10 Ways to Stay Productive While You Travel Over the Holidays
The holidays are for relaxing and spending time with family and friends. While it’s a nice sentiment, the end of the year is hectic, and it can be difficult to juggle year-end professional obligations with quality family time. If you find yourself traveling over this holiday season, here are 10 ways you can stay productive.
- Manage Expectations
If you’re taking time off to travel, let your family know that you will be working for an hour or two each day. This may not prevent them from making you feel bad about working, but it will help manage their expectations.
- Listen to Educational Podcasts
As you refocus on your goals for the new year, podcasts are a great way to develop your professional skills and stay up to date on industry news. The best part is, they’re free! Check out this list of 8 Podcasts for Business Savvy Listeners. Press play and that three-hour flight will be over in no time.
- Burn The Midnight (Or Morning) Oil
Make good use of the quiet hours you find either in the early morning hours or the evening while everyone else is in bed. Using this time wisely will lead to a guilt-free day with your family.
- Take a Break
Spending time with your family over the holidays is important, but everyone needs a break. Take an hour or two at a local coffee shop to catch up on work tasks that need attention. After all, work is a great excuse to avoid an event you may be dreading.
- Shop Online
Don’t put off your holiday shopping until the last minute. There is no such thing as a “quick trip” to the mall between Thanksgiving and New Years. Shop online early so you don’t have to waste time doing it later. Don’t forget to add gift wrap to your orders to save even more time and hassle.
- Prepare People for Your Absence
If you are going to travel for the holidays, get a plan in place now for managing tasks while you are away. Delegate important tasks to trusted team members and be sure to email clients, vendors and colleagues to let them know you’ll be out of the office.
- Set Boundaries
Let the people in your office know that you will only be answering emails or phone calls between certain hours so you aren’t bombarded with non-emergency issues throughout the day. Remind them with an out of office autoresponder that denotes the hours you’re keeping. That way they know you’ll be checking and returning your messages, even if they don’t receive an immediate response.
- Manage Tasks According To Your Environment
If your Great Aunt Betty doesn’t have a high-speed Wi-Fi connection, don’t waste time attempting to do online tasks at her house. If you need to read some reports, approve web content or review hard copies of resumes, engage in those offline projects instead. Conversely, when you’ve got that high-speed connection, hop online.
- Return Phone Calls
Do you have vendors bugging you to set plans for 2017? Salespeople waiting on a purchase order? While everyone is watching the same holiday movie for the 100th time, sneak away and dial a few numbers.
- Exercise
There is a direct correlation between exercise and productivity. If you can’t hit the gym, take a 20-minute walk each day and invite a family member along for the trip.
- Relax
It’s the holiday season. Cut yourself some slack and take the time to relax and enjoy your friends and family. Relaxing and having fun is the best way to ensure you can return to work refreshed and ready to tackle the New Year.
It’s easy to relax during the holidays when you trust the team you leave behind while traveling. If you are looking for highly skilled tech professionals who can help your company succeed, reach out to the award-winning recruiting experts at Talon today. We can help you build a team that will keep you moving forward towards your goals all year long.
