Essential tools to help you ace the digital nomad game

It’s a life filled with fun, excitement, and adventure. Who wouldn’t want to trade a 9 to 5 for such a thrilling experience?

But there are two sides to every coin. Although life as a digital nomad might seem extremely glamorous and completely carefree (blame it on all those Instagram photos), that’s not the whole truth. You also have to work hard to stay motivated and be productive while you’re out and about. Besides, you’ll face countless challenges along the way that people who work regular hours are not aware of.

That doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dream of traveling the world as a digital nomad. On the contrary, we’re here to tell you to persevere and go for it. So, we’ve put together a list of essential tools that will help you out on your nomadic adventures.

We all know that procrastination is the biggest productivity killer. Now imagine you’re in a breathtaking location where everyone around you is having fun and you’re desperately trying to get some work done and stay on top of your tasks. You’ll be even more tempted to leave things for later until you find yourself buried under piles of work. 

A tool like Focus Keeper can put an end to your procrastination habits. As the name implies, it will help you stay focused on your tasks by using the principles of the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a very simple and easy-to-use app that aims at removing the anxiety caused by time pressure and having too many things on your to-do list. 

Whether you’re working on a project on your own or with other people, there are plenty of things you have to keep track of. It’s easy to get lost amongst so many assignments, checklists, tasks, deadlines, and all the variables that come with managing a project.

If you want to make any project smooth sailing from start to finish, Trello is the tool for you. This app will help you organize each stage of the project, keep track of all tasks and give you a bird’s-eye view of the entire process, so you can have full control of the project. You’ll also be able to collaborate with your team members more efficiently if there are more people involved in the project.

If your work involves sending documents back and forth all the time, you’re probably aware of how messy things can get. If you’re not an extremely well-organized person, you can end up having documents all over the place. And that means wasting precious time trying to chase information and data from files that are nowhere to be found.

Google Docs can spare you of all the trouble by helping you keep all your docs in one place. Your work will be safely stored in the cloud, and you’ll be able to access your docs from any device. And if you’re struggling to manage PDF files, a tool like PDFChef that allows you to edit and convert PDF files directly in your browser can also make life infinitely easier for you.

When you travel around the globe as a digital nomad, you won’t always have a workspace available to help you stay productive. Working from a hammock, as tempting as it may sound, can be extremely uncomfortable. So, what can you do when you don’t have the possibility to set up a temporary office where you are?

You use an app like Desk Near Me or Workfrom to help you find a suitable work setting in your location. These apps will give you a list of all the best places you can go to when you need to get down to business, including coworking spaces, cafes, or public libraries.

The life of a digital nomad is defined by freedom of movement. And that means you get to travel a lot and sometimes live out of your backpack. But it’s not always easy to hop from one place to another, especially when you’re exploring places where you’ve never been before.

That’s where trip planning apps come into play. Let’s take Hopper as an example. This app is a lifesaver when you need to plan your next move, but you don’t have the time (or the desire) to do thorough research. All you have to do is enter the destination where you want to travel next and Hopper will provide all the info you need to plan your trip to that location.

It’s safe to assume you don’t speak all the languages of the world, and you don’t have a translator with you wherever you go either. Sometimes, the language barrier makes for some interesting stories. Other times, it gets in the way of productivity.

That’s why an app like Babbel is so useful. It won’t help you miraculously speak the local language overnight, but it will teach you some very useful phrases and words, so you can interact more efficiently with the locals.

As we’ve mentioned previously, being a digital nomad is not always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes it’s very difficult to move from one place to another while also trying to stay on top of your work, and that can have a negative impact on your mental health.

Headspace and Talkspace are two mental wellness resources that can help you stay sane while you’re traveling the globe as a digital nomad. Headspace is a great app if you want to embrace meditation as part of your wellness routine. Talkspace covers a different area of mental health, aiming to connect people with qualified therapists, no matter where they are in the world.

Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.