If you feel like George Clooney from the film ‘Up In The Air’, collecting flight miles as your work takes you across the country, then you would well know that it can get very difficult to manage work with so much travel. You might feel tempted to take a break and enjoy some music or a book on a particular trip, but there are 150 unread emails in your inbox, there are multiple clients and deadlines to meet. If that is the case, then here are some things that will help you juggle work and travel like a pro.
Tanvir Khan, Manager at SD Entertainment, says, “You have to draw up a routine that will ensure you get enough work done either in the beginning or end of the day. Plan your trip likewise, in a way which allows you to be available to meet deadlines. You can try to do things which require lesser attention on the go, and keep the things that will require concentrated efforts for the time you will be at the desk.”
Here are some other things that will help you if you travel a lot for work.
Be Smart About Your Bookings
Book tickets in a way that will ensure you spend lesser waking hours on the journey. Which means taking a night train to your next destination, or booking a flight in the early morning, which leaves many productive hours of the day for you to work. Tanvir adds, “Travelling for work can be physically exhausting, so you must ensure sufficient hours for rest too.”
Use Your Hours Wisely
If you waiting for a layover, you can make the most of this time. Most Indian airports, and now even railway stations have a good wi-fi connection. While it can be tempting to do custom shopping, it is wiser to get some urgent work done before you start your next journey.
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Empower Yourself With The Right Devices
The right tools are critical to getting your work done while traveling. You might use the cell phone to type out an email, but you can hardly use it to write a project report. And even if you decide to rely essentially on your phone, it is better to carry a quick charger and battery back-up, so that work does not get hindered. Additionally, if you travel regularly for work, consider investing in a few items that will make you more productive. For instance, a keyboard cover that can work with your iPad.
Be Resourceful About Your Priority List
Tanvir says it is important to learnt to delegate work when you are travelling a lot. You should also rearrange your project and task list, so that you can organise work according to your convenience, instead of running behind deadlines when they upon you. For instance, you can make some work calls if you are travelling through a well-connected area. But if you know that you are going to be out of range, then you can plan to finish some reading or making presentation, or some other such task.
These approaches will help you to put in productive work even when you are travelling.
