I’ve spent a good chunk of my life in a hostel, and looking for ways to improve my freelancer productivity has always been a priority of mine. I’ve written a few guides about living in a hostel already to help you whether you’re a freelancer or studying abroad, and you might want to check some of them, like how to save money for travel as a student abroad, for instance.
I’m a creative freelancer: I have been a freelance writer and a blogger for quite a few years now, and instead of just talking about basic productivity tools for freelancers, today, I’d like to tell you all about my best tips to combine life in a hostel and freelancer productivity and time management.
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If you’re new to The Working Line, welcome to your BFF magazine online for work productivity and life management for digital nomads; freelancers, and students studying abroad included. Here, I talk a lot about the best ways to homemade meal prep easily, how to improve your productivity working from home, and even some cool shops to help you out in your work like the best second hand bookshops in London.
In this guide, you’ll learn about affirmations for productivity, basic productivity tools and tips to increase your work performance as a freelancer traveling and working abroad.
10 Tips To Combine Life in a Hostel & Freelancer Productivity
Freelance time management and all the best productivity tools in the world will not help if you don’t understand exactly how you work and what your perfect rhythm is. I have been a full-time freelancer since 2018, and since I even had some part-time jobs on the side, I can guarantee that the creative freelancer lifestyle was not always the easiest to follow.
If you have to do thorough freelancer expensive tracking or have very tight deadlines, at some point, you’re going to want to take a big breath. And you’ll probably want to get out of the country, and see what is this digital nomad life that has had the world upside down for a few years now. I’ve lived this life, and even if I’ve got my own room in London at the moment, I’m still deep into the whole creative freelancer lifestyle and life in a hostel is something I very much love.
By the way, if you’re thinking of working or studying abroad, these are some guides on The Working Line that might help you greatly:
- the best tips to live life in a hostel as a freelancer or student abroad
- the best ways to save money for travel as a student
- and the best daily safety tips for the working space for remote workers
Later on, I will touch on some of the topics I’ll mention here in dedicated guides so you have more detail, but for the moment, I will focus on how you can maintain and even improve your freelance productivity while living life in a hostel. Digital nomad life and freelancer productivity can really match if you know how to do it!
Freelance Productivity & Life in a Hostel: Use Affirmations For Productivity
When I started out as a creative freelancer, I was overwhelmed, and being positive was clearly the last of my priorities. What a mistake! All the best productivity apps for freelancers in the world will never help you out if you do not know how to use affirmations for productivity – that’s a fact, I’ve tried it, and I’m sure of what I’m saying. Later on, on The Working Line, I will write a few guides about the best books for productivity and the best books for positivity and motivation.
And one of these books, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, is filled with affirmations for productivity. When I wake up, I usually take five minutes to become completely aware of the world around me. I meditate a little bit and use binaural beats or positive suggestion videos on YouTube to help me through guided meditation depending on my mood.
Read: The Best Cafes For Coworking in Shoreditch London
Then, I will list all the things, people, and achievements I am grateful for. I am of the opinion that only reciting basic affirmations for productivity will definitely help you out, however, if you can go further, you totally should. After all, your freelancer productivity depends on it. So, if you can start the day a bit earlier than usual (i.e. start a new productive routine!), list all the things you’re really grateful for and recite basic affirmations for productivity such as:
- It is going to be a great day
- I am worthy of all good things coming to me
- I am hopeful for the future
- I trust myself to do the best I can
- I deserve all the happiness and wealth in the world,
or any affirmations for productivity that you will write for yourself and recite as a mantra in the morning, you’re already on a winning path. I will write a full guide to affirmations for productivity as time goes by, as I do have a mantra that I use, that I’ve written for myself and recite every morning.
This, whether you live life in a hostel or at home, is something you should start doing as you will see your everyday mood improve drastically. Start with that, and then we’ll see about freelancer expensive tracking, time management, and all the rest. Positive mindset first.
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Improve Freelancer Productivity Easily: Check The Common Areas
In all my time spent focusing on my creative freelancer lifestyle, I have come to understand that I like working with other people around me. I love my job, I love working alone and setting goals and deadlines for me to exceed on my own. I like being proud of myself and the results I have gotten due to my hard work.
When there was the first lockdown in London a few years ago, my freelance time management got a bit messed up. It’s no wonder why I write so much about the best Pret cafes to work in London, and the best coffee shops to study in Paris. I love some good study cafes, quiet and focus-inducing, and if you’re looking to increase your freelance productivity, then you should look into that (but I’ll talk about this more in detail further down this guide).
One of my best tips to combine freelance productivity and life in a hostel is to check out the common areas. A lot of hostels have some kind of living room where the creative digital nomad crowd often gathers on their PC. I stayed at many different hostels in different cities, and those are usually perfect for me to work and write some good articles.
If it helps with your own freelance productivity, you can also check out some good productivity apps to help you out while you’re working. It’s true that when you’re in a common area – and especially if you’ve already made some good friends at the hostel, people will want to talk to you. The best thing to do is to use some apps that I will talk about further down, and put in your earphones so people know that now is not the moment to disturb you because you’re in work mode.
