Business trips can be exhausting. Packing and unpacking. Planes, trains, cabs and rental cars. Different time zones. Endless meetings. Even while on a business trip, work-life balance is possible. As with most goals, it starts with planning and scheduling.
Here are 5 tips to scheduling work-life balance into your business trip:
1. Prioritize.
Prioritize what must be done based on your intended outcome for the trip. Are you there to close a deal? Is networking your prime objective? Are you attending a conference where certain presentations are more important that others? Know what you must attend and what you don’t need to include.
2. Schedule appointments before you arrive.
By scheduling your appointments ahead of time, you will have a solid plan for your trip. You will be able to prepare for those appointments before you arrive and thus have a more successful trip. You don’t want to cut into your business time by trying to find a quiet place to make calls and then making those calls.
3. Time to eat.
Eating healthy while travelling is challenging enough without having the added pressure of time. Schedule enough time to find, travel to (and from) and eat your meals accounting for wait time, type of restaurant and check payment. A relaxed lunch breaks up any hectic day in or out of the office. Plus, who wants to be eating delivery in their hotel at 9:30p.m.?
4. Time off.
Schedule a morning, afternoon, day or weekend off around your trip. Take this time before, during or after your trip. Including leisure time during your business trips is an easy way to create work-life balance and enjoy the place you’ve travelled to. Fifty-three percent of Americans often tie leisure time into business travel according to a survey conducted by TripAdvisor. Michele Perry, TripAdvisor’s Director of Communications commented, “It’s interesting that so many business travelers attach leisure time to their business trips, and it may help explain why so many enjoy business travel.”
5. Make personal calls.
Schedule time during your trip to call family and/or close friends. This will not only give you a reprieve but also will keep you out of the doghouse with certain people. It adds that often overlooked element of life to your business trip.
Work-life balance is possible on business trips if you plan and schedule for it. Here’s to enjoying your next business trip with some life thrown in!
Source by Angela M Martin
