Stress Problems in Digital Nomads: Possible Causes and What to Do

For many people, digital nomads represent the perfect way to live life. The idea of ​​being able to work while traveling around the world and without having to depend on a specific workplace thanks to the options offered by the Internet is something that leads to idealizing the new professions of the digital age: influencers, programmers, image editors and video, etc.

However, this way of developing careers is not free of drawbacks, and is linked to certain forms of discomfort that other people do not have to face (or face to a lesser extent). Therefore, in this article we will give a review of the typical stress problems among digital nomads, and the tips that can help you deal with them.

Main causes of stress in digital nomads

These are the most common triggers and causes of stress among digital nomads. To all of them we must add the fact that since this way of working is relatively new, little is still said about this type of problems and the majority of people who start living this way do not have much information to prevent the appearance of these experiences.

1. Problems due to inconsistency in work schedules

Digital nomads often have to coordinate with teams of people distributed in other time zones That is, they must learn strategies to work asynchronously and deal with moments of communication gap. They tend to more frequently experience production bottlenecks (for example, having to wait for a certain person to connect to the Internet before making further progress on a project), misunderstandings due to having started work before reading a certain message written hours before , etc.

2. Greater exposure to unforeseen events

Another of the main causes of stress and anxiety among digital nomads is their greater exposure to situations that they would never have anticipated because they are linked to a social context that they are unaware of; for example, the fact of having to take certain precautions before getting into a taxi, or the difficulties in accessing ingredients that they know and know how to cook with, etc. They may seem like small details, but since they are such numerous experiences, it is easy for them to produce a cumulative effect and psychological exhaustion of which at first they are not even aware.

3. Uprooting can generate a feeling of social isolation

Being surrounded by another culture can be very stimulating and interesting at first, but it is one thing to experience that as a tourist and another thing to experience it as a resident of the country. As the days go by in a state far removed from everything familiar to us, in most cases a feeling of vulnerability and alienation appears that makes us feel alone and somewhat unprotected s. This feeling can be cumulative if, looking back, we realize that most of the social relationships we have maintained are with other people with little roots in the place or who have stayed to live in places to which we may never return.

4. Unclear distinction between private life and professional life

This is a classic of anxiety and stress problems; In fact, it affects both digital nomads and people who telework and self-employed workers in general. If the fact of not having a clear schedule is already a source of discomfort in itself because it leads us to have to stop and think about whether certain experiences should be lived as part of our private life or our professional life, to this we must add the Parkinson’s law: in the absence of clear temporal references, working hours tend to expand until they occupy all the available time (and as a result, we end up dedicating almost the entire day to our work side).

5. Tensions when trying to maintain stable ties with loved ones

Most digital nomads leave loved ones behind in their home countries, and trying to combine their lifestyle defined by freedom of movement, on the one hand, with maintaining those ties, on the other, can lead to conflict. There are many who feel guilty for spending a lot of time away from their family and friends, or even who notice that they generate discomfort in their marriages or courtships by spending weeks at a time away from home and suffer psychological exhaustion from managing these recurring arguments.

6. Need to deal with bureaucratic processes to work in another country

Although there are supranational structures such as the European Union that have invested efforts to facilitate the flow of workers between member states, even in them certain procedures must be carried out every time you have to move from one nation to another, unless the stay is less than a few months.

In the worst case, you even have to obtain a work visa to pay taxes from the receiving country, and in the best of cases, you have to obtain documentation to pay taxes and obtain health coverage. If there are problems in this process (which can take several weeks), the digital nomad you expose yourself to situations of lack of protection or even possible sanctions for not reaching certain deadlines.

Tips to manage stress if you are a digital nomad

If, due to your preferences and type of profession, you have decided to embrace the lifestyle of a digital nomad, keep these stress management tips in mind on a daily basis.

1. Use communication protocols

Every digital nomad must apply clear online communication protocols to coordinate with their clients, partners and collaborators, so that misunderstandings and obstacles do not arise that hinder fluidity when working. For example, it is advisable to agree from the beginning which real-time messaging platform you will use to talk about everything related to work (Telegram, Slack, WhatsApp…), how to label specific instructions so that it is easy to do a search on what most relevant thing that has been said in the last few hours (for example, using predefined hashtags or using mentions with an at for the tasks assigned to each person), using a channel dedicated only to what is urgent so as not to mix information, etc.

Definitely, You have to work following clear protocols to avoid problems of lack of organization and use it from the beginning without waiting for the first incidents to appear.

2. Try to maintain a very clear and stable sleep schedule

Many stress problems stem from a lack of rest. And this, in turn, can be caused by an unstructured schedule due to jet lag or habits generated in another region subject to another time zone, something that happens a lot among digital nomads. That’s why, The ideal is to redo the sleep schedule as soon as we move to another distant region clearly delineating when we should wake up and go to bed.

3. Schedule video call sessions in advance

It is important not to let emotional relationships maintained for years deteriorate as the months go by. To do this, it is advisable to reserve certain times of the week to make video calls, making it a routine between family and friends. This is not only satisfactory when carrying out these virtual meetings, but it also means that as digital nomads we do not feel so alone and vulnerable to the be aware that we have a strong social support network who can help us even from a distance or, if necessary, meet with us in the face of severe problems.

4. Try to maintain social relationships with a culturally diverse social circle

If you only interact with people in the place you recently moved to, you are more likely to suffer strong culture shock. The most advisable thing to keep stress and anxiety at bay is to interact with people from different countries, and if possible, have some of them be from your place of origin, at least initially. Nowadays there are many apps to make friends that will help you in this process.

5. If you can’t handle the stress, go to a psychologist

Luckily, today there is the possibility of having online psychological assistance services by video call, so you do not have to change psychologists every time you move to another city or another country.