How to stay productive during your trip

Checking emails, answering phones and making presentations are all difficult enough as it is in the office. Combine that with the stress of catching flights and finding Wi-Fi in another country, and you tend to wonder how one can stay productive while on a business trip.

As you can assume, it seems to be difficult to remain productive throughout your business trip. While business travel does pose some difficulties, you must remember that staying productive isn’t impossible. In fact, here are some tips that will boost your productivity and mood just in time for your next trip.

Stay organized
Find out what keeps you organized and stick to it. There are various mobile applications that will remind you of important meetings and things to do while you’re on your trip. If you're partial to writing things by hand, invest in a planner to bring along with you. Figure out what works out for you and from there, you’ll be able to hold yourself accountable for things on your “to-do” lists.

Communicate with your office
Before leaving for your business trip, it’s important to speak with people in your office about what times you’ll be available to speak. By planning it out beforehand, there will be a smoother flow of communication. You’ll also be able to avoid an hour-long delay in response or being jolted awake in the middle of the night to answer a phone call.

Invest in a hotspot
In the states, finding free Wi-Fi is as easy as making a quick trip to your local Starbucks. Overseas, things aren’t always that easy. When attempting to stay connected to your office overseas, Wi-Fi is crucial. Investing in a hotspot can remove the worry by offering a reliable and secure connection. Also, with a secure connection that only travelers in your organization have, it ensures that your data remains protected.

Keep chargers with you at all times
While this seems obvious, it’s something that’s so easy to forget. Make sure you always have your chargers with you, even if your battery is full. This includes the charger for your laptop, phone and other important electronics you’ll be carrying with you. Avoid the awkward moment of asking the room for a MacBook charger because your laptop dying during the middle of your presentation. Just always keep the charger right next to it.

Plan your days in advanced
We can’t stress this enough. Schedule your days. Another way to stay organized and productive to schedule everything ahead of time. It'll help to remind you to excuse yourself from your business lunch that ran over so you're not rushing to your next meeting. When you have a schedule, you’ll be able to plan out all your business obligations, while making time for yourself.

Ensure you take time to relax
Speaking of making time for yourself, always remember that even though you’re on a business trip, it’s necessary for you to pencil in some down time. If you don’t make some time for yourself, it’ll be easy for you to get burnt out. Without time to recoup, it’ll get more difficult to stay attentive during meetings and ultimately hurt your productivity. It’s normal to want push through and work throughout your entire trip, but it’s impossible to be on top of everything 24 hours a day.