Optimizing business travel

Changing your flight plan to optimize business travel

After being grounded for several years due to COVID-19, I’m travelling again; working with leadership teams and doing keynote presentations. On a recent flight home, I reflected on how my approach to business travel has changed throughout my career. I wanted to share a few tips I’ve picked on the road that will help you optimize your next business trip.

Recalibrating your mindset 

In the past, when I planned for a business trip, I’d brace myself for a grind: the airport check-ins and delays, long flights with little legroom, layovers, time zone changes, taxis, meetings, dinners, meet-and-greets and unfamiliar hotel room.

It’s also easy to fall into the pity-party trap of rewarding yourself for being away from your family with a nice glass (or two) of  beer or wine, a decadent meal and dessert. The next thing you know, you’re eating and drinking too much and not sleeping enough. By the time you wake up for your meeting or conference, you are already behind the eight-ball, depending on caffeine for your energy.

I used that road trip formula early in my career, but I knew it had to change.

So, what if you flip the script and change your mindset to having a new goal: returning from a business trip more refreshed than when you left? It’s possible, believe me.

Many day-to-day stressors in your home life don’t exist on the road. No school drop-offs, soccer practices, making lunches or dinners, dishes, garbage day, oil changes, lawn mowing or grocery shopping.

All these domestic duties are temporarily on hold. While you are in a different area code, you aren’t cooking, doing dishes or laundry -- or even making your bed!

You are getting pampered while away from home despite your work obligations, so make the most of it.

Strategic flight path

Do you routinely arrive at your hotel late in the evening before your meeting or presentation? I know many clients who do this, and even hearing their travel itinerary stresses me out.

You need to game-plan for success. If you have an early-morning meeting, you must be rested and ready.

So, arrive a day or even two ahead of your big day or meeting. Many things will be out of your control on the road, but you can still focus on what is in your control, like your arrival schedule. And for bonus points, choose your seat wisely to be the most comfortable during your flight.

Work out the jet lag

Don’t leave your gym routine at home when you are travelling.

Regardless of time zone, research has proven that if you exercise when you arrive, you will have a better chance to sleep that night, which improves your chances for a successful trip.

When you book your hotel, ask if it has a gym or a safe and scenic spot nearby for running or walking. If I arrive at 4pm at the hotel, I want to exercise right away, so when I’m on the plane, I will start hydrating and make sure I’m moving during the trip and skipping the mini booze bottles on the plane.

I’ll have a bottle of water, a snack, or a power bar for the cab or Uber from the airport, so there are no excuses when I arrive at the hotel.

Choose wisely 

It’s easy when you are on the road to feel pressured to meet everyone and say yes to everything because the company has spent the money for you to travel and represent your business.

You may have back-to-back meetings or an all-day conference, and then there are the cocktail receptions, dinners out, tickets to the game or a concert, and then a nightcap.

I’ve learned that you can’t say yes to everything. There will always be colleagues, clients, or people who want your attention, but it’s up to you to guard your energy and well-being.

I know it’s essential to connect with colleagues and clients on the road, but you have to do so strategically, or you will end up depleted, and your work on the road will suffer.

Return ticket

It’s worth mentioning the flight home. Typically, we take a late flight home after the meeting or conference because we’re excited to get home to see our family or significant others.

You know the drill. Racing to the airport, an evening flight with no time for sleep and then, by the time you are home, the family is asleep, and the dog still needs a walk.

But what if you decided to stay an extra night after your work is done? You can take the time to regroup and make notes about the trip and plans for the weekend with your family. After a good sleep in the luxurious hotel linens, you get up, fly home, and arrive fresh and relaxed.

Happy travels!