Intro:
Traveling for business isn’t always a picnic.
There’s a lot to keep straight.
In fact, traveling for business can sometimes be one of the most hectic things you’ll ever do.
You only have so much time to get everything done when you travel.
When you travel and work at a different location (away from ‘home base’), a time crunch is pretty much always unavoidable.
Why?
Because you just can’t roll all of the work over into the next week like you can at the home office.
For this reason, it’s really important to make sure that you prioritize a few things.
And in this post, you’re going to learn five important things to keep in mind during a business trip, to help you remember what’s important and beneficial while you travel and conduct business on the road.
Let’s dive into it.
1. Keep Track Of Your Mileage
Your company doubtlessly has a mileage policy—and following that policy and recording your mileage as the policy instructs is massively beneficial (in fact, it’s actually crucial to do this correctly, for tax purposes).
If you’re a travel manager or human resources manager who’s managing traveling employees, then it’s also really important for you to make sure that your travel policy is written out in a cohesive format that everyone will understand.
Tip: Read this post for some assistance with updating your mileage policy in light of these rising fuel prices!
2. Look For Ways To Save Time
When you’re out and about traveling for business, efficiency is really going to be the key to getting everything done.
This means finding ways to cut out needless wasted time so that you can dedicate more time to the things that actually matter.
There are a lot of ways to do this.
But at the end of the day, it really comes down to:
- Creative problem solving
- Avoiding long lines
- Choosing transportation options that will buy you more time instead of costing you more time
- And avoiding time traps that will threaten to drag out into needless ‘waiting’ situations
These are just a few of the overarching strategies that you can deploy to help you get more done in less time while you’re on the road.
3. Eat Healthily
When you’re traveling, there’s a huge temptation to eat a lot of fast food.
Why?
Well, as we’ve already mentioned, you’re going to be in a time crunch.
But it’s also just super easy and convenient.
Plus, it tastes good.
Everyone loves a fried chicken sandwich or a burger and fries, right?
However, you’re going to get a lot more done—and you’re going to have a much better experience—if you can find a way to eat healthier food options while you’re traveling.
This doesn’t have to be rocket science.
Buy some fruits and vegetables, and carry them with you in a cooler.
This is such a better option than settling for that grease burger every night.
4. Get Some Exercise
If you’re traveling by plane or car, then you’re probably going to be doing a lot of sitting in place for prolonged periods of time.
This is especially true if your work also requires you to sit down.
And sitting down isn’t necessarily good for you.
For example, if you’re traveling to work at a computer terminal, to sit down during meetings, to attend a conference where you’ll be seated and listening to speakers, etc.
This is the type of environment where you’re going to be tempted to do a lot of sitting and not much exercise.
However, once again, you’re going to get a lot more done—and your work is going to be a lot more productive—if you can find a way to get up, get moving, and get some exercise in between stints of transportation and work.
5. Try To Get Some Sleep
Keeping your sleep schedule on track while traveling can be a nightmare, especially when you take jetlag and other noisy flight passengers into account.
However, it’s really important to do what you can to get the best sleep possible.
Always make sure you bring earplugs with you, and that you put on one of those sleeping face masks so that you can block out the light and the noise when the time comes to get some shuteye.
Getting quality rest really matters.
If you get sleep deprived while traveling, it’s really going to cut into your performance—and it’s going to make you feel terrible from a health perspective.
Conclusion
Hopefully, these five tips have given you everything you need to really maximize the potential of your next business trip.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Traveling for business is an art form all of its own, and we never stop learning about it.
So keep up the good work, and always try to make every new trip even better than the last one.
You’ve got this. We believe in you.
Now get out there and get it done.
