Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: This week we'll be talking about travel, mostly the work variety,
Speaker 1: but some fun stuff too. Today's tip is about how
Speaker 1: to stay productive on the road. Theoretically, travel presents a
Speaker 1: great opportunity to get stuff done. When you're on an airplane,
Speaker 1: you have a great excuse to disconnect, with no email
Speaker 1: or text coming in at least if you've opted out
Speaker 1: of the airplane WiFi, you can focus without distractions. If
Speaker 1: you're in a hotel, you're away from family responsibilities and
Speaker 1: any house chores that might normally claim your time. Yet
Speaker 1: I know I've often had the experience of getting on
Speaker 1: a plane with the best of intentions and then reading
Speaker 1: magazines the whole time. I shut myself in a hotel
Speaker 1: room intending to get stuff done, and the next thing
Speaker 1: I know, I'm watching four hours of Property Brothers on
Speaker 1: h G t V. It can be hard to stay
Speaker 1: productive on the road. I don't know why time and
Speaker 1: transit seems to burn energy, but it does add in
Speaker 1: jet leg and things can be even worse. However, there
Speaker 1: are a few things you can do to still make progress. First,
Speaker 1: be very specific about what you plan to get done
Speaker 1: while on the road. Keep your ambitions low. Telling yourself
Speaker 1: you'll spend one hour during a three hour plane flight
Speaker 1: working on a presentation feels far more doable than telling
Speaker 1: yourself you'll devote three hours to it. Likewise, getting through
Speaker 1: a two day email backlog in your hotel room might
Speaker 1: be possible. Pledging to get through a two month backlog
Speaker 1: is delusional. Second, identify your high energy times and your
Speaker 1: low energy times. My recent four our property brothers binge
Speaker 1: happened because it was late in the day and I
Speaker 1: was tired, But after I woke up the next morning,
Speaker 1: hit the gym and grab some coffee, I could take
Speaker 1: on the world. It took me twenty minutes to finish
Speaker 1: something that I had been incapable of doing the night before.
Speaker 1: Another good idea focus on interactive work. In most cases,
Speaker 1: you're traveling to meet people, so you can decide that
Speaker 1: you'll really nail those meetings and then not hold yourself
Speaker 1: to anything else. Push the email and memo wrighting to
Speaker 1: some other time. You could also focus on slightly more
Speaker 1: receptive work. Is there a book you've been telling yourself
Speaker 1: would be useful professionally. It might not be the perfect
Speaker 1: plane read, but reading it will feel more productive than
Speaker 1: playing solitaire. You could also clip a bunch of professional
Speaker 1: articles and use travel time to read through those. And finally,
Speaker 1: you might rethink what it means to be productive. Reframe
Speaker 1: travel as less about getting stuff done and more about
Speaker 1: opening your mind. That's the lesson I take from Daniel Scheffler,
Speaker 1: who's the host of the new podcast Everywhere. He tells
Speaker 1: me that working whilst on the road is one of
Speaker 1: the greatest adventures of my life. Whether it's hanging off
Speaker 1: a tree in the Amazon to get some WiFi, or
Speaker 1: crammed into a tiny plane cruising across China and trying
Speaker 1: to file a deadline with my MacBook touching my face,
Speaker 1: or just the classic time zone different stance, it's always
Speaker 1: a thrill, but continues Shuffler, I promise, if you know
Speaker 1: how to do all this right, it is superbly rewarding.
Speaker 1: I like to think about it as an opportunity to
Speaker 1: find creativity or some fresh thinking from a different locale,
Speaker 1: whether it's a transit lounge at L A X A
Speaker 1: beach in Italy or that one night trip to Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Inspiration is everywhere as long as you're open to it,
Speaker 1: So be open to it. Why not notice the view
Speaker 1: out your hotel room window, even if you're in an
Speaker 1: office parking Toledo. Go for a walk outside, even if
Speaker 1: it just means you're circling the parking lot in a St.
Speaker 1: Petersburg strip mall. You never know when that strange artwork
Speaker 1: your client has inexplicably hung on the conference room wall
Speaker 1: at their headquarters will trigger a mental breakthrough. And if
Speaker 1: that seems a little far fetched, well Shuffler has got
Speaker 1: an answer for the energy part two. When I'm on
Speaker 1: a work trip wherever in the world, the first thing
Speaker 1: I do is get a little exercise, just sweat it out,
Speaker 1: he says. In Singapore, I like to run along the gardens.
Speaker 1: In London, a fast walk in the Regent Park with
Speaker 1: a coffee in hand, and Sala Paulo, a sweat session
Speaker 1: in the gym at my favorite hotel. This just gets
Speaker 1: you back to your body and work always flows better
Speaker 1: after that. Hey, it may even help with the jet lag.
Speaker 1: Watch those scientists and road warriors nod So, how do
Speaker 1: you stay productive on the road? Feel free to let
Speaker 1: me know it Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also check out the Everywhere podcast wherever you
Speaker 1: subscribe to this one. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
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