Even though working from home remotely has become a crucial part of modern corporate culture, traveling for work is still very much necessary for many professions. Business trips have their benefits as they allow you to experience new things, foods, and places, but the change of scenery may not be enough to help you stay productive while traveling for work. After all, this is a clear shift from your daily routine that can trigger stress, cause lack of focus, make you tired and irritable, and generally affect both your professional and personal life negatively – unless you establish some habits and practices that can help you stay on top of things.
Make the Most Out of the Right Tools
In general, the best that you can do to manage high productivity levels while traveling for work is to stay organized. Fortunately, there are plenty of different tools nowadays that can help you do exactly that.
For instance, if you have to collaborate with your team when you’re on the road, tools such as Trello can help you keep track of every single project in real-time. For note-taking, Microsoft’s OneNote application may be a true lifesaver. Furthermore, there are plenty of rather effective planner apps and calendar tools that won’t let you forget about your tasks or make mistakes with double booking. In the end, if you prefer to use Chrome as your default browser and have to manage your work on the go, you can also utilize various Chrome extensions that will keep your organization and schedule in check.
Outsource
On a business trip, having to manage every single aspect of your work can become quite challenging. Trying to achieve it all can burn you out so much that you end up with poor performance.
That said, you can simply hire a contractor who can deal with some other tasks waiting at home. These days, it’s easy enough to hop online and get in touch with a freelancer who has the knowledge and experience to assist you on a project-by-project basis.
Downtime Can Boost Efficiency
Every time you travel, you’ll have to deal with unexpected breaks, often between the flights. Instead of wasting this downtime on unproductive things such as browsing your Facebook, try to do something worth your while.
In that respect, you could go through your inbox and answer your email and tend to other administrative tasks, as well as other activities that need to be done but don’t require too much mental effort. However, if you leave them all for a later time when you have to focus on truly important tasks, chances are you’ll find yourself stuck with time with plenty of room for stress to creep in. Even half an hour of downtime in an airport can prove to be invaluable for your productivity later on.
Leverage Your To-Do List
It’s a known fact that to-do lists are great assets when trying to boost your productivity and organization skills. If traveling for work, it would do you a ton of good to up your to-do list game and add everything that has to be done before the trip at least a week ahead.
That way, you won’t have to leave feeling stressed, anxious, and worried about your prior engagements when you should be focusing on the task at hand.
Practice Mindfulness When You Can
The quality of your personal life often affects your attitude towards the professional one as well. If you have to deal with frequent work travel, which is definitely both a physical and mental stressor, it’s important to remember to live in the moment and appreciate the present as a gift that it is.
With that in mind, take the time to welcome mindfulness into your life. Respect your mind and your body and listen to your needs. After all, when your professional life gets hectic and busy, self care in your personal time can prove to be crucial for your future performance and happiness.
Maintain a Routine on Your Business Trip
If you have a daily routine that works for you at home, it would do you a ton of good to try to replicate that same routine while on a business trip. For instance, if you have a habit of waking up or going to sleep at the same time every workday, do your best to time your nights and mornings the same while traveling for work.
Obviously, not every part of your daily home routine can be replicated on the business trip, but if you also tend to have your meals at around the same time every day, exercise, and so on, you can pretty much stick to this routine wherever you are. This will provide you with the much-needed structure and familiarity that’s been working great for you so far productivity-wise.
Take Care of Your Health
Just because you’re away from home on a business trip doesn’t mean you should forget about all of your personal rules. It’s important to be very mindful of your physical health when on a business trip if you want to enjoy a productive performance when it matters the most.
That said, do your best to stick to your regular diet; even though business trips usually mean buffets with tons of food, you honestly don’t need to confuse your metabolism and gut with foods that you typically avoid. Also, pay attention to your alcohol consumption. While it’s not uncommon for colleagues to go for a drink after a long day when on a business trip, drinking too much alcohol can make you hung over and considerably unproductive the next day.
With your next business trip coming up, keep in mind that multitasking only kills productivity. Therefore, do your best to organize your tasks and stick to that schedule so that you don’t have to split your attention between several different projects when you should be focusing solely on the work matter that you’re traveling for in the first place.