Freelance Productivity & Life in a Hostel: Check The WiFi at the Hostel
That seems a bit absurd to remind you to check the WiFi at the hostel, but for your freelance time management tracking, it’s of the utmost importance. How many times have I stayed at hostels where the WiFi was flaky! This can mess up your motivation and freelance productivity in a heartbeat, destroying all the good resolutions you had for the day.
When you choose to spend some time of your life in a hostel, you’re going to need to check reviews beforehand. Of course, you want a hostel close to the center of the city, but you’re also leading a creative freelancer lifestyle, and you’re going to need the Internet to work properly. You have deadlines, whether you work for yourself as a blogger or have clients you’re working on projects for.
And you need to meet them. Look at the online reviews, and don’t be afraid to contact the hostel to ask about their WiFi. In some countries, the WiFi won’t be the best, and you’re going to need a hotspot. That’s where you’re going to want to check your phone plan. That’s also where you’re going to want to check whether there are good libraries and coffee shops to work around you. Those are all the small details that add up when you’re building your freelancer productivity.
Improve Freelancer Productivity Easily: Use Basic Productivity Tools For Freelancers
Even if you have found the perfect workspace to keep you going with your freelancer productivity while you’re living at a hostel, sometimes, focus just isn’t answering the door, and that’s it. So what do you do? First of all, you need to understand if you’re just unmotivated, on the verge of burning out, or just lazy. That’s where you’re going to want to look into the best productivity apps for freelancers, or websites that will help you reach your goals on that not-so-productive day.
There are a few apps and websites I use on a daily basis to keep me motivated and organized so I can improve my freelancer productivity every day. The first one is Forest, a phone app that makes you grow cute little trees and prevents you from using your phone while you’re working – otherwise, your tree ‘dies’. This is a very fun way to work on your freelancer productivity, to be honest, whether you’re a cutie pie at heart or not.
The second tool I use personally is the Pomodoro technique – you work for 25 minutes, then are rewarded with a 5-minute break. Do this four times, and you’ve got a 15-minute break. You can definitely adjust the work and break times, but it is definitely better to follow the Pomodoro technique as it was intended because you’ll really focus and improve your freelancer productivity that way. Trust me.
Another one of the basic productivity tools for freelancers I use is Trello. This is one of the best websites ever invented if you want my two cents. This is a website where you can build boards for free, create cards, set your deadlines, organize the tasks by color, and even add your own backgrounds for added fun. Those three apps and websites have helped me tremendously, and if you’re serious about improving your freelancer productivity, do try them.
Freelance Productivity & Life in a Hostel: Wake Up Early
If you’re not familiar with the miracle morning, you’re going to want to look into that – perfect for freelance time management, to be honest. I’ve always been one to wake up early, and firmly believe that some of my best and fastest work is done when I wake up around 5 am and am still half-conscious when I turn on the PC.
Try it, honestly, as when you’re starting life in a hostel, you’ll quickly see that your freelancer productivity can and will be impacted by the rhythms of people you’ll get to know. Your productivity does not rely only on basic productivity tools for freelancers that track the time and your expenses, unfortunately.
When you live life in a hostel, you’ll pay for a cheap bed in a dorm, but in exchange, you’ll have to understand when people are in the hostel, and when you can avoid the masses to do some really good work. In the many hostels I’ve visited, it was in the morning that everyone was out. As such, I’d wake up around 5 am, do my affirmations for productivity and gratefulness even before the cleaning crew got there, and I’d start typing away.
The strange thing I started to realize was that my productivity as a digital nomad started improving drastically. I couldn’t understand why I was done with a full day’s worth of work at only 1 pm! Honestly, even if it seems daunting, do get up before 6 am. You’ll see that both your freelancer time management and productivity will get better, without you even trying.
Then, you have lots of free time to relax, visit the city you’ve chosen as your home for the next weeks/months, and meal prep effortlessly for the following two or three days while everyone is out roaming the city.
Improve Freelancer Productivity Easily: Try Hostels With Coworking Spaces
I found very early on when I was looking for ways to increase freelancer productivity that I need to be around like-minded people to make stuff happen for myself and my business. A lot of hostels nowadays offer dedicated coworking spaces, like some of the hostels in Rome I’ve mentioned in this guide.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a separate building or not. Even if it is just a simple room inside the hostel, knowing that you have a dedicated workspace where you can work at any time of the day will help you increase your freelancer productivity drastically. The mind needs separation when it comes to work-life balance.
When you don’t really feel like putting in a lot of work, you can use the common areas if they have power outlets and good WiFi. When you know you really need to focus on projects, try to find hostels with coworking spaces. There, you know that the people you meet will push you forward on your freelance journey. Win-win.
Freelance Productivity & Life in a Hostel: Work From Coffee Shops & Libraries
If you really cannot focus in the hostels’ coworking spaces and common areas, one other idea would be to book a private room to ensure you can actually work on your freelancer productivity. That’s what I did when I first moved to Rome and spent months of my life in a hostel. But the downside was that I need separation between my personal life and my professional endeavors, so working and sleeping in the same room was really not for me.
