This is the routine I perfected for myself as a nomad after a lot of trial and error:
- In the morning, I work at the Airbnb/hotel. I start the day without worries about packing/unpacking or preparations: a solid three to four hours of work. (Requirements: get a room with a workstation and a good chair. Tables are usually easy to find, but if the chair isn’t good enough, buy one.)
- Natural stop to have lunch, usually with a longer walk.
- Start work again around 2 PM at some coffee shop and order a coffee. Another three hours of solid work.
- Natural stop to use the bathroom (always a problem as a solo nomad, but not anymore), stretch my legs, and head to a different coffee shop.
- Final batch of work. Order something light to eat. No more caffeine. Another three hours of solid work.
In the end, I can get between nine and ten hours of solid work per day. I spend around three hours in one place, so I didn’t notice any uncomfortable looks.
I also don’t rely on power outlets or local Wi-Fi never. The laptop needs to last the entire time, but it’s easy because it’s only in the afternoon (around six hours, not the whole day). For Wi-Fi, I always get a good mobile package with unlimited data if possible. This makes it easy to sit anywhere, really.
My setup is usually my laptop, an iPad as a second screen, earbuds, and a mobile phone. It works like a charm.
I am having the same problem recently. I want to get a degree in a non-tech-related area, Biological Science, but although there are online options, they are expensive, and this degree in particular has a lot of lab work. I also considered going back to my country, where university is free (but with a tough national exam to enter), but the idea of doing the degree with people 30 years younger doesn't sound exciting to me. So I’m kind of thinking about a risky path: building a curriculum with a reasoning AI model, matching it with textbooks (I don't like classes, I prefer learning from books), and studying by myself while documenting everything, so I could apply for a master’s or PhD later on (the risky part). About the labs, I will talk to some colleges and see if I can attend locally with non-degree credits. Not sure if this will work, but every other option seems worse.
I wonder why there isn't a program for self-taught students that provides validation for their efforts, like exams and access to local labs, but no classes. I believe a lot of older adults would like to go back to school but don't want to be in an environment that hasn’t even been remotely designed with them in mind.
Higher education institutions, like all bureaucracies, exist largely to sustain and validate their own existence. In this hypothetical scenario, if they admitted the masters student who taught themselves an undergrad equivalent with AI, that would be inherently admitting that their own undergrad programs aren't worth it / aren't necessary. They are not incentivized to do this.
I think that should be the default, all parents collapsed. Very neat. If you want a quick preview, you can copy the code on this page[1] from the GitHub repo directly and paste it on the console. Works on Firefox too.
- In the morning, I work at the Airbnb/hotel. I start the day without worries about packing/unpacking or preparations: a solid three to four hours of work. (Requirements: get a room with a workstation and a good chair. Tables are usually easy to find, but if the chair isn’t good enough, buy one.)
- Natural stop to have lunch, usually with a longer walk.
- Start work again around 2 PM at some coffee shop and order a coffee. Another three hours of solid work.
- Natural stop to use the bathroom (always a problem as a solo nomad, but not anymore), stretch my legs, and head to a different coffee shop.
- Final batch of work. Order something light to eat. No more caffeine. Another three hours of solid work.
In the end, I can get between nine and ten hours of solid work per day. I spend around three hours in one place, so I didn’t notice any uncomfortable looks.
I also don’t rely on power outlets or local Wi-Fi never. The laptop needs to last the entire time, but it’s easy because it’s only in the afternoon (around six hours, not the whole day). For Wi-Fi, I always get a good mobile package with unlimited data if possible. This makes it easy to sit anywhere, really.
My setup is usually my laptop, an iPad as a second screen, earbuds, and a mobile phone. It works like a charm.