In today’s world, you can leave your work but your work won’t leave you. We have our work responsibilities and we are really busy. But sometimes we need to get out of our cubicles and wander off to beautiful places. But hey, when you finally decide to wander off, you are delegated an important assignment to complete, a meeting to attend, etc. Hence, the travel gets delayed or you end up having to work in the middle of your exciting trip.
We all have become somewhat like ‘Road warriors’. While work is our necessity it’s not always easy to do it while you travel. However, the following tips can help professionals who travel frequently handle their jobs and trips more effectively.
Have The Right Tools
Before you leave, get equipped with the right tools. Having the right tools is vital to your game plan. These are the things which become more important when you have an online meeting or a job interview. You don’t want to find yourself scrambling at the last-minute to get everything you need.
The first thing you may think of having is a good smartphone. Although you can get a lot of things done without being in an office, you’re not going to do it all on your phone. You can read emails there, but you can’t type out reports. This is especially true since you’ll blow up your data plan and find yourself dealing with a dwindling battery too.
Even considering your limitations, you’ll still want a good phone because it will truly improve your game plan. For this reason, you should make sure you also have a really good charger. When you’re in the car a lot, this should be a spare battery cover. This gives you peace of mind while enabling your productivity. At the same time, you’ll never worry about not being able to take a call at a scheduled time.
After you have your phone taken care of, invest in a few other tools as well.
- A Logitech keyboard for your iPad will make you more productive since you can actually type like you would on a laptop
- A portable MiFi device (router) enables you to connect to the Internet from anywhere
- High-quality headphones are necessary for blocking out background noise so you can hear what’s really going on.
Manage Your Time Wisely
Once you have all the tools you need, it’s time to get yourself ready as well. There are so many things you must think about – things you’ve probably never paid any mind to in the past. These include:
- Good time management is important because you can no longer blame traveling as your obstacle. Now you can meet people from throughout the world, regardless of the time of day it is. Your business can move at the speed of the world, which is really fast. As such, you don’t need much notice for a meeting. Even with the tightest schedule, you can still make a meeting work.
- Good project management is just as important as good time management. When you’re traveling you’ll find some projects are better for these days than others. For instance, when you’re driving a familiar route and you know you have a strong phone signal, then go ahead and schedule some phone calls. However, if you’re at an airport or unsure of your phone’s signal, avoid making calls at that time.
Take Care of Yourself
Taking care of your business or work is important, but you must remember that it isn’t going to run without you. As such, you must make sure you take care of yourself. There are two very important concepts involved here – prioritizing and accountability.
Prioritize your tasks, including self-care, so you know what needs to be accomplished while you’re traveling. Make sure you include any pending tasks and decide what’s most important so you know what you need to do first. Now try finishing anything you can’t push-off for a while so it’s completed before you leave and you won’t worry about it while you’re gone. If this isn’t possible, try enlisting a colleague’s help so the project is still completed on time.
Taking the time to do this will help you enjoy your travel destination at the end of your workday. This is an important part of taking care of yourself because you’ll need time to de-stress, especially when you’re dealing with things like delays and crowded flights, time-zone changes, and missed connections.
While you’re away, plan some sightseeing or a quiet dinner at your hotel at the end of each day. This will prevent you from burning the midnight oil while you’re on the road since this only adds to your stress. However, it’s tempting to keep working after normal hours while you’re traveling because you don’t have anything else to do. The best way of doing this is by writing down three things you must do while in this location. Compare this with your business trip’s objective and cross off anything that doesn’t align with it. This helps you focus better.
Once you’re focused, you’re better equipped to hold yourself accountable. You’ll need a system for this though. This is especially true since you’re alone on the road without anyone checking in on you. For this reason, it’s really easy to procrastinate.
You should come up with some ways to hold yourself accountable. One of the suggestions is to create deadlines in your smart phone’s calendar to remind yourself of goals you must do so you’ll stay on track.
Enjoy your work along with your travel
Last but not the least, enjoy your travel and work simultaneously. Try to incorporate your work activities in your travel schedule such that it becomes fun. When you start enjoying your work during your trip, your travel becomes even more exciting and fulfilling. Especially, when you are traveling alone your work can be your best friend and companion.
About the Author:
Being a senior business associate, I strive to help different brands and start ups to make efficient
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