Traveling in a Peacefully Productive Manner by Meggin McIntosh, PhD

Traveling puts tremendous strain on a person’s productivity…because of the wear and tear on your body, mind, soul, and emotions. It’s important to recognize this and to be proactive in addressing these issues. Think about the following:

1. Consider your mental needs and provide for those needs while traveling (e.g., good books).
2. Consider your emotional needs and provide for those needs while traveling (e.g., phone numbers of people you care about so that you can give them a call).
3. Consider your physical needs and provide for those needs while traveling (e.g., special pillows).
4. Invest in the technology you need to stay connected while traveling (e.g., smartphone, the right software).
5. Consider what your time is worth and spend the money necessary to make the best use of your time (e.g., $9.95 to connect to the Internet in your hotel room is worth it if you will have fewer emails to deal with once you get home).
6. Tip well and get the help you need. How much would a trip to the chiropractor cost vs. tipping for some assistance at the hotel?
7. Drink a lot of water. You really can’t overdo this one.
8. Eat decently. You know what that means for you.
9. Get a reasonable amount of sleep. Have earplugs and medication, as needed.
10. Plan for recovery days after travel–to recover physically, mentally, emotionally, and work-wise.

Travel, whether for business or for pleasure, is a challenge. Make it more productive for yourself by following one or more of my suggestions. Apply one or more of these right away and see what happens. Be clear on your intent to be more productive.

And for strategies to help put pockets of time into your writing, check out Putting Pockets in Your Professional Life: 52 Tips to Implement Immediately. This booklet is for professionals who are frequently rushing from meeting to meeting, promising and then not delivering, or wondering if they will ever “catch up.” In this booklet, readers will find tools to support them in our often-crazy world so that they can live their professional lives more peacefully and productively.