Here’s how to maintain that work-life balance while on the road to keep you feeling productive.
Remote work can often make you feel as though you have to be “on” 24/7 to make up for the hours away from the desk.
But, the reality is work travel doesn’t have to be disruptive to your schedule. Here are a few ways in which you can take the stress out of your next work trip.
Use apps to help organize your work travel
Organization is the key to success for any work trip. Having all your travel documents and bookings ready and in one place can help declutter your mind and alleviate stress.
Travel apps such as Tripit can help you store all your travel documents in one place for peace of mind. Knowing whether you’ll need a vaccine passport in the city you’re traveling to can help fast-track any entry requirements.
And finally, having transportation that can be scheduled ahead of time and edited easily can create a more stress-free approach to work travel.
Global chauffeur Blacklane is a great option if you’ve got work meetings in a new city and need to get around easily. By downloading the Blacklane app, you can have local, professional chauffeurs at your fingertips whenever you need.
Find a way to secure a good internet connection
A work trip can often mean trying to find a quiet corner in the hotel lobby or airport lounge to work from. Unfortunately, that can often mean spotty WiFi or bad internet connection.
There’s a few options out there to try. You could get an unlimited data package from your carrier of choice to turn your phone into a hotspot. Or, you could purchase an external wireless card for your laptop or a travel router for your smartphone, tablet, or other such devices.
Stay focused on your goals
Understanding what you want to get out of your trip – whether it’s securing a deal or connecting with colleagues – can help bring more clarity to your trip.
For some, setting goal-based intentions and writing them down can help to cut out all the excess noise and distractions on a trip. Prioritizing can help you focus on one thing at a time, rather than thinking about 12 things at once.
This could also help provide some mindfulness to your trip, which can improve your productivity and reduce stress.
Invest in your health
You can travel and still keep your wellness schedule in check – the key here will be to build routine into your day, as much as possible.
Whether that means making time in the morning for meditation or scheduling in a 30-minute workout after dinner, making time for your own health is important.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that you don’t need an elaborate gym to work up a sweat. Online and in-app workout schedules are abundant and most don’t require any equipment.
While working out is important, it’s also important to schedule in some down-time for yourself – whether that’s running a bath, reading a book before bed, or simply sitting with a coffee in the morning free of distractions. Find something that makes you feel good and do that for at least a few minutes every day.
Try to stick to a sleep schedule
Sleep should always be a top priority – getting enough shut-eye can do wonders for your health and mental wellbeing.
Knowing what your sleep cycle is and how you can improve is key to setting a healthy sleep routine. There are a number of apps out to help you track your sleep patterns, including Apple Sleep, and Pillow. If you think you’ll experience jet lag, Timeshifter can help you to adjust to new time zones.
Struggling to get to sleep? Meditation can often help to calm the mind to get it into a restful state for sleep. Downloading a meditation app can help get you started and is easy to travel with.
Find space that allows you to breathe
We can’t all work from a quiet room overlooking a leafy backyard with the soft sounds of the ocean/forest/rain in the background.
But, we can try and carve out space in the day for a moment of calm, wherever you are.
Maybe that means finding a coffee shop nearby with a quiet corner, or booking a room at a coworking space to get the buzz of an office without the constant interruptions.
If you’ve only got time to focus while you’re in transit, why not book a Blacklane ride to get you to your next meeting? The backseat of a Blacklane is a great place to escape the noise of the city.
Our chauffeurs are discreet and professional. Prefer silence during your ride? No problem. Have a playlist you’d like to listen to while you work? Just let your chauffeur know and he’ll connect it to the in-car system.
Enjoy the moment
Sometimes it can be hard to remember that you’re traveling somewhere different while you’re on a work trip. Try to take a moment to enjoy the fact you’re somewhere else.
Maybe that means talking to the locals to find a good place to go for dinner, or walking along a street you’ve never been down before to see something new.
While work travel can feel like a hassle, a lot of it does come down to mentality and creating space for yourself. Try to enjoy the little moments when you can. It’ll make your work-life balance that much better.
