In the fast-paced world of business, frequent travel has become a common aspect of professional life. Whilst travelling to meetings and conferences may seem glamorous, the stress of travel can take a toll on a business traveller’s well-being. From busy schedules to navigating unfamiliar environments, business travellers often face a variety of challenges that can increase stress levels.
However, with careful planning and proactive steps, it’s possible to limit the negative effects of business travel stress and ensure a safe journey. In this blog, we will explore our top tips to help business travellers manage stress effectively to ensure a productive and enjoyable journey.
1. Maintain a Healthy Routine
Maintaining a healthy routine throughout a business trip is crucial to maintaining well-being and performance during trips. Looking after your physical health and mental health is key to ensuring you can effectively manage stress with ease. Something so simple yet vastly ignored is staying hydrated throughout the journey. Travelling, particularly by air, can lead to dehydration due to the dry cabin air so carrying a reusable water bottle and refilling it regularly, especially during flights, can help ensure hydration. It’s key for business travellers to prioritise hydration so they don’t feel the effects of fatigue, headaches and overall discomfort when they need to be prepared for business when stepping off the plane.
To further maintain a healthy routine when travelling prioritising a healthy sleep pattern is fundamental. The disruptions and unfamiliar environments of being away can interfere with sleep quality so having a comfortable sleep environment by using earplugs, an eye mask or a travel pillow on long-haul flights will be key to feeling more refreshed and alert. Prioritising sleep during business trips will enhance your ability to perform during business meetings and limit stress accordingly.
Last but not least, handling stress and maintaining a healthy routine is making sure you are incorporating regular exercise into the work trip. Business travel often disrupts fitness routines, making it challenging for travellers to stay active. It can be simple from activities such as walking or stretching during layovers to more structured workouts at hotel gyms or in outdoor spaces. Engaging in physical activity not only helps reduce stress levels but also improves mood, energy levels, and cognitive function.
2. Adhere to Corporate Travel Policies
Adhering to corporate travel policies is an important aspect of managing stress for many business travellers. Familiarising yourself with your organisation’s travel policy ensures that you can navigate the business trip with confidence. Understanding the guidelines for travel arrangements, expenses, and safety protocols will prepare business travellers and help minimise stress associated with uncertainty.
Travel policies should outline travel arrangements, and how businesses want employees to book travel, accommodation, and other essential arrangements. It will show business travellers what they are entitled to and what limits are in place. Corporate travel policies also provide information on expense reimbursement during business trips allowing business travellers to manage their expenses effectively and avoid any discrepancies. A crucial aspect of travel policies that is relevant to keeping stress levels at bay is addressing safety protocols. Businesses have a duty of care to the well-being of employees during travel so business travellers should have guidelines on travel insurance, emergency procedures, and security measures.
A travel policy should cover all bases for business travellers so they can adhere to the guidelines and have a smoother and more stress-free business travel experience. By proactively understanding the ins and outs of these policies, business travellers can navigate their trip with confidence, knowing they are aligned with the businesses’ expectations and requirements. If you or your business need to update or create a travel policy, you can check out Good Travel Management’s guide.
3. Employee Training for Travel Safety
Travelling to unfamiliar territories, especially during international travel, can heighten stress levels for business travellers. However, taking proactive steps beforehand can significantly help minimise the stress of new environments. Researching the cultural norms of the unfamiliar destination can help in showing respect for the local customs. Additionally, educating yourself on contingency plans throughout the trip will ultimately settle the stress of being in an unfamiliar environment.
Having a TMC that offers a comprehensive travel app that has access to real-time security alerts is crucial. At Good Travel Management, security and convenience for business travellers are key so, by giving 24/7 support and real-time information, we can empower business travellers to navigate unfamiliar environments with ease.
Prioritising safety training not only reduces stress in employees but also enhances the overall travel experience, allowing business travellers to focus more on business objectives and less on potential risks.
4. Embrace Downtime
Alongside the hustle and bustle of business travel, it’s crucial to prioritise moments of downtime for self-care. These moments will give you as a business traveller, a break from the demands of work and overall contribute to well-being and productivity. Whether it’s indulging in a leisurely activity, seeing the city around you, using the hotel facilities, or reading a book, embrace these, and place them in your schedule if need be, to recharge and replenish.
By having a balance between work and relaxation during your business trip, you’ll become more refreshed and ready to tackle any challenges ahead.
5. Prepare for Travel Disruptions
Despite in-depth travel planning, travel disruptions are inevitable. Being prepared with a TMC like Good Travel Management can ensure you have access to a platform that enables you to streamline your booking process from booking flights to organising itineraries. Having contingency plans to navigate unexpected changes or cancellations smoothly will help the stress if something does go wrong as you’ve already thought ahead.
At Good Travel Management, we let our clients know real-time updates on our platform about disruptions to your journey such as flight cancellations. We are here to minimise the risk of oversights and ensure you as a business traveller undergo a hassle-free experience. We give you confidence in your travel arrangements so you can focus on what you’re there to do.
Key Takeaways
- Looking after your physical health and mental health is key to ensuring you can effectively manage stress with ease. Make sure you maintain a healthy diet, a fitness regime, a decent night’s sleep and stay hydrated throughout the journey to be in a good state when something goes wrong.
- Familiarising yourself with your organisation’s travel policy ensures that you can navigate the business trip with confidence. Understanding the guidelines for travel arrangements, expenses, and safety protocols will prepare you for any uncertainty.
- Taking proactive steps of employee training before a business trip can significantly help minimise the stress of new environments. Researching the cultural norms of the unfamiliar destination can help in showing respect for the local customs. Use Good Travel Management’s platform to enhance the overall travel experience.
- Having a balance between work and relaxation during your business trip will help you become more refreshed and ready to tackle any challenges ahead.
- Travel disruptions are inevitable. Having contingency plans to navigate unexpected changes or cancellations smoothly will help the stress if something does go wrong as you’ve already thought ahead.
What’s Next?
Managing stress as a business traveller requires careful planning, proactive measures, a focus on well-being, and having Good Travel Management by your side. If you’re still worried about how to ensure safety throughout the business trip, you can read our 24 Business Travel Safety Tips for 2024.