Business Travel – trips away from your loved ones.
Lose the guilt – use the time
Back on a plane again last night – travelling for work.
Time to sit (without that guilty feeling you should be doing something productive!).
The joy of being “unplugged” for a while – no phone or e-mail
Not a bad meal – and best of all
an episode of Modern Family I hadn’t seen before – BLISS.
Reminded of me of a blissful plane ride I posted about in another blog Busy Dad to Better Dad – specifically about how busy business dads can be more engaged dads and how you need short bursts of time to yourself.
You also need to use the time well and enjoy it. Just sit, rest without being exhausted, pause, breathe – smile.
Travel – even business travel can be an opportunity – a pause –…
I get lots of advice from Chris and this was one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from him – something I’ve really struggled with – travelling lots of business and balancing business travel with family life.
It’s so good I’ve shared it in 2 other projects and topics I am passionate in writing about:
1. Taking Care of Business Travel – in particular when you have to travel for business
2. Busy Dad to Better Dad – how corporate dads can be more effective at work so they can be more engaged at home
(links at end of post)
Chris Adams is a movie man, former Hollywood and Facebook exec who now lives in Australia.
In Australia, Chris runs a digital media agency (Beachball Media) and helps develop Australian movies, He travels hundreds of thousands of miles a year for business and is away up to 150 nights…
We’ve had a lot of positive response to a Chris Adams video post where he gave tips and advice on how to perform better on business trips. Chris is a very experienced traveller, an former Hollywood and Facebook exec and jet-setter! he advised how to be more effective by being less busy on your business trip and by being “effectively selfish”.
Here is a response/request from Melinda – a busy female business traveller who wanted some tips on what do you when you get back from a business trip and everyone (family and work colleagues) seems to “want a piece of you”.
What do you do? How do you handle the “backlog” of tasks.
Chris’s advice is, as usual, honest and colourful – and useful.
Chris Adams – veteran business traveller
I personally put his tips to use of a business trip and the trip was much more productive…
If you travel a lot for business – you are probably carrying too much baggage – excess guilt baggage. It’s weighing you down and making you less effective in your professional and your personal life!
I know – I carried excess guilt baggage too – until I took the advice from an American former movie exec – Chris Adams (my collaborator on The Chris Adams Project)
I travel to help clients in Singapore every couple of months. I would usually work hard all week, race to the airport at the end of my last day, and jump on the first plane home (so I could get back to my family as soon as possible).
I usually get little rest – arrive home exhausted – have to sleep for 8 or so hours to get over the trip away. I’m usually frustrated and cranky – and useless because of exhaustion. I’m
Chris Adams is a movie man, former Hollywood and Facebook exec who now lives in Australia.
In Australia, Chris runs a digital media agency (Beachball Media) and helps develop Australian movies, He travels hundreds of thousands of miles a year for business and is away up to 150 nights a year.
I learn a lot from Chris and you can too. I learn from him about business (pitching and negotiation etc.) and also about business travel (and juggling work and family.)
I like Chris’s honesty about challenges he faced with travel and how he had to learn to be “effectively selfish” to be a better business traveller (and family man when he gets back home).
Chris has a young son and used to cram too much into his business travel so he could get back home faster – but he found his work on his business trip suffered and he…
If you are going to be away from your family on business travel – you may as well try to make the most of the “positives”.
One of the things I “enjoy” about business travel is it gets me out of my routine and I find because I’m in different places I am free to “think different thoughts”.
You can find the “away time” is a real boost for creating new ideas and I recommend that you deliberately put yourself in “new environments” to encourage new thinking. I’m not suggesting anything too extreme!
Also, you can get a chance to “think more deeply” about other things rather than focusing on important but often routine domestic tasks.
I live in Brisbane, Australia. This week I am away working in Sydney. I know the photo looks like I’m in Asia – but the…
It never fails for me – I get great ideas by “doing nothing”.
My “method” started off by accident – but now I “doing nothing” deliberately.
