ones are drop shipping, development, digital marketing, and trading. Whatever your profession, see if the company you currently work for hires remote consultants to aide in-house workers. Chances are, they do have additional consultants and might already have a plan to replace you with cheaper workers.
How Can Local Nomading Enable Self-employment?
Well, I can’t say local nomading can enable self-employment, but if you enjoy traveling and being in new spaces, you WILL find a way to make it happen and thus you will make yourself self-employed.
Is Local Nomading Exciting?
Hell yeah. Living life in a routine isn’t really living at all.
How is Local Nomading Easier / Different Than Ordinary Digital Nomading?
- Don’t have to leave family and friends
- Won’t get sick traveling
- No new languages to learn
- No new leases or mortgages
- Less life disruption
- Since many nomads eventually settle in a place, the skills you learn being a local nomad will stay with you your entire life and go with you wherever you settle in the world
Work on Your Productivity / Do the work of 10 Humans
You might be wondering if you are going to work for yourself and live a free lifestyle working anywhere locally what skills will I need? No skills really, you need to get busy – there is much to do to kick off a self-employed lifestyle. I’ve read that in an 8-hour workday workers will only actually get 2 hours of work done.
According to Ray Dalio, hedge fund manager of Bridgewater, the best way to improve your financial situation without any trickery is to increase your productivity. Luckily I feel we have so many products and services to assist with productivity. For example, I used to go to Chipotle for lunch and wait in line and slowly go through the long process of telling the staff what I wanted on my tacos. Now I order online using the Chipotle app, pay for my order with Apple Pay built into the app, and when I arrive my order is on a shelf waiting for pickup. Plus I get points so I’ll get free meals over time.
Batching is another technique that Tim Ferris, author of the Four Hour Workweek, and pioneer of digital nomading, mentions to increase your productivity. Basically, you do tasks in a focused session to limit your distractions doing other tasks. For example, I like to batch cook on Sunday and then I have meals for the rest of the week. Since cooking takes a long time if you were to do it each day or even just a few days a week it saves hours per week.
Are You Up for a Challenge?
One of the benefits of working nomadically is the challenge — the challenge to create multiple streams of income, the challenge to direct your life in a way that will enable total freedom.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so American as I do now and maybe even something bigger than just being American… a global citizen. Keeping a global mindset or even an expanded view of where you are right now will improve your mood and freedom.
To get started, have a plan to enable your flexibility and income. Stick to it. Be flexible. Stay disciplined, have goals, and get out and nomad.
Want the full story on nomading and solopreneurship? Get my free digital nomad ebook and download the solopreneur checklist.