Travelling for Business 101

One of the perks of being an executive is the travelling. You get to see many places and experience different work and life cultures, all expenses paid. However, it is common to see professionals who have been chosen as company representatives or ambassadors to feel burnt out and tired of travelling.

Young professionals who are at the bottom of the career ladder would most likely feel excited about travel opportunities. But the ones in executive jobs would normally prefer to be in the office and handle their tasks from their comfortable desk. There are valid reasons, but there are also solutions to cope with the hassles of travelling. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Problem: You spend so much time travelling. You don’t have work-life balance anymore; you spend more time in the plane than on your own bed. You miss out on a lot of tasks because of travelling.

Solution: Demand for a limit. Some companies mandate travelling to only be limited to three nights and four days. The fifth day should be spent in the main office, and two days should be allotted for weekends. Some companies that do not have as much flexibility give employees a week of travel and another week on the main office. Still others allow employees to use the excess hours as replacement for work hours that they can use as leaves.

Problem: You end up swamped with work and other tasks. You do not have time for any other things. You even miss family time.

Solution: Planning. Keep a calendar (an updated and active one at that) and make sure that you stick to it. Your weekends should be systematically planned. If you are leaving on Monday, you should have some time on Sunday for packing. Allot one or two hours for it. If possible, delegate some tasks to other people, say ask your teammate to create the team schedule for the week, or ask your wife to settle the bills. A lot of companies also offer concierge services for their employees, giving you a few less things to worry about, such as dry cleaning and picking up stuff.

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