Let's face it, when you're travelling on business you may feel that you can't be productive and that the time spent travelling is wasted time. In fact, when asked, business travellers usually state this is their biggest bug bear and part of the reason many business people hate the "journey".

In theory travelling should give you time to catch up with work, stay abreast of the latest developments, write that report or prepare that article that's outstanding. The biggest problem is all of the places you'll find yourself at when travelling - in a vehicle driving to your destination, in a busy airport, on a packed flight and when you stop at service areas - none of these are in the least bit conducive to thinking or working.

Being productive, making the most of your travelling time is about creating your own space, and planning ahead. You may be saying to yourself that's easier said than done but read on for some ideas on how to maintain your productivity when travelling on business.

Plan Ahead

Think about the tasks you want to achieve while away and what will be required to do them.

There is nothing worse than going on a business trip with the intention of completing a report or writing an article only to find that you won't be able to do this because you didn't factor in your requirements. Consider what you'll need e.g. make sure your laptop is fully charged, check if a Wi-Fi connection will be available and make sure that you have any research with you that will form part of your report.

Being productive while you're travelling is all about staying one step ahead. It's the little things you do to set yourself up for future success that will ultimately determine whether or not you can complete the tasks or goals you've set yourself.

Know When To Work and When To Rest

Not every minute of travelling is conducive to working and even if it was you are likely to become burned out, over tired and less likely to achieve your goals if you never take a break. Choose when the best times to work are and space these out with rest breaks so you're refreshed and more able to concentrate when you're working.

Choose Your Time and Location Wisely

If you're working on something fairly intensive and really need to concentrate then perhaps waiting in a busy airport lounge isn't the right time or place to tackle this type of work. Instead it may be better to catch up on some reading or clear out your emails - tasks that can be tackled even where there is ambient noise. It's therefore important to allocate the right task to the right place and moment.

Consider Your Type of Travel and What Work Suits

Flight or Train

There are so many things you can do travelling by plane. You could:

• Read outstanding business correspondence. Catch up on any outstanding letters or other work that you haven't had a chance to look at yet.
• Tackle an outstanding report. Spend the time reading or writing that report you've been putting off.
• Do company / business research. Carry out any company or business research that you've been trying to get done. This potentially could be used for reports, website content (see below) or to get a handle on what your competitors are doing.
• Create content. As any website owner knows, creating content for your business is extremely important as fresh content keeps the search engines and customers coming back to your site. Inflight time is a great opportunity to create new content for your blog, website or online publication.
• Listen to a podcast. There is a huge range of downloadable podcasts that you can listen to and learn from. Flights offer a great opportunity to catch up on those podcasts that you've been meaning to get around to listening to, but just haven't had the time.
• Declutter and organise your laptop or mobile device. Take some time to declutter your laptop hard drive and free up some space. Clear out spam emails; put important emails into folders for follow up. Decluttering your device will in turn make it run faster and make it easier to find documents and emails next time you search for them.
• Read a book. Take a book that you've been wanting to read for some time. It could be business related or just for pleasure.

Car

It's fairly easy to plan the type of work you can do when you're flying or on a train but what about when you're driving? If you have a long journey you may spend hours in the car getting to your destination.

Clearly the type of work you can do when driving is more limited but you could catch up with business colleagues by scheduling conference calls to talk through business projects or brainstorm new ideas.

If that doesn't appeal you could prepare notes or research you need to review and have someone record it for you so you can listen to it while driving. You could even listen to a podcast and catch up with latest business practices or the latest news or technology breakthroughs. With podcasting covering so many subjects there is bound to be one that will be of interest to you and suitable to your business interests.

You could even use the time to relax and listen to some music so you are fresh and ready for any work when you get to your destination.

Of course it's important to make sure that you aren't distracted from driving safely and any conversations are carried out hands free.

Plan For Productivity

Clearly with a bit of planning and forethought you can always find the time and type of work which will allow you to maintain your productivity while travelling.

While you're taking care of how you'll get the best out of your travelling time Booking Partners could be ensuring the right hotel booking or conference booking arrangements for you. Contact us when you're next looking to book your next business hotel room.