Tips to make frequent business travel healthier
Frequent business travel can be a productive, rewarding and exciting phase of one’s life, whether he/ she is an entrepreneur or a top rank employee. But it can come down heavily on one’s health conditions. Poor health is likely to affect productivity and lower effectiveness, at large, accompanied by depression, stress, emotional exhaustion, and associated fatigue. So people who want to do business travel effectively must improve the sustainability of frequent travel for guaranteed long-term success.
There is no denying that business travel can lead to disturbed sleep due to time zone changes, jet lag, late flights, the need to catch early flights, unhealthy eating, alcohol consumption, undue stress due to fatigue, inadequate hotel facilities and homesickness.
So here is what you can do:
- The first step is to see business travel as it is and acknowledge that it can be taxing and tough at times. While this can assuage early fears, it is kind of off-putting when you hear well-intentioned people advocate that travel is easy. It certainly isn’t.
- Stay in the present. By putting all your focus on the moment, you’ll not only be able to stick to your health plan, but cope with the overly long period of travel and associated effects.
- Focus on the larger goals in your life and what a well-charted out plan health management plan can do to you. For example, if you are someone trying to manage your diabetes for a happy, protracted life, you need to focus on that point whenever you travel. This will not only keep you motivated, but also keep you happy in the moment.
- Most people tend to have ‘not to have all-or-none thinking’, which, actually, is good. If you don’t get to hit the gyms, try doing calisthenics at your hotel room for 10-15 minutes. If you need to speak at a conference, try to stand and deliver rather than getting too laid back in your chair. If having healthy home-cooked meals is everything for you, then look for the healthiest food on the menu.
- Reward yourself then and there with a therapeutic massage, favourite movie or guilty pleasure TV, and offset the enjoyment lost during the travel.
- Next, plan ahead when to indulge in unhealthy eating while you’re travelling. For example, don’t simply feed on less appealing food at the airport; ensure your devour the food in terms of calories and maximize health quotient.
Business travel, as discussed already, can definitely be a shot in the arm leading to tremendous career advancement, if you are a frequent traveler. But if health risks can override the positive effects of travel, it can turn out turn to be a pain in the neck. The key is to keep your health in good stead while you’re travelling.