Traveling Executives can be Productive
If you’re a busy executive that travels frequently, listen up. Your productivity doesn’t need to suffer just because you’re on the road. And, in fact, travel time is the perfect opportunity for catching up on work. This is the time when you are free of telephone and office interruptions, so there’s really no better time to focus on some of your priorities and increase your productivity. Here are five steps to staying on top of your productivity when you’re traveling.
Plan your work to fit into your travel time. What can you do while at departure terminals, on the airplane, ferry, or bus? Think about your schedule and write your plan to suit your schedule.
Bring that work with you. Ideally, don’t bring paper – it’s bulky and conspicuous. Scan and download electronic documents instead. Also, consider privacy - it's much easier to read a paper document over your shoulder than it is to read what's on your laptop.
Do the work. Nothing like actually completing the tasks that you planned to complete to give you a sense of freedom. Don’t dally about the work. Just do it.
Check off the tasks as you complete them. Remember that plan we talked about in step 1? Use your plan to check off the tasks when they’re done.
Reward yourself. When a task is completed, reward yourself with a nice long walk to re-energize your limbs after sitting for so long, or use the hotel’s spa services, or one of my favourites – take in some shopping therapy (this one actually fits in the “nice long walk” quite nicely – it's like getting two rewards at the same time!).
Use these five steps each time you travel. They will help you stop wasting time and be more productive than you thought possible. You may even decide to travel more often!
