Often, when traveling for business, team leaders are faced with the need to get tasks completed remotely. Even the most experienced multi-tasker can find it challenging to balance work and personal life between staying in touch with the team and discovering new places. Therefore, staying productive while traveling for business can be pretty challenging.
When it comes to combining travel and work, many imagine a white sandy beach, a cocktail, a laptop, and complete relaxation. But in practice, it is more about the need to adapt, make decisions quickly and work at every opportunity. How to avoid the such fuss and be able to relax while traveling for business? Some exciting tips can help in such an issue.
6 Tips to Stay Productive While Traveling
Just imagine, due to stats, 38% of new leaders fail within 1, 5 years, and sometimes the case is in the lack of productivity. Moreover, productivity drops are common when traveling because of the time zone changes, jetlags, and the need to adapt to a new place and still solve business issues remotely. To deal with it, you have to plan smart and get to know yourself a little better. Below are some easy, still effective tips.
1. Define Your Productivity Time
Each person has unique characteristics in almost everything, and when it comes to productivity, uniqueness is no exception. Perhaps, for this reason, more and more people want to be able to work on a free schedule and not be dependent on others in the context of time and deadlines for completing tasks. Therefore, to find the peak of productivity, you need to know at what time you often experience it.
It is necessary to analyze your day and understand at what hour you feel a wave of energy. Your mind becomes clear, and you experience a physical influx of energy. For instance:
- 07:00-13:00: maximum productivity;
- 13:00-15:00: minimum productivity;
- 15:00-21:00: average productivity.
How to determine your productivity time? You can start to work at different time intervals or analyze your routine. Surely you have noticed that you are more attentive, diligent, and think faster in some parts of the day.
Determining the point of activity of your body is an opportunity to save time on solving time-consuming tasks. And on the contrary, if you decide to work when your productivity is at its lowest, there is a high risk that you will complete tasks for several hours longer. Of course, there are days when this scheme may not work. But if you analyze your routine for several days, you will notice patterns.
Note the importance of accounting for jet lag. Firstly, it will take a little time to adapt to the new time. Many people live by their local hours on a short business trips, and sometimes this is an excellent way to stay productive.
2. Choose the Right Work Zones
Working outside the home or office can cause discomfort, especially for those just starting to combine travel with business. Working on a white sand beach is not always about productivity. These pictures are often used to demonstrate the life of freelancers and digital nomads; however, they are nothing more than beautiful pictures. In practice, the beach atmosphere can be a killer of your time and your productivity.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to clearly understand what you need to complete tasks with minimal time and costs effectively. For example, you can consider specialized coworking areas for freelancers. In popular tourist destinations, finding such zones is not a problem. They usually offer comfortable workspaces, fast internet, and coffee/bars. But be aware that additional costs may apply.
If you plan to choose a local cafe as a place to work, then give preference to quieter places. You will be distracted by the chaos around you in the tourist bustle, having the minimal opportunity to concentrate your attention.
Try working for a few hours in a hotel or on a balcony. Often such an environment contributes to the concentration of attention and a desire to cope with tasks quickly. The reason is simple – when traveling, even for business, few people are ready to spend their time in a hotel when amazing discoveries are just one step away. And often, the hotel room can be a kick to overtake strict deadlines.
3. Think about Access to the Internet
The fact that Wi-Fi connection is everywhere is still a myth! For this reason, to stay productive, you should make sure that you have access to the internet. Many popular tourist destinations can often surprise you with a real problem with the internet. For example, despite its luxury and attractiveness for tourists and even digital nomads, Indonesia has issues with the internet, and finding Wi-Fi sometimes becomes a quest.
So, an Internet connection with sudden interruptions does not contribute to productive work—one of the essential criteria for finding a place to remote work while traveling is constantly working Wi-Fi. What’s more, don’t expect public Wi-Fi connections to help. It is unlikely that you will be able to find a place for serious, stable work for a couple of hours, but you can send letters or quickly respond to messages.
Also, hosts often provide their Internet connection. Don’t forget to ask about it immediately after confirming your room reservation. One of the disadvantages of using such an Internet connection is that half of your time will need to be spent indoors. Also, you can consider using mobile internet to access the internet outside the hotel. For example, you can purchase a local SIM card, which is often the best option.
