One of the most common challenges to optimum wellness & performance for busy executives is business travel.
It can play havoc with the ability to establish or maintain any kind of routine with exercise, sleep and food.
But we believe it doesn't have to be this way.
Here are some top tips to turn travel into a wellness opportunity
Exercise
While you may not feel able to continue your usual routine, make a list of things you could do on each trip, remembering that a bit of variety to your routine is a positive thing, and also that you might discover something while away that you really enjoy, thus expanding your exercise repertoire at home and away.
Here are a few options to get you started:
Get outside and walk / run
Walk inside the hotel
Try a quick hotel room workout. Here are some ideas for inspiration
Visit the hotel gym
Visit the hotel pool
Research outdoor spaces at your destination for a local park workout
To make all of the above easier, pack your trainers, pack a skipping rope, pack a resistance band, pack your fitness / swim kit. If you’re a very regular traveler, put together a wellness kit / care package of all of these items that lives in your suitcase so you never forget it.
Sleep
Keep your hotel room tidy
Get as much natural light as you are able to during every trip
Set boundaries for working in your hotel room. Just because you can work, doesn't mean you should! And with a lack of your usual distractions from home, you'll need to plan what you'll do other than work. This could be reading, listening to podcasts, or even some hobby or interest that doesn't get a look in when you're at home, but that you can dedicate some extra time to when traveling
Plan in advance the core sleep hours you'd like to achieve. Just because things will be different from your home routine doesn't mean you should adopt a totally reactive approach. It may be that you might not get 7.5 to 8 hours, but planning for a solid 6 hours will leave you feeling better than grabbing a fitful few chunks of sleep here and there
Use each successive trip to refine your ideal travel pre-sleep routine to help you relax, clear your head and sleep, wherever you may be in the world
Food
Stay hydrated at all times, particularly when flying
Take advantage of the fact that someone else is catering to try new things
Plan ahead to identify opportunities to eat well. It may be easier than you think to stay on track if you focus on what you can control rather than what’s out of your control. This will mitigate any obligation situations such as client dinners / drinks
Reframe the situation
Many people think business travel is a necessary evil and to compensate for the situation they’ll ‘treat’ themselves to food they know isn’t great for them, use travel as an excuse to skip their workouts as there’s too much going on, and leave good sleep to chance as the schedule is all messed up anyway.
There are other ways to approach this and while work travel may be a necessary evil, why not view it simply as an opportunity take some proactive steps that will see you return home feeling great.
One easy way to start this shift in mindset is to spend a few minutes reviewing previous work trips so you can identify exactly where the challenges to prioritising your wellness happened. Now brainstorm some alternative behaviours to experiment with on your next trip.
Play the long game
Remember that business travel gives you a lot to think about so don’t necessarily expect to crack the perfect solution on the very next trip.
What matters is that you make a plan, try some new strategies and review the situation at the end of each trip.
That way you are guaranteed to limit the damage potential for every single trip in the future.
Happy travels!
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