So the new year has rolled around and you’ve probably read a thousand lists about how to streamline your life and focus your attention like a “freaking laser beam”. But really how important is this? How important is it to remove distractions like Facebook or constantly checking your email to increase your productivity? How important is it to focus on a single task at once? If you are anything like me then you’ll know that it is really important.

I am distracted by everything possible…

• Facebook
• Email
• Clients
• Twitter
• My children
• The kid across the road
• The cloud drifting across the sky

Anything that can possibly divert my attention ensures that my focus is nothing resembling a laser beam.

So I have taken this opportunity to round up some of the articles that I thought were honest and straight forward articles on how to focus your attention on your work so you can get out from behind the laptop (or whatever you do) and get out and enjoy your location.

Here are a few articles that you should take a read through to help you focus your attention for the months ahead.

Reducing the Noise in Your Life

Christine Gilbert - The Uncomfortable Truth About Being Productive

Pico Iyer – The Joy of Quiet – this post is mentioned in Christine’s post and is definitely worth a read

Goals and Goal Tracking

Lifehacker.com – Five Best Goal Tracking Services

Aherk.com – Aherk! is a goal-oriented self-blackmailing service. With this app you set a goal for yourself. You then upload an incriminating photo of yourself… Perhaps the one you took of yourself in the bathroom mirror naked and flexing your muscles, or the one of you at that New Year Eve part where you were so drunk and the bottom of your skirt was under your armpits…

If you complete the goal (and your friends agree) then nothing happens, but if your friends vote to say you didn’t complete your goal then the incriminating photo is published on Facebook. I don’t think I would need any more motivation than people potentially seeing me starkers flexing my grossly inadequate biceps.

If you do you Aherk.com let me know you experience with it. Did you achieve the goal you set? Or has the world seen that truly hideous photo of you?

Joshua Fields Millburn – 100 Days With No Goals

Productivity Tips

Copyblogger.com – 31 Pro Tips for a Successful, Satisfying, and Insanely Profitable 2012

Timo Kiander – Effective Time Blocking Techniques To Boost Your Productivity

Morellos Marelisa – 17 Ways to Be Happier in 2012
This article is a little general for me but I thought I would include a least one generic list of things to do.

Ali Luke – Are You Making These 7 Productivity Mistakes?

My 2012

I certainly need to start taking some of this advice as I have a massive 2012 planned. I am currently in Bulgaria, about to go skiing for 10 days and then we head to Western Europe for 3 weeks before heading back to Malaysia in the middle of February for some sun and warmth after a European winter. I have to say it has been a massive shock to the system after almost 2 years of temperatures over 30 degree Celsius.

Our 2012 plans

• February – Return to Malaysia
• April – flights to Sarawak, Borneo for a week
• May – flights to Sri Lanka for 3 weeks
• June/July – possibly flights up to China
• September – we are considering flights to Australia for 3 months
• December – Canada/US to start hopefully 12 months of travelling around in an RV

What are you goals or travel plans for 2012. Why not share them with us in the comments below.

by Ricardo

One of the real headaches before transitioning from one place – could be home – to another location is the whole upon arrival thing. Invariably the first thing a person is going to ask themself before they even purchase their airline (or train) ticket is: “I wonder if I know someone… over there?”

Yup, having someone you already know in a foreign land that you’re about to nomad in is that bridge we all hope to have. In fact, not having any contact in a far away land is one of the prime reasons travelers hesitate to go to a new place. And doesn’t it make all the difference in the world when you do have an acquaintance over there, or even a friend-of-a-friend – one who will host you for those first couple ominous nights? Someone to show you the lay of the land before you begin to finalize your living plans for that area?

We think it does. And, so do the folks at CouchSurfing.com – a nonprofit organization.

I recently became a member of CouchSurfing. Although I’ve returned home to the USA to nomad around here for the year, all the places I wish to visit are also places I know the least about. More importantly, they’re locations that I have no first-hand contacts in. (Ironically, having just spent the past ten years nomading I have far more contacts in Asia and Europe than here in my home country.) Anyway, simply relying on traditional means of accommodations (e.g. hotels, motels, inns or even hostels) are both colossally expensive here in America and, more importantly, lack the fraternity long-term travelers and nomads seek along with access to information of the town the person is hoping to base themselves in. And what makes CouchSurfing such a find is that they really offer both the host and the visitor an abundance of profile information so that a previously unknown member will seem as familiar as an old friend you’d once spent time with on the road. (If you wanna see a real life example, check out my CS profile at: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/tatteredbackpack). Moreover, they offer both Host and Surfer references and they have a reasonably good member verification program.

So, What is CouchSurfing?

According to “Mars,” who’s on the CS Communications Team, CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. The organization has been around since 2004, with the intent of connecting people together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. They now have more than a million people on board!

The mission of CS is to create inspiring experiences: cross-cultural encounters that are fun, engaging, and illuminating. These experiences take many forms. CouchSurfing’s initial focus was on hosting and “surfing” (staying with a local as a guest in their home). Alongside these core experiences, CS now also facilitates a growing array of activities and events.

How does CouchSurfing work?

CouchSurfing members share hospitality with one another – just like most seasoned travelers are already quite used to. And Hosts benefit from the exchange as well (they’re not offering up their couch and extra bedroom simply because they’re good Samaritans.) Hosts have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. (And no doubt it helps to soften the re-entry shock many long term travelers go through upon returning home.) “Surfers,” or travelers, are able to participate in the local life of the places they visit. CS also gives more people the chance to become travelers, because “surfing” lowers the financial cost of exploration.

