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How To Stay Productive As A Working Full-Time RVer

This post was updated on March 15th, 2024

Running a business on the road is the dream of many people. The ability to work whenever and wherever they please is incredibly appealing, and traveling all the while is even more so.

Unfortunately, many individuals who find themselves in a position to work from the comfort of their own rig have a hard time actually accomplishing anything. Staying focused and finding the motivation to sit down and get work done can be difficult when a person is surrounded by so many opportunities for adventure.

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However, working and earning an income is essential for most of us, so it’s important that full-time RVers find a way to buckle down and get their work done as efficiently as possible so they can enjoy life the rest of the time.

How can you go about this? Try the five simple tips below.

1. Stick to a schedule.

Sometimes when a person finds it difficult to focus while working from their RV, the true issue is not that they are in an RV, but that they aren’t switching to work mode.

If you find it difficult to switch into a working mindset while on the road, it might help to introduce some structure into your life. Set a daily schedule for yourself and stick to it. Make sure your schedule includes a reasonable waking hour, time for getting dressed and ready for the day, and scheduled work time.

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Post-Its can be helpful if you re-arrange and re-prioritize your schedule often. Photo by Steve Lacey on Flickr

Be sure to also schedule days off for travel time and adventures. After all, traveling is all about seeing the world, and without those days scheduled in, you may feel as though you are wasting your opportunity to do so. Additionally, having those scheduled fun days will give you something to work toward during your more mundane work days.

2. Create a workspace.

Another great way to help your mind make the switch from relaxing to focusing is to set up a designated workspace. It can be difficult to do this in an RV due to space issues, but it is well worth the effort once you find a way to make it work.

Some options for setting up a workspace in an RV include a lap desk used on the bed in the master bedroom or on the couch, a small desk set-up in a closet space, converting a bunk area to an office, or making the dining table your office and moving meals outside. As another option, some motorhome owners will use the front passenger seat as an office chair with a small lap desk or pull-out desk to work on.

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A good workspace can help your efficiency on the road. Photo by Don Shall on Flickr

Whatever you decide to do, try to include a desk or table and a comfortable place to sit with your computer and/or any paperwork you may need.

Ideally, you should leave your work materials out and use this space only for work in order to help your subconscious make the connection between your office space and work. This will do wonders for you when it comes to focusing.

3. Get rid of distractions.

When setting up your workspace, it is crucial that you remove as many distractions as possible. If notifications tend to pop up on your phone or computer screen, turn those off. Likewise, if you tend to get distracted by YouTube or Facebook, block those websites on your work computer.

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If you’re distracted by phone notifications easily, you may want to move it away from your workspace. Photo by Dan Brickley

Kids in the rig? Send them outside if you can, or give them something specific to do while you work.

Leaving your phone, books, and television in another part of the trailer or motorhome will help as well.

4. Set goals.

Set small weekly goals for yourself and create a to-do list to ensure you are getting things done. Some goals should be very concrete, date-specific tasks, while others might be more abstract, long-term goals such as increasing customer satisfaction or improving social media engagement.

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A to-do list lays out everything you need to do for the day, week, month, or even year. Photo by Adam Diaz on Wikipedia

Try to focus on each task on the list and avoid neglecting those long-term goals by setting smaller, short-term goals that help you reach them.

5. Find an assistant.

Sometimes focusing is difficult because you really despise doing a certain task. If these tasks are smaller, data entry-type jobs—or any sort of work you could easily hand off to another individual—you might consider hiring a personal assistant.

A good personal assistant will remove a large number of those dreaded tasks from your life so you can put all of your focus toward other things instead of putting off work entirely.

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Sometimes it takes more than one to get the work done. Photo by Nate Bolt on Flickr

As you can see, there are many ways to improve your focus and productivity when working on the road. Fortunately, not a single one of these requires someone to come in and breathe down your neck, nor do they require you to let go of your freedom.

So go ahead, set up your workspace, decide on a schedule, and get to work knowing just how fortunate you are to be working anywhere in the country while others are stuck in a boring old office.

See also: How To Create The Perfect Traveling Office



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