The other idea for digital nomads living in hostels would be to look up all the best places to work and study around the hostel. I’m always on the lookout for the best cafes to work in London, whether it be Starbucks, Pret, or Caffè Nero. It’s actually the same whether I’m in Berlin or Paris, to be completely truthful.
A lot of coffee shops nowadays offer free WiFi and power outlets, which are the most basic productivity tools for a freelancer living abroad, isn’t it? There are also lots of free libraries in many capital cities, and those are almost always free – except for some specific libraries in London and other big cities. In any case, I always feel like a very productive person when working from cafes, so if you like hearing coffee machines and orders being placed, do open Google Maps and find the best ones!
Improve Freelancer Productivity Easily: Find Study & Work Buddies
That’s one of the best tips for freelancer productivity I could give you, whether you’re a digital nomad living in a hostel or still in your hometown. Make use of the business pool the hostels you stay at have, and make good work connections! Affirmations for productivity are amazing, but they’re kind of the background work.
When you get up in the morning, you’ll meet lots of people. And even if it seems like you’re ‘wasting’ some time talking to new people, you never know who you’re going to meet while spending some of your life in a hostel. You might meet people who are even more business-oriented and organized than you are. And they may become some amazing work buddies and potential business partners in the future.
That’s the creative freelancer lifestyle there, isn’t it? To be open-minded enough to meet new people from all grounds. What if you meet a graphic designer when you’re trying to build up your freelance writer website? What about meeting start-up owners who need a hand with marketing? You never know.
Freelance Productivity & Life in a Hostel: Set Deadlines
Just because you’re spending some of your life in a hostel doesn’t mean you need to throw your freelance time management rules out the window. If you want to keep up your freelancer productivity while living abroad, you’re going to have to make concessions. Believe me, people will offer you to go out, and they will offer to go to restaurants and parks, on day trips from London, Rome, Paris, and so forth and so on.
But remember that you’re not only in another country to have fun. You might be leading a creative freelancer lifestyle, but you’re still building your own business. And like any business, you need to treat it with care and respect. Because your life does depend on it. So, make sure you download some productivity tools for freelancers so you respect the deadlines you will set for yourself.
You could be using something as simple as the Trello website I mentioned higher up in this guide, or the Forest app for day-to-day freelance time management. In any case, plan your week/month ahead, and make sure to break down all the tasks so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Do not over plan, that’s kind of the number rule for freelancer productivity; you might burn out otherwise.
Of course, you’re going to need to relax at some point, but ensure you’ve done all the work you’d set for yourself at the beginning of the day and week. Remember, stress comes from the fact that you’re not doing everything you can for yourself.
So, use some basic productivity tools such as beautiful branded notebooks and planners, and all and any especially good apps and websites you can to help you with your endeavors. No need to have a billion apps on your phone, just download a few and test them out to find your favorite to set deadlines that you can respect.
Improve Freelancer Productivity Easily: Take it Slow and Relax
Increasing your freelancer productivity is essential to a good abroad experience. Yes, but. Living life in a hostel, albeit as amazing as I think it is, has its ups and downs. For instance, your creative freelancer lifestyle is going to change when you first move to another country.
You probably won’t be able to do all the things you used to do in the comfort of your home, especially when you’ve got people in the common areas coming all the time to chill and ask you where you’re coming from. That’s where setting deadlines and freelance time management rules for yourself will come in handy.
So take it chill – give yourself some time to relax and adjust to that new lifestyle of yours. Last year, I lived in a hostel in Rome for five full months, and I had to learn how I functioned. I had to understand that I was more productive when I am waking up earlier than everyone else, and I had to understand that I also really enjoy working in coffee shops, even when I’m not in London.
Wake up early, and I promise that after the first few days of tiredness, you’ll adapt to your new productive freelancer lifestyle perfectly. If you can take a day trip from London, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, or wherever you are, that’s even better. That will definitely take your mind off work, or at least help you come up with new ideas to be more productive while working from home. Remember that you do need to take full breaks to be successful as a digital nomad – can’t beat yourself up when your mind needs to reset!
10 Tips To Combine Life in a Hostel & Freelancer Productivity
There you have them, my personal best tips to combine life in a hostel and freelancer productivity. I’ve been lucky enough to be a creative freelancer for a few years now, and although it’s a lifestyle made of highs and lows, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. As I already explained in my guide to the best ways to survive life in a hostel, you can meet countless amazing people – and potential business partners – in hostels.
As time goes on, I will write more detailed guides about the following topics, so make sure you bookmark The Working Line for further organization reads:
- the best productivity tools for freelancers
- the most efficient affirmations for productivity
- and time management for freelancers
In the meantime, if you’d like to discover more amazing guides about work productivity, life management and places to work around the world, here are some good articles I can recommend:
- The best places to write in London, read, or chill
- The best coworking spaces in East London
- The best proactive tips for successful students
Until next time!
PS. Did you know about all the amazing cafes to work in Rome there are? Check them out and mark them down for when you visit Italy next!
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