Working on the road
One of the big challenges of traveling while working is to remain efficient on your work. A big part of that is your setup, and here we will go through some tips that will help you increase your productivity.
Laptop
Your main item is of course your laptop. While many brands offer good choices, the two that consistently offer high quality equipement that will last for years on the heat, dust, and constant packing on the road are Apple and the Lenovo Thinkpads (previously IBM).
If you want to go for the light and high autonomy version, the Macbook Air can definitely be beaten. This is the recommend choice if
For more involves uses, for instance if you do a lot of tasks that require significant machine power, the Macbook Pro and the Lenovo X1 are great options. The other laptop of the Thinkpad serie are worth taking a look, but will usually be less optimal in ratio power vs. weight.
All those options are high end. However, if you work daily on your laptop for several hours and will carry it everyday, it is one of the best investments you can make, as it will make a huge difference on your efficiency and the pleasure you will have to work on it
Recommended options:
- Apple Macbook Air
- Apple Macbook Pro
- Lenovo X2 serie (currently X270)
- Lenovo X1 Carbon
The setup
Now that you have your laptop, let’s see which improvements can be made to your setup. They fall in a few categories:
Adding an external mouse
Adding a stand and an external keyboard
Adding a second screen
External mouse
Using an external mouse will increase your productivity and your posture. I recommend a cordless mouse to reduce the junk on your desk and ease packing / unpacking. The weight is similar for most options, the two differentiators will be the connectivity (Bluetooth or USB) and the autonomy (changing the battery is the main pain with cordless mouses).
There are a few good options around:
- Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Mouse (Bluetooth, 1 year battery life)
- Logitech Marathon Mouse (USB, 3 years battery life)
Stand an external keyboard
The Roost Stand is an excellent option.
However, the Roost is not very discreet and can be hard to deploy in coffee shops, for instance. If you work mostly in such settings, you might be interested with the … . It already improves your posture, and also has the added benefit that you can use it without an external keyboard.
External keyboard
The Macbooks and Thinkpads have excellent keyboards, but if you want to improve your posture or work with a stand or secondary monitor, you will need an external keyboard to fully benefit of them.
The criterias of choice are the weight and the connectivity (Bluetooth or USB). The autonomy is similar on all of them, but you might prefer a keyboard that can be recharged rather than one where you have to change the battery (I do).
The best options out there are the following:
- Anker Keyboard
- Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard (256g, Bluetooth, battery) – Quite small however
- Logitech K380 (420g, Bluetooth, battery)
- Logitech K810 (580g, Bluetooth, battery)
- Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard (842g, USB, battey) – Ergonomic keyboard
The Logitech and Microsoft Sculpt are quite heavy for my taste, but the added comfort and ergonomics might be worth it.
Secondary monitor
Finally, one the great boost to can make to your productivity is by adding a secondary monitor. Having the possibility to work on two screens (with your research on one and your output on the other for instance, really increases your output.
It is not easy to balance this with a light and travel friendly setup. Some nomad prefer to buy a second hand screen at each destination, or to pack a screen in their baggage (light screens weight only 2-2.5kg and can fit in your luggage, but you cannot then bring them in carry-on.
A travel friendly version is the Asus
Weighting only 800g, powered by USB, it is super easy to setup and can be carried everywhere. Really good option for digital nomads!