Traveling while self-employed.
I love to travel, but I find travel extremely disruptive.
It’s summertime and I’m doing a bunch of traveling to see family and friends. In many ways, this is a pleasure — visiting interesting cities, spending time with people I care about. It’s valuable and important to me.
At the same time, frequent trips interrupt my workflow and I feel tense and stressed about slowing down projects I care about.
Both before and immediately after a trip, I find it difficult to focus and be productive. As my departure date approaches, I often feel like there isn’t enough time to get anything important done before I leave. And it usually takes me 2-3 days to decompress and fall back into my normal routine after returning.
But because the benefits are so important to me, I’m working on becoming better at travel. I’ve been trying the following tactics this summer in an effort to minimize the disruption, reduce stress, and enjoy myself more while away from home:
- I try to ignore that I’m going anywhere until the day of my flight and I do all my packing and prep that day.
- I never switch off work entirely. I spend 1-2 hours a day checking email or working on a designated project — sometimes something that is hard to fit into my normal routine. This gives the trip focus, keeps me in the habit of working, and reduces the burden of catching up when I return.
- I’ve been setting collaborative meetings to stay productive in the days immediately before and after a trip. If I have to meet a project partner, I can't let myself check out early or spend too long recuperating.
- At home, I have a strongly defined morning routine. Launching into this on auto-pilot helps me get back into the swing of things more quickly.
We'll see how it goes! With a few more trips coming up in the weeks ahead, if you have any tips for making travel less disruptive, send them my way!
Here are 3 great film links to enjoy at home or on the road!
Josh |
