Work-life balance...bullshit! I call it work-life harmony. This is how it works. Hacks for Digital Nomads

I don't believe in work-life-balance. I never have and never will. Why? Simple answer. Balance implies there are two opposites at the end of the spectrum.  But that's not how it works.

Your life is your work, and work is your life.  

You don't believe me or think this only holds true for entrepreneurs? Let me give you an example. Imagine you have an important presentation the next day at work and your slides aren’t ready yet. This causes you to eat a rushed dinner at home, not pay attention to what your partner is saying or putting your kids to bed quickly, just so that you can keep on working. Or the other way around, if you had a heated discussion with your partner before going to bed, you are more likely to feel tense and negative going to work the morning after.

We are one person. The person you are at home is the same person who walks into the office the morning after. Stop treating yourself as if you have a split personality.

Work-life-balance actually means work-life-harmony

For me the holy-grail is finding harmony in work & life. Technology has blurred the lines of the traditional 9 am to 5 pm. Don’t get me wrong, it isn't about sleeping in, or Millennials not grasping the value of hard work. To flourish, we all need a chance to unplug and refresh. It's about maintaining sanity in an ever changing, emailing-at-1-am kind of a world.

I chose more than my job, I chose a lifestyle

My dream is to live a self-determined life. I want to bring my whole personality to work, 100% Franziska - not hiding a part of myself and not being afraid of what someone else might think. I want to feel confident in my own skin.

If I had to summarize myself in two words, they would be Flexibility and Freedom. I hear Gen Z already saying "you are such a Millennial!" Yes, I am. I don't need a fancy corporate glass office. I prefer to work from a stylish co-working space, which has locations all around the world and a community of entrepreneurs. I don't want to climb the corporate ladder, for now I am creating my own ladder and realizing my vision. Converting my dream into reality excites me much more than executing pre-defined work.

I was never that typical business student fitting into a classic finance or consulting career. I feel grateful for all the opportunities presented to me and well aware of how privileged I am, being born in Germany, into a middle-class family and having studied in the Netherlands and South Africa.

I see money as a means, not an end in itself. What really gets me excited is traveling the world and having a purpose in life (I know, another Millennial buzzword but this is really how I feel). My sense of purpose is derived from a passion for life-long and adaptive learning, sharing my knowledge with others to add real value to them.

Think about this for a second:

If you could choose to work from any place in the world, where would it be? Your couch or a beach in the Caribbean Sea? No longer bound to 8 hours a day, coming from industrial revolution.

I figured out I’m on top of my game when working 4 days a week and split up my day.

As much as I am a digital native, spending so much time behind my screen and doing webinars - nothing can ever substitute that handshake or making a connection in real life.

How does this work being a digital nomad?

I am part of that tribe of ‘digital nomads’ working from anywhere at anytime. First of all, digital nomad is a term for any individual that works location independent.

Here is an insight into my journey of the past 18 months. For a month I explored the start-up culture in Tel Aviv, then flew over to Vegas to host a workshop for Microsoft at Ready. Doing a solo road trip on Route 66 to the Grand Canyon. Afterwards, I flew directly to Spain for Yoga Training and downtime to recharge batteries before hosting Social Selling workshops in Germany, UK, Switzerland and Austria. In March, I did my yoga teacher training in India, but also stayed on to find cool business opportunities in New Delhi and even hosted my own Social Selling event there! Next I swapped my suitcase for my backpack again for travels in Mexico. After that, I went sailing in Croatia with my family, which meant getting up early in the mornings, taking the dinghy to the nearest café with good wifi to have 3 hours catching up on mails while the family was still asleep. Next stop is Cape Town in April and March.

For some of you this might sound hectic and not attractive at all. Others probably think it is living the dream, traveling constantly to beautiful places.

Let me give you a real peak into my reality!

If you have worked with me for some time you probably notice that I send mails varying from 3am to 11pm. And that’s not because I am a workaholic, but more because I might be in a different time zone!

I really need to be on top of things, be well organized and stay flexible because Plan A mostly never works out.

To be a successful Digital Nomad requires a few ‘hacks’, so I’m sharing a few of my personal favorites with you to help get it right:

Hacks for Digital Nomads 

It needs discipline

Success won't happen by only thinking about it. You need to put effort into it, consistently. It's not about lying a full day by the beach and sipping Margaritas (even though you also see those pictures of me on my Instagram). It's hard work and you constantly need to kick your own a**. If I don't do it, nobody else will.

Time management and communication are key

Be organized. Spending lots of time in in planes, airports and on the move can mean limited phone and internet connection (especially if you are in developing countries).

• Think ahead: anticipate different scenarios (what do you do in case of power outage etc)
• Be reachable: it's not about being present 24/7 but have an "emergent situation" step plan in mind
• Have regular touch points with your clients: know what's on their mind, what are they struggling with. Hint: social media is an awesome way of doing that!

Live like a minimalist

Less is more. The more stuff you have, the more difficult it is to move around. There is certainly still improvement when it comes to my closet at home (sometimes I can be a little hoarder especially because we have 4 seasons at home, and I need both stage-ready clothes and a Sri Lanka beach outfit). However, my backpack never weighs more than 15kg and it's so freeing to just wear the same shirt, short and flip flops for a few days.  

Reflect to feel grounded

Home isn't a physical place for me, it's where my heart is. Sounds cheesy but it is totally true. Where my family and friends are, is where I feel home: from my hometown St Wendel in Germany over Cape Town where I fell in love with the city while studying there and Amsterdam where my close friends are. Being on the move can be physically exhausting (different climates, jetlag) but also mentally challenging (switching languages, adapt to new cultures). Therefore, it's important to be deeply rooted in yourself. No matter where you go or who you meet, you find rest and calmness in yourself.

Being alone versus feeling lonely

I usually travel alone and rarely find myself lonely, no matter how remote my little hideaways are. I am a really social person, love working in a team and 100% extrovert if you meet me. Nevertheless, all this speaking on stage, coaching teams, consulting executives and so on involves me talking, listening and entertaining. That's my break to restore the balance. Proper me time. Plus I consider it quite a skill and important to be able to spend time on your own without feeling lonely.

My tip for you: Extend your network on the go

Every time, I am in a new city where I don't know anyone, I create a search for leads using Sales Navigator, use the horizontal filter to see who has been active in the past 30 days and use this leads list with potentially interesting partners and people to collaborate with there. Start an online conversation with them and then suggest meeting in person when you arrive. You'll be surprised how many people agree and find it a delightful distraction from their daily lunch with their phone to meet someone new and exchange experiences.

Do you want to become a #digitalnomad? What are your networking tips while traveling?

Comment below and let me know what your thoughts are.

Sunny greetings from Munich,

Fran