Want to Work from Anywhere? This Professor has Tips for Digital Nomads.

Feeling anxious about the election? Or just ready for a change of scenery? It may be time to grab your laptop and set up an office in a far-flung destination as a digital nomad.

No matter what happens on Nov. 5, leveraging remote work to travel and live in locations around the world is increasingly viable.

Today, about 20% of workers in America identify as digital nomads, up from 7% before the Covid pandemic, Melanie Prengler, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, tells the host of UVA Speaks.

These modern nomads range from programmers working from hostels to “van lifers” managing remote teams or copy editing while traveling the country. While some companies are resetting expectations around working from the office, remote work and flexible arrangements are now firmly part of the corporate landscape.

For both digital nomads and remote workers, creating a “sense of workplace” is crucial.

“That feeling of being at work is really what we mean when we talk about a sense of workplace,” says Prengler, who teaches courses in the leadership and organizational behavior area. “This is important, because when we feel like we're at work, it's easier to step into our worker persona and it's easier to concentrate — the space is conducive to our work, and that helps us be more engaged.”

The challenge for digital nomads, she adds, is that one of the strongest predictors of a sense of workplace, is how long you've been in that location.

“So, 20 years being in a location, you're going to feel a lot more a deeper sense of workplace than you would if you were the only been in for two years,” Prengler says. “But for digital nomads, you’re changing locations every few days sometimes, and establishing a sense of workplace can be really challenging.”

Prengler says research shows that successful remote workers often rely on familiar objects and routines to establish this feeling. One digital nomad she studied carries a specific yoga mat and home state candle to create consistency across locations. Others maintain strict office routines: “I have my laptop in a particular place, coffee in a particular place, phone in a particular place,” as one participant described.

For organizations adapting to this new reality, Prengler emphasizes the importance of supporting remote workers' infrastructure needs.

This shift to digital nomadism represents more than just a change in work location — it's a fundamental transformation in how we think about the workplace itself.  “I think there's an expectation for a lot of employees that they will be able to work remotely,” says Prengler.

Whether you’re working from a home office, logging in from a beach, or leading a remote team, this episode offers valuable insights into remote work.