While the world is becoming increasingly accessible online, despite email, Skype and FaceTime, when it comes to business meetings nothing has yet bettered a bit of good old fashioned face to face interaction. For many of us that usually means getting out of the office. Long drives, train changes and airports often make journeys extremely stressful before you’ve even reached the destination, where you need to combat paperwork space, a 24/7 work lifestyle, spending concerns, poor diet and even loneliness. Below are 4 tips that should help you unwind on business trips:
Take It Personally
Even if you are extremely passionate about your job, it is unnatural to work every hour of the day for weeks on end. Normally going home at the end of the day would help you unwind from it, but when you’re on a business trip it can be easy to fall into the mentality of being ‘at’ work 24/7. In order to combat this attitude, it is important when planning your trip to schedule in some time for yourself each day. Allow yourself at least an hour or two a day to pursue your own interests. Whether it’s reading 50 pages of a book or popping the headphones in to learn a new language, by indulging in a personal activity just once or twice a day you’ll feel a massive difference in stress reduction. In addition to this, some of the best business travellers make sure they book an extra day away when organising a trip so that they can explore the local culture and entertainments, possibly one of the best ways to unwind. As a result, they feel that all the travelling wasn’t solely for work purposes. Go out and have fun!
Spend Less. Because You’re Worth It
Many of us have felt it. No matter how successful your business trip is going, towards the last few days an uneasy feeling slowly creeps in and doesn’t let go until after you’ve returned home and had an uncomfortable meeting with Peter from the accounts department. How much have you been spending? Usually the most boring and mentally taxing aspect of business travel is budgeting. Many often only make a half-hearted attempt at creating a budget, but it can be crucial to feeling at ease during the latter half of your time away. Properly planning ahead is the best way to avoid going over budget, and ensure you can unwind more easily at the end of each day while away.
Live In A Home Away From Home
One of the biggest health risks of business travel is a sudden change in diet from the nutritious benefits of home cooking to the insidious convenience of junk food. The idea of being away from home sways you into believing that a temporary bad eating habit somehow doesn’t count towards your overall health. Of course, that really isn’t the case. While away you should make every effort to stick to your regular home life diet. Although this isn’t easy, it can be made drastically simpler by staying at an apartment, somewhere that offers you the facilities to cook healthier meals, just as you would at home. Hotels really can’t cater to this need, but with our fully fitted apartment kitchens, along with a plethora of other facilities designed to help business travellers feel at home while working away, London Serviced Apartments are an ideal choice.
Don’t Be A Lone Wolf
Just because you may be travelling solo, it doesn’t mean you’re alone. Staying in touch with others can really help you unwind. By maintaining frequent contact with the team back at HQ will keep your spirits up, and never forget the energy and passion for the business idea that set you off on your quest out of the office in the first place. Of course, setting aside some quality time every evening to call the family back home can help de-stress too, although you’ll have to decide for yourself if that also applies to conversations with the mother in law. A short term let in London is the best way for business travellers to experience the city and to feel at home while away. Give yourself the gift of a stress-free trip by planning activities to do on your day off and booking an apartment on +44(0)208 004 0007 or by filling in this booking form.