How To Stay Productive On A Business Trip

Travels are inherently stressful. Now when you throw ‘business’ in, you just got your stress raised to power X. Don’t worry; we aren’t getting into some math talks (I know you hate those. LOL) We are here to show you ways to stay sane and productive while on those juice-sapping trips.

If you’ve been on a number of business travels in the past, I bet you understand how draining these trips can be. For first-timers, I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but it’s not going to be cherry and cheese out there.

From packing for the trip to finding your footing in the new country, you’re going to run into many nerve-racking actions that will leave your body jaded. If care isn’t taken, you might not even be at full strength when it’s time to do what you came for.

To ensure none of that happens, we encourage you to read this post to the end.

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How To Stay Productive On A Business Trip

1. Start With A Visa Type That Gives You More Days Than You Need

One of the reasons things get messy on a business trip is because people always try to complete their mission within the shortest time possible. And you can blame the immigration offices for that.

Business travelers often get visa approvals covering exactly the number of days or weeks they need to complete their mission. As a result, there isn’t enough room to do things at a slower and more composed pace.

To solve this challenge, business travelers need to start applying for visa types that give them plenty of room to do things at a much slower pace. You won’t rush things when you know you have plenty of time to complete your mission. And in light of that, you’ll handle your dealings in a more productive way.

A good example of a visa type that gives travelers more days than they need is the ESTA USA visa.

Introducing The ESTA US e-visa

This online visa scheme gives business travelers up to 90 days of stay in the US. So, if you’re going for a business meeting or dealing in the US, you have approximately three months to complete whatever you came for. Another interesting point about the ESTA is that you can apply for another 90 days once your initial 90 days are over. Also, ESTA takes only 72 hours to process, and it doesn’t require any visa interview.

The only downside with an ESTA status is that it’s only available to citizens of a select few countries, like ESTA UK, ESTA Germany, ESTA Singapore, etc.

2. Plan Everything Ahead

When on a business trip, some of the common stressors you’ll encounter may include:

Difficulty finding a location
Language barrier
Unforeseen developments
Difficulty managing your regular tasks
Financial strain
Culture shock
etc

All of these can put you off your stride. However, when you have a plan to deal with each one beforehand, you’re already one step ahead.

For example, you can plan ahead for language and communication issues by downloading a translation app on your phone. With that, you can easily talk to locals when you get to your destination. As for finding out locations, you can also call on mobile apps to do that for you. As far as managing your routines go, you can use a to-do list planner to draw out everything you’ll be doing each day before you go. If you’ve learned your destination is a busy place and that transportation might be hard to get, arrange for a car service.

Summarily, taking a moment to plan each day you’re going to spend on your trip can save you a lot of stress. So, don’t underestimate the importance of planning.

3. Understand Your Productivity Hours

Some activities are best attended to in the morning, while some are best handled in the evening. Whenever possible, make sure you fit your schedules to your productivity hours.

A productivity hour is when you’re most productive in a day.

For example, let’s say your plan for the day is to:

Meet with business associates
Hold a virtual meeting with your office back home
Procure some equipment.

You can schedule item #A for morning, #C for afternoon, and #B for evening. That way, you can attend to your associates while you’re still pumped up, purchase equipment when you’re becoming tired, and talk to your staff back home when you’re relaxing in your hotel later in the day.

4. Delegate And Automate Tasks

Rather than trying to take on all the tasks under your wing, look for ways to delegate your tasks. If you don’t have a junior colleague, you can give your tasks to, look for ways to outsource. Not having to take up too many tasks can help you focus on the important stuff while on a journey.

If your tasks aren’t the kind you can easily outsource, consider hiring a personal Virtual Assistant (VA). You can find such persons on popular freelance websites. A VA can take calls for you, answer emails, reply to DMs, engage customers, keep in touch with your colleagues or workers, and do much more.

Also, it makes sense to automate anything you can. For example, if you handle your business marketing or CRM, you can automate certain aspects like SEO, Customer communication, emailing, social media posts, etc.

5. Choose A Productive Work Zone

Depending on the nature of your job and the types of tasks you need to complete on your travel, it may be essential to work from a dedicated work zone.

For instance, some people love the idea of working on a white sand beach when they travel, while some prefer the comfort of their hotel rooms. There are those who find co-working spaces a good option. And there are people who love to tend to their tasks from within a local café.

Find out what works for you and go there every day.