By 2020, over half of all people will be working remotely. For millennials, the ability to work remotely isn’t just a “nice-to-have,” but for many it is becoming a career requirement.
According to a recent study done by Fidelity, the majority of millennials would take a pay cut if it meant they could find more purposeful work and better work-life balance. With such a rise of millennials prioritizing balance it is no surprise that the number of co-working and co-living places around the world is growing exponentially.
Millennials want to be able to wake up in a beautiful place around the world and have a reliable place they can get their work done, while being able to fuel their creative interests and passions at the same time.
That’s why Gabrielle Bonneville, the co-founder of Momentom Collective, a global network of entrepreneurs and artists who live and co-work in exotic locations like Bali, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, has gained so much international traction so quickly.
Momentom Collective believes that the key to professional and personal success is balance, which is why they’ve structured their work lives around travel, community, art, and movement. Below, learn from Bonneville how you can integrate Momentom Collective’s principles into your own life to achieve greater work-life balance while working remotely:
1. Tap Into Creativity For Inspiration At Work. Are you one of the seven in ten millennials who feels disengaged at work? Have you ever hit a plateau in your business, or encountered a wall in your performance? If so, Bonneville says the remedy is creativity, which science affirms is a wellspring for inspiration.
“Seek to find a balance between work and creativity, whether that’s taking the time in the morning to meditate or visualize where you want to be. Spend at least one hour a day doing something creative. You will find so much inspiration for your work,” Bonneville says.
Getting creative can help you generate novel ideas, as well as see things from an expanded perspective, which are valuable professional skills.
2. Engage In Mindfulness. Work can create undue amounts of stress and anxiety, so it’s important to have a practice to counterbalance these effects. Bonneville recommends doing yoga, which can help you alleviate stress and cultivate serenity. “Yoga is really about accessing your mind and the potential within it. My yoga might be somebody else’s trapeze or burlesque dancing,” Bonneville says. Aim to find a practice that both soothes and sharpens your mind in order to complement your work.
3. Choose To Co-Work. According to psychologists, one of the greatest risk factors for depression is loneliness. Unfortunately for many of us, our day-to-day lives don’t optimize towards social interaction and our direct face-to-face contact with friends is minimal. Studies show social media use has its opposite intended effect, making us feel more isolated.
In today’s digital age, it’s crucial to set aside deliberate time for engaging with friends beyond the screen. Better yet, structure your life in such a way that face time with friends is built-in. Momentom Collective’s members live and cowork together in a communal space, so social time is integral to their day-to-day. “The idea was to create a network of residencies where people who want to travel will be able to hop around, still have that lifestyle design of aerial and yoga, and be able to meet different people around the world, Bonneville says.
4. Make Movement A Daily Habit. One of the Momentom Collective’s core philosophies is self-expression through movement. Bonneville says, “If you’re finding you’re living this dull existence, find a way to express yourself and observe yourself in one breath.” Daily movement can provide a number of mental benefits (in addition to obvious physical benefits), including improved mental focus, memory, cognitive flexibility, and academic performance, which makes it a great accessory to work.
5. Take Advantage Of World Travel. There’s a reason the Momentom Collective has chosen Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Bali as destinations for their residencies—they provide a way to get in touch with nature’s beauty and the experience the world’s cultural diversity.
Seeing new parts of the world can infuse your life with more rich experiences to supplement the potential “dryness” of work. Similarly, learning new things can help shake up an old routine. The Momentom Collective hosts multiple workshops each day for its members, with member-contributed content ranging from tips to succeed in entrepreneurship to lessons in aerial arts. “You have to take a leap from outside your current environment,” Bonneville says.
Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools for creating a life by your own design.
