What do you feel gives you freedom? To me, it is time, money and choice that comes from having money, and it is the freedom not to have to work for someone else or be governed by government rules about what jobs you must apply for whether or not you can physically do them, but you have lost your disability benefit and are forced to go to the job centre and sign on to get job seekers allowance, as has happened to thousands in the UK because of welfare reform. The more time you have that is your own, the more choices you have regarding what you want to do and how you want to direct the course of your life…. And one of the best ways to free up time? Working online.
This is perhaps the most common example of lifestyle management: working online so that you can start to choose when, where and how you work. Now you can decide to make your work fit in around your lifestyle instead of being forced to squeeze your life in when you can.
However, what do we do with this freedom once we have it? Some people travel the world while working online. They use the ability to work not in an office and instead work on the move. These people travel from country to country, meet new people and see incredible sights, then, they use the rest of their time to work in cafes and bars – anywhere with a power socket and an internet connection. Smart phones with excellent internet access and apps and great deals on data, make this lifestyle even easier, as indeed do tablets with their portability and again, wide selection of apps.
This is true freedom. These people can support themselves but in doing so they are also getting to climb mountains, see famous landmarks and discover other cultures. They aren’t tied to any one place and surely that’s one of the truest demonstrations of freedom. Some do it another way and have a regular job that facilitates working from home, or even if it didn't they have negotiated this with their bosses.
But the reality is that not everyone would enjoy this lifestyle. Some of us need colleagues to avoid going mad and many of us have partners or families that depend on us – we can’t afford to go travelling for days on end. However, you can make adaptions, you can use the same thing to just have more freedom at home.
How about working in cafes near you? Or perhaps there’s a beauty spot you could enjoy working in? Because there’s no commute though, you can spend an extra hour in bed. And if someone invites you out for an impromptu lunch? Then you’ll be free to take them up on that offer!
You can travel more but still come home in between to spend time with your family and with your creature comforts (like tea…) …If you have family and or carers responsibilities, these can much more easily be accommodated in your working life.
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