5 Tips for Making Business Trips Feel More Relaxing
Travel can be stressful even when you’re going somewhere for a vacation and know you can relax once you arrive at your destination. Stress can increase when you know you’re traveling for work and won’t be able to unwind as you would on a vacation. Here are five tips for making business trips feel more relaxing.
- Create an Itinerary
An itinerary is a fantastic tool for people to ensure their trips are well-organized. You can create a spreadsheet or use a calendar or notebook, depending on what you’re comfortable with. The key is to include all of the activities you have planned, relevant dates and times, places you’ll be staying and the locations of meetings and other important information. For example, your itinerary would include the address of the Marriott Providence you’ll be staying at, the dates you’ll be checking in and checking out, and all of the meetings you have scheduled for your trip.
- Prepare To Be Away From Your Office
If you prepare for your trip as much as possible before you leave, you’ll likely feel much more relaxed while you’re traveling. For a business trip, you should prepare to be away not only from home, but also from the office. If you don’t travel for work regularly, look for checklists or ask your manager what needs to be done to prepare for a trip. Set an away message on your email, back up files, inform co-workers who may be affected by your absence and make sure your workspace is in order.
- Have a Plan for Your Return
When you prepare to be away from your office, you should also prepare for your eventual return. Make sure your manager and other employees who will be affected by your absence are aware of how long you expect to be gone and whether that could change at any time. Before you leave, check on the status of each project you work on and determine what will need to be done when you return. Consider how often you’ll need to check your email while you’re away and block out time when you get back to go through your email and other backlogs that you may not have had time to get to while you’re on your business trip.
- Build Time To Relax into Your Itinerary
Just because you’re traveling for work doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to relax at all. Travel can take a lot out of a person, and you may be traveling to interesting places. You should look for ways to build time to relax into your itinerary no matter where you’re going or how long you’ll be there. Check your destination for interesting attractions, locations and points of interest. Practice relaxation techniques such as meditation and make a point to exercise while you’re traveling. If you’re going somewhere where there is a pool or a beach, try to build time into your schedule to visit.
- Pack Smart And Light
A business trip is not a vacation, so you should pack according to what you need more than what you want. Pack all the things you generally need to live, including appropriate clothing, toiletries and medications. Try to pack light, avoiding checked luggage as much as possible. Determine what kinds of work supplies you’ll need and how many. For example, consider whether you’ll need any physical records or if you can just bring your cell phone and laptop. You can check your lodging beforehand to see if there are any amenities, such as a laundry room, that you can take advantage of to lighten your packing burden.
Remember, while there may be stressors you can’t avoid on a business trip, there are ways you can mitigate your stress and regulate your responses to stressors. If you have a flexible plan and allow yourself time to unwind between periods of work, your business trips can become much less stressful.
