Business travel is sometimes part of the joys of working life. If you love to see the world, great. If you prefer your own company and seldom waste any time driving straight home from work to lounge in your comfy clothes, then, not so great. But when the business travel option comes around, one thing from which we can all benefit is learning how to stay productive.
Let Technology Do the Heavy Lifting
Creating, sharing, and uploading content on the move isn’t always easy. Email chains and phone calls can slow the process down to a crawl. Sound familiar? You need creative automation tools (see bynder.com for more information).
Creative automation tools can speed up your production cycles and boost your time to market. By scaling content and maintaining brand consistency (all without the extra help of either an in-house or external creative team), you can take full control of the media you create and share across channels.
Also, placing yourself front and center in your content creation means you can explore greater freedoms with regards to AB testing. Instead of liaising with the design team and leaving them to do their jobs, you can test different copy, different CTA buttons, and much more, all from the comfort of your business travel hotel suite.
Plan Before You Arrive
If you plan on planning your plans once you arrive, you’re going to find yourself in deep water. The idea that you can be productive by sorting everything out when you get there is nothing short of a gamble. You are going to be tired from your travels. There may have been flight delays or long transfers from the airport to your hotel. You might be hungry, dehydrated, and genuinely in need of a few hours of sleep.
You might think that some things can’t be organized until you arrive. Things like asking for local recommendations on the best venue for a business meeting or getting a feel for a restaurant that goes beyond an online review. That’s fine. But the more work you put in now to make sure that you are able to hit the ground running the better. Leaving everything to chance is only going to lead to stressful last-minute solutions. Better to plan your business trip in advance.
Establish a Familiar Working Environment (and a working rhythm)
Here’s a quick question that should help highlight this point. Do you feel more productive on a Thursday morning at your own desk, or do you feel more productive after returning from a week off work to find your team now sits in a new room?
We are all creatures of habit. Research has shown that productivity can dip during business travel because we miss our normal surroundings. Combat the disruption and find a working rhythm by doing whatever it is you need to do to set yourself up for productivity. Perhaps you need to unpack. Maybe you need fruit for breakfast and a strong cup of coffee. Some people work best listening to their favorite playlists. Don’t leave yourself feeling exposed and expect to be productive, or results will vary at best.
