I remember working out of a car for a few months.
Not consecutively but every few weeks while I accompanied my sister to her doctor appointments. If you’re not familiar with midtown Manhattan, it’s not the ideal area for driving and parking so I’d volunteer to wait in the car while she’d get her check-ups.
Spoiler alert: she was preggers.
During those times I got a taste for the laptop lifestyle. I was ridiculously productive and on top of my blogging game. Discipline is easy when it’s forced. Sitting in a car for upwards of 2-3 hours doesn’t sound like fun but for me it was.
Aside from the fact that I’m the go-to person for road trips, I feel very comfortable in cars so to get into my work zone was not a difficult transition.
Ever since then, I’ve experimented with different ways to work remotely. I’m always down for an adventure which means I’d have to get prepared to work from the wonkiest of places.
What I’ve discovered is that creativity is not always the “what” but it can also very much be the “how.”
As someone with a moon in Libra, my working space needs to inspire me or I’m not going to be working from my zone of genius. So I’m on an endless quest looking for creative places to work, in both the visual and metaphoric sense. Here are some dope places to work that are kind of traditional and kind of on the offbeat path.
Croissant
If you find yourself feeling a bit of wanderlust energy or you just don’t want to commit to one dedicated working space, one of the best investments I’ve made is in the Crossiant, a mobile app that lets you check-in to different co-working spaces.
It’s like Class Pass but for co-working spaces. You can frequent the same spaces like I often do, or you can hop around and hit up different neighborhoods or travel to different cities.
I took a day trip to Philadelphia and used the app to co-work for a few hours before I wandered the city like a local turista.
KettleSpace
There’s also Kettle Space which is specific to New York City and includes a listing of various restaurants that offer up their space during the day so you can work in style.
As someone who called Starbucks her office for many years, there’s no shame in using the local coffee shop to do your work. Local spots tend to be more intimate and you feel a sense of pride knowing that your patronage supports a fellow entrepreneur.
The Beach
OK, here me out. I know the beach is not the first place you think of when brainstorming on where you need to write the copy for your sales page but give it a try.
You may not want to hit up the beach with your laptop to do a Zoom coaching call. I would only recommend working at the beach when you need to do creative work such as design or writing.
Also, hitting up the beach in the middle of summer when it’s 100 degrees outside is not the ideal condition for maximizing your workflow. I once worked at Venice Beach in California when it was towards the end of October. Hardly summer time but still pleasant enough to get inspired by the waves.
Amtrak Train Ride
As someone with a flying phobia, taking the train is an interesting way to travel. I once took Amtrak from NYC to LA. Keyword: ONCE!
I’ve also done the train ride from NYC to Miami, which was more reasonable. The ride is relatively smooth and depending on the train, you may get Wifi.
I recommend treating the train as you would the beach, meaning that you reserve creative tasks for the trip. This way you can work uninterrupted on that manuscript you need to finish or batch those graphics for your social media.
Fun fact: I designed the Sacred Journey Oracle Deck while on my train ride to Miami. I selected each Mandala, formatted them, and had the entire design process completed by the time I was ready to soak up the Miami sun.
Working from anywhere liberates you from feeling like your business needs to be in one place. If you’re like me, freedom is a core value for you and anything that allows you to thrive in your genius is going to serve you long term.
Break free from the norm and experiment with how you work your hustle.