Today lots of people complain about being always connected to work. A recent study shows that:

• 45 percent of workers feel obligated to respond to emails after hours.
• 42 percent of employees feel obligated to check in with work while on vacation.
• 47 percent feel guilty if they don’t work when sick, either on site or from home.

This situation certainly has many disadvantages, including the increase in work-related stress and the reduction of leisure time people spend with their family and friends. However I think each person has also the opportunity to enjoy the advantages of being always connected and able to work from anywhere.

The extreme example are the Digital Nomads, people who travel while they continue to work with clients or employers. They are able to visit new places and learn about other cultures and lifestyles, as if they were tourists, while at the same time they continue working remotely an making money.

But it is also possible to be a Digital Nomad part of our time. In the same way that we can travel for a business-related conference and enjoy our free time for tourism, we can travel mostly for tourism and enjoy some of our time to do work, without feeling guilty.

It may be very nice also to work near our home instead of working from home. We can work from places that inspire us, such as a beach, a park, a restaurant with a nice view or even a beautiful library. Such changes in environment probably have a positive impact in our creativity.

So I suggest this as a new-year-resolution for 2018: instead of complaining about being always connected to work, let’s find new ways to feel better while working remotely.

Happy New Year!