Membership Information

Simply point your mouse over to www.couchsurfing.org and sign up! But note that the process may take a couple of weeks as they complete the verification requirement. In addition, you can shoot the breeze with other NuNomad Tribe members about couchsurfing in our Tribe couchsurfing group.

Photo: Matt Braga

By Ricardo

Imagine walking across the United States (yes, I said “walking”) with only the essentials to live and get the job done, and the mission to teach others that nomading need not require an airline ticket and foreign itinerary. Having myself been involved with The Great Peace March back in 1980s, I was happy to find that some people are trying to make it easier for others to venture off by foot in the near future. Moreover, I was happy to learn that they’ve gotten on board with kickstarter.com, a project and funding showcase that many nu nomads can take advantage of as well.

Starting on July 1st, two budding nomads, Evan Burchard and Jade Applegate, are going to make walking from coast-to-coast much easier for others by blazing a trail and producing a guide book called “The Adventure Access Guide: How to Walk Across America.”

In their words, “A cross-country walk is difficult enough without having to worry about every last detail or unknown variable. The Adventure Access Trail enables adventurers to be informed about these logistical aspects so that they can focus on the fun and interesting challenges of walking across America.”

The book will be based on their 3,400-mile journey from Boston to San Francisco. They are walking an average of 20 miles per day. Along the way, they’ll blaze the trail by placing stickers every 10 miles to create checkpoints, and they’ll even rate each checkpoint based on climate, walkability, provisions, mobile phone coverage and Internet service, and how friendly the locals are.  All of these ratings will be posted online as they explore each area.

Besides typical camping and hiking gear they’ll be packing a bit of technology with them as well, namely, a laptop, a smart phone, a solar charger, and a Spot GPS emergency beacon. They will be in touch via their blog, twitter, facebook, and email whenever they have a serviceable cell phone signal. In the more remote places where they won’t, their GPS will be there to send out an SOS if they need it.

Their decision to go off the main grid for 6 months didn’t come easily. There is a lot of preparation before hand, and ensuring that you have the funds necessary is one of the hardest parts. As many nu nomads know, making money on the road can be difficult. Savings will work great for shorter trips, but if you want to do something really long term, or travel indefinitely, having a source of revenue in place before you travel is essential. This can mean establishing specific clients ahead of time or even get your project funded as you nomad (more on this is available in the Nu Nomad).

While you’re off the grid and away from home, there are many types of work that you may be able to do in a location-independent way. Writing or other artistic pursuits such as photography, et cetera are all viable choices.  If there is some possibility to create a product during your time, then you could consider crowd-funding the project ahead of time. There are a few online platforms for this, kickstarter.com, where Evan and Jade are raising funds and awareness about their project, being the most popular. These platforms are great because they genuinely attract a crowd of people who like to see amazing things happen in the world and are willing to put their own money behind it.  Through kickstarter, backers can can pre-order a signed copy of their guidebook or even lay claim to a checkpoint along the route.

For more info on Evan and Jade’s adventure across America, visit their website at http://adventureaccess.org/. For updates during their journey, follow @adventureaccess on Twitter or on facebook.

by Thursday Bram and Gina Blitstein

Living a nomadic lifestyle may mean that you’re able to work from the beach or visit incredible places while building a business. But it also brings with it some special concerns when it comes to your finances. If you don’t take some care while you’re out seeing the world, you can easily find that your credit history picks up some less-than-wonderful souvenirs.

A reputation as an unstable credit risk: Your permanent address appears on your credit report, providing creditors a sense of your lifestyle. When your address remains consistent, they gain a sense of confidence that you aren’t going to skip out on your financial obligations. If it appears that you don’t have a steady address, it may cause creditors to consider your nomadic lifestyle as flighty and irresponsible. In short, it puts creditors’ minds at ease to know where you were, are and are likely to be in the future.

A possible solution: Keep your original address or another consistent location as your mailing address — even if you aren’t currently residing there — so that a consistent, permanent address appears in your credit history.

A risk of identity theft: Where do you receive your mail? Does it bounce all over the globe like you do? If so, there’s a greater chance that some of it will wind up in hands other than your own. Should those hands belong to an unscrupulous person, they could potentially use personal information gleaned from your mail to steal your identity and ruin your credit rating.

A possible solution: Have your mail delivered and held at one post office or post office box for you (or your agent) to personally pick up on a regular basis.

A chance of missed bills: Nothing damages your credit so quickly as missing a few payments. If your mail takes time to catch up with you or you can’t get to an internet connection to transfer money, you can be in big trouble quickly (driving up interest rates on credit cards, business loans or any other credit you rely on to make your travels a little easier).

A possible solution: Automate your finances as much as possible. If all of your bills are automatically paid out of a bank account that you take care to keep a good cushion in, you’ll be able to go a few days without an internet connection if you have to.

A problem with your visas: As you go from country to country, you’ll need to get visas, which in turn requires that you prove to each new country you visit that you won’t be a financial burden on the state. That requires a clean bill of financial health — while they may not require your actual credit history, you may still be required to discuss your finances and show that you’re in a comfortable financial position.

A possible solution: Keep your credit as clean as possible and you’ll take care of any potential visa concerns.

No matter your address, the key to safeguarding your credit is to check it regularly at Annual Credit Report, making sure the information reflected in your credit report is accurate. When you have no permanent address, it is even more important to keep on top of your credit. Factors — like the lack of a permanent address and indirect mail delivery — can throw a financial monkey wrench into the freedom of your nomadic lifestyle.

Thursday Bram and Gina Blitstein are staff writers for CreditScore.net. Thursday takes her business on the road, while writing about business topics. Gina covers personal finances topics.

Photo: moacir