Why working while traveling is more productive than working in the office

The Founder Of Moo.do Jay Meistrich explains why working while traveling is more productive than working in the office, and why he left Silicon valley.

A year ago, I sold and gave away all I had, put all your stuff in a 40-liter backpack and left San Francisco.

I visited 45 cities in 20 different countries, 3 of Disneyland and 1 rabbit island.I was also working 50 hours a week, creating and developing a startup. And my total costs were less than the cost of only one rental housing in San Francisco.



I spent a winter in the Australian summer, spring in Japan, summer in Europe and autumn in South-East Asia.

Travel is not a vacation Community of "digital nomads", whose way of life does not depend on their location, is increasing. This includes software developers, designers, writers, journalists, engineers and other people who are passionate about their work and explore the world.

I want to say that nomadic life is very productive for creating this company. I have worked hard to develop your ambitious startup. I travel because it is cheaper, more productive and more interesting than sitting in one place. The decision to travel was the most responsible choice in respect of my company, Finance and personal development.

I became a nomad by chance Three years ago, I was going to quit Microsoft and move to San Francisco to found a startup. My friend asked me:

"But why would you go in San Francisco if you can work on your computer anywhere in the world?"

It was a reasonable question. The more I thought over it, the more I doubt their idea of "normal life", which is meaningless in the modern world.

• I reject the idea of working 9 to 5. I want to explore the world, while the sun shines, instead of spending these hours working in the room and dreaming of next vacation.
• I reject the idea of settlement. I want to learn new cultures and try new dishes instead of being stuck in a familiar neighborhood.
• I reject the idea of things. It's not the size of my TV. The world is much more interesting to my apartment.
• I reject the idea of boredom. I constantly get acquainted with new places, people and experiences. I never was bored with the beginning of my journey, and now I even can not think to watch TV or play video games.
• I reject the idea of a list of things to do before you die. I have a list of things to do and I do them.

So I left, with the Luggage of his new crazy ideas.



I spent 6 months traveling around Australia, Asia and Europe

However, everything was not as I imagined.

After six months of travelling I gave up and returned to San Francisco. Travel is very interesting, but I had a good idea where I wanted to really concentrate and make it everything you need. Is it possible to find the best place for your startup than Silicon valley?

But soon I found that I was too accustomed to comfort and began to slow down, that I am easily overcome by boredom that I often get distracted and watch a lot of TV. I was sitting at my computer for 12 hours a day, but don't feel that I spend the time productively.

When I came to new York, my friends in the afternoon went to work, so I went out and worked in coffee shops and Central Park. Suddenly it appeared that my productivity dramatically increased: I've done far more in 6 hours than your usual 12-hour day. The same thing happened a few months later during my trip to London. Even my thoughts and ideas become more vivid because new experiences and the environment increased activity in the brain.

Traced this pattern a year ago, I left San Francisco, devoting himself entirely nomadic way of life. And now I think I understand what it is. I'm happy, productive, meet interesting new people, learn about real global issues, and I successfully launched a website.

Here's what I realized over the last year.

Travel cheaper than staying home


This is the real figures obtained from calculations based on my costs. The distance traveled can vary.

Here are my average monthly costs for a year of living in the Capitol hill district in Seattle, in the upper Haight in San Francisco and a year traveling through 20 countries, as well as a month in a hotel on Bali. The journey cost me much cheaper than sitting in place, even with the cost of planes and trains.



The median cost of rental housing in San Francisco is much higher than my index and is equal to 3,12 thousand dollars, but in Seattle the figure below and is 1.8 thousand dollars

My friends from San Francisco and Seattle often ask me:

"How can you afford so much travel?".

I can't afford not to travel. I am in the initial stages of development of the company, and living in San Francisco has pulled all my savings.

My total expenses to travel around the world and lifestyle that I always dreamed of, on average, 2.9 thousand dollars a month. Now I live in Bali for 1, 2 thousand dollars a month. The overall cost of living in Chiang Mai in Thailand is $641 per month.

Travel boost performance In the beginning of my trip, I was a diligent tourist: photographed everything and followed the advice of the tourist guides. After a couple of exhausting weeks, I realized that I was not on vacation. This is my life now. I slowed down and realized that if I have a month to study a new city, there is no need to do everything at once. I can spend a few hours walking around the city and at the same time work productively.

I was surprised when I found that while traveling I am much more productive. However, this is justified. If I arrived in Rome only a week, why should I waste time on Facebook? Permanent residence surrounded by new things does not get bored, sharpens attention, I even improved state of health and increase creativity.



My productivity in Seattle in June and during travel in September, as measured by RescueTime app

In June I returned to Seattle to work together with your partner and to make long-term plans. Spent my development time was suddenly less productive than while traveling. I spent computer much time, but more often they were distracted by the Internet and television. And although in September, I visited 6 different cities, I had time to devote to work for 48 hours a week. High concentration during work allows me to spend more time enjoying other aspects of life, so it is very important to me.

Schedule from 9 to 5 is not optimal , Instead of working during the day and postponement of free hours on the worst part of the day I prefer to spend daytime hours with pleasure and work at night. I find it easier to get out of bed when you want to go out, and if you do not have to spend time on the road, it just gives more free minutes. I like to work seven days a week with a flexible schedule to be able to take a day off whenever you want, or go in an empty theater at noon.

I've wasted a lot of time when I was working in the office, because I had to get to work and I was very distracted by the Internet. I now distribute the workload for the day and make big breaks for exploring new places. After working for a few hours, I reach the intended turn and go to walk around the city until I want to get back to work. But if I run into a problem that I cannot find, then walk around while the brain will not offer a way out. The alternation of work and leisure time is much less tedious and reduces the likelihood of burnout.



Travel culturally enriched Now I have friends all over the world. Their life experience is very different from mine, and it inspires new ideas. I solve real, global problems, and it makes me a better entrepreneur.

Find great people who have a lot to learn, very easy. In many large cities around the world have co-working centers, where "digital nomads" can meet colleagues or to find employees. The Internet is full of resources where travelers can give each other recommendations and advice, and regularly organizes community meetings in real life.

Conclusion to Live and work, continually traveling, has never been so easy. Traveling is cheaper, more productive and far more interesting than sitting at home. Office work is a relic of the past.

Revolution "digital nomads" is just beginning, and I want to help this movement grow. I hope one day we'll meet again. Somewhere out there.published

Source: insider.pro/EN/article/5100/