To prevent productivity drops because of poor Internet connection, the fundamental rule is to monitor the situation at your destination before you get there. Read travel blogs and find out how things are with the internet. This will give you a clear understanding of how to proceed and where to find a solution.
4. Learn How to Work Offline
Today, almost everyone is used to working in real-time, so life and work can stop without the internet. When traveling, it is important to understand that many situations can arise when it will not be possible to use the internet or your gadgets, such as during a transfer, flight, etc. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to work.
It would help if you remembered that you could work offline. For example, you can prepare content without an internet connection and even without a smartphone/PC. Of course, writing text in your notebook may not be the most convenient solution. But today, there are various apps with which you can convert handwritten text to digital. Therefore, many issues can be solved without technology and the internet. It can often be a natural way out when it comes to travel.
During a flight or long transfer, you can take notes, schedule, plan, or create content. For many, such tasks are considered manageable, but performing them on the go allows you to stay in good working shape and not lose a sense of productivity. And they are perfect for travel conditions. Are you waiting for an airplane? This is a great time to solve easy problems. You won’t summit Everest at this time, but you will certainly benefit from not losing time.
5. Automate or Delegate Some Tasks
Automation is a must-do for all modern people who want to stay productive. Automation is a significant time-saver vital both in everyday life and for those who travel. Today, many different tools allow you to take on various tasks. For example, you can automate the processes of guest posting, email marketing, and so on.
It will also sometimes be helpful to consider hiring an assistant. In the freelance services market, you can find a wide variety of experts ready to work remotely for an affordable fee. You can hire an assistant who will answer customer emails, calls, etc.
Automation or delegation does not mean anything negative. Those who want to be productive always strive to delegate or automate what is possible. If your mail is being looked at by a specialist in the morning instead of you, you may have a lot of time to complete more important and complex tasks that probably require your professionalism and attention.
Being able to rely on an AI or a personal assistant is just what you need to minimize stress while traveling. If suddenly your internet is lost, devices break down, or something else, you will not need to worry about something happening to your business, as everything will work even without your intervention.
Lastly, everyday little things can hinder your productivity. You should automate as much as possible in the work context and personal issues. For example, if you need to pay monthly health insurance or business expenses, set up automatic payments. These small administrative actions can be annoying even at home, but they are additional stressors during business trips.
6. Develop a Single Daily Schedule and Follow It
The key to the success and productivity of many people is that they have a straightforward daily routine. But here, we are not talking about the classic schedule of the day to which we are all accustomed. We are talking about the fact that it is necessary to develop a single and universal schedule that can be used regardless of your location.
A well-thought-out daily routine is a key to the success of any modern person, whether they work in an office, as a freelancer, or have chosen the digital nomad lifestyle. By the way, many run away from office work precisely because of the opportunity to forget about the day’s schedule. But you still have to go back to planning your time to be productive.
So, it is necessary to develop a daily schedule that can be applied even during a business trip. Also, think about the ways to adapt your schedule for different conditions. For example, if you travel permanently, your daily activities should not depend on a particular place, time zone, or culture, keeping you productive anywhere.
If you are used to working in specialized coworking cafes, you should be prepared because, in one country, you can get all the conditions, while in another country, you may not find such a coworking zone. Therefore, in such cases, it is worth determining what makes you feel comfortable working in a coworking area and knowing the alternatives with which you can get an approximate feeling in the case when it is not possible to find such a place.
If you already have your schedule to which you are accustomed, then, in this case, it is worth trying to adapt it, taking into account the change in your location. Or rather, make it so that it will fit perfectly into the tourist lifestyle in compliance with the rituals already familiar to you. If you are used to checking your mail at 8:00, you should continue to do so. If you are used to working after 13.00, and your trip allows you to continue moving on the same schedule, you should continue to do so. The new daily schedule while traveling can be a killer of productivity. Try to stay organized.
Conclusion
These simple tips can be great helpers in such a matter as productivity. Staying productive regardless of the environment is the top priority of those who value their time and desire to develop personally and professionally. Try these tips to stay afloat no matter where you are.
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