Many people think that you have to travel to another country with your laptop in tow and work online to be location independent. This is not necessarily always the case. You can become location independent just by changing a few things where you are sitting right now!
For this example, we are going to presume you have a cubicle job, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, week in, week out. There is nothing wrong with this but there are better places to spend all your working hours. Why not spend part of those days doing your job well but sitting at home or in a coffee shop?
Most people who telecommute even one day per week find that they get a lot more done than when they are sitting in the office. The constant phone calls you get, and those people that sit near you, the non-stop chatter, the need to go to the bathroom just to get some peace and quiet, can make you work less. Annoying but true.
Even spending one day per week sitting at your kitchen table working from home can do you a world of good. Getting up at an ungodly hour just to make sure you are dressed and fed and in your car or on public transport by a certain time to get to work by a certain time everyday. Instead, you can have a little sleep in, or get up at exactly the same time, but feel ready to sit at your computer when your work day officially starts.
Getting up at 6:30am, shower, eat breakfast, get in car by 7:00am, drive to train station, catch train at 7:30am, get to city at 8:00am, walk to office building for 8:30am
OR
Getting up at 6:30am, shower, eat breakfast, do some yoga, read the newspaper, pat the dog, make a cup of tea, then another, set laptop up on kitchen table / office desk for 8:30am.
All this takes is a little planning on your behalf. Question yourself.
Could you work from home?
Do the job properly? Not sit there and watch television all day or play video games?
Could you commit to being your own boss (in a kind of way?)
Would those flexible hours suit your life? Remember, you still have to do the work.
Can you handle knowing that work may never leave you?
Being location independent certainly isn't just about traveling to another part of the world to “work”. It is also about changing your lifestyle. Considering asking your boss if you can work from home one day a week. You just ever know what they will say!