I seem to get a lot of good ideas when I am flying. I connect to creative ideas by disconnecting from all my technology.
In the past I would usually try to use flying time (especially on business trips) to catch up on reading work documents – or I’d watch the in-flight news or read the business sections of the paper. I always had to be doing something. Do you feel compelled to always be doing something? – especially reading something.
Now I “do nothing” purposefully. As tempting as it is to want to use the time “productively” – I just sit in my seat and stare and out the window – the blue sky and fluffy white clouds during the day or…
Do you travel a lot for business? Do you make this mistake when trying to be time efficient and cost effective?
I travel a lot for my work as a business writing and communication consultant. I used to make lots of business trip “mistakes” – until I started applying advice from Presentation Zen expert Garr Reynolds – especially his suggestions about hara hachi bu.
I’m in Singapore as I write this post and Singapore is famous for its delicious food. I love coming here for work!
In the past, at the hotel breakfast I would pile up my plate. I wanted to get my money’s worth! I would gulp down the huge breakfast thinking that this “forced fuelling up” would save me having to eat lunch and that I could work through lunch. I thought I was being efficient!
The trouble was – it was actually inefficient and highly ineffective. I’d often start the day feeling so bloated and heavy and hard to get moving. I was slow and sluggish – in body and in mind!
These days – inspired by Presentation Zen – I now deliberately eat less.
It was through Presentation Zen that I learned of the Japanese expression hara hachi bu – which means eat until you are 80% full – eat until you are satisfied but without stuffing yourself too full!
I know I keep referring to Presentation Zen – but it really has made a difference. As well as getting great tips about how to improve presentations – Presentation Zen also helps me improve my business travel – and I’m sure my health and well-being.
Garr applies hara hachi bu to show how you can make your presentations more effective by not cramming in too much information. I’ve also been applying the expression literally – in limiting how much I actually eat on trips (and when I am home).
so many tempting treats – hard to resist!
so many tempting treats – hard to resist!
There’s a danger that Business travelers can often over-eat for many reasons.
because they can – there is often a seemingly endless supply of food at hotels
because they feel they want to get their money’s worth
because they think they are being efficient. (As I did – rationalizing that a huge breakfast would saving me having to eat lunch)
I now also eat slower and take time to enjoy the food. I feel lighter and more energised. My days seem to go better.
I try to have a small lunch to re-energise. It’s not just about eating more food at lunch – it’s about having a break from work. This sounds so simple and “obvious” – but it’s hard to resist the urge to just work on through lunch.
I also make sure I have arrive at breakfast earlier to take more time to enjoy breakfast. I eat slower – tasting and enjoying the food rather than just gulping it down. I usually eat lots of Asia food – but this morning I really felt like an omelette.
So I ordered a small(ish) omelette – relishing the crunch of the onion and the full flavor (and texture) of the cheese! It was so satisfying. I could have fitted in more – but I stopped before I got 100% full!
I watched other businessmen piling mountains of food on their plates and gulping down their food in a rush. I know it can be hard for men to resist piles of bacon and it does take discipline – but the results are worth it.
As a result of hara hachi bu – I feel lighter and brighter and enjoying my business trip and my work more too!
At work training Better Business Writing – and performing better too thanks to hara hachi bu!
Here is a link to Presentation Zen and Garr’s post about Hara Hachi Bu:
Garr Reynolds – Presentation Zen
(Also, I’d like to let you know that I didn’t copy my dark glasses and dark wardrobe from Garr! I had this look long before I’d even heard of Presentation Zen.)
Garr also likes taking photographs of food especially the beauty of the Bento Box. here is a link to another post about Bento Box Bliss. Do not read this post if you are hungry!
Hi I’m Tony – a TV reporter and producer turned international communication trainer and consultant. I love writing – especially about the joys of travel – even business travel. I’m a bit like that George Clooney character in Up In The Air in that I actually enjoy the travelling life.
I love travel- even business travel – what about you? I no longer need the cane in this photo – the cane was just used when I was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon – and when trying to