If you would like to have the ability to work from where you live, remote work is the ideal solution. 

Traditionally, we have lived somewhere as it is where we work because you would have to be in an office, usually at a specific time, attending meetings, and simply to get work done. The idea behind this working model is that if you are not seen, it might be believed that you are not working.

This changed on a massive scale around 27 March and the way we work will probably change forever. The real underlying change could be that we realise we don’t necessarily have to be living in a large city close to where we work, battling with traffic at all times of the day, simply to get from the office to a meeting or rushing to pick kids up from school. In some cases, you may be wondering why you are living in a  complex, with limited garden space, looking out onto your neighbour’s back wall. Even when lockdown has been lifted and you are allowed to walk outside, you still can’t take advantage of this time, as you can’t walk in the street because the danger of being robbed, mugged or harassed is higher than dying from the Coronavirus.

What if there was a different way of working that allowed you to work where you live rather than living where you have to work? This is where remote work comes in to offer a way to find the ideal work-life balance.

How Remote Work Helps You Work Where You Live

Remote work will change how you live. The most important point is it can also change where you live. Remote working will give rise to more digital nomads than we have ever seen, and when I refer to digital nomads, I refer to anyone who can work outside an office and connect with customers and colleagues via the internet. This also includes staff who work for companies remotely and not just freelancers or small business owners.

Other than work, a massive benefit to going into the office is to get human interaction or a vibe. This is something that brings about creativity and it certainly provides a sense of community of likeminded people who are striving towards providing a product or service that adds value to other peoples lives or solving problems. 

With the advent of digital work hubs and certainly the shared work hubs, this sense of community can be derived through these virtual and shared workspace communities without having to go into a company office. In fact, as these hubs have many different people, from different services and businesses, problem solving and ideas become far more innovative. This is due to the fact that you get different inputs and people are less judgemental without the corporate politics that is sometimes prevalent in the company office. 

It is also very important to note that people that use these spaces and participate in these communities do so on their own free will. If you use the space today and stay at home tomorrow, nobody questions you. If you are an extravert and like being around people, you are more likely to use these facilities far more for human interaction. If you are an introvert you might like the other features, like the reliable super-fast WiFi, the great coffee made by baristas or the audiovisual features to do distant conference calling.

So if there are facilities catering for remote working, such as Co.Unity, and they are located in great surroundings, with mountains for mountain biking, the ocean for surfing and fishing, and plenty to do, it is much easier to enjoy work on your terms. You can pretty much walk or ride to anywhere in town where there are restaurants, bars, shops, and coffee shops and you don’t have to fight rush hour traffic just to get to school on time to drop off kids. If this sounds like the perfect way to work, you may consider making the move, and Hermanus could be the place to Live, Work and Play.           

One of the key points that we may learn from the lockdown experience is to make lifestyle choices. We never really appreciate these when we are rushing around trying to get from point A to point B. Maybe one of these choices will be deciding where we live because we can pretty much work from anywhere thanks to the rise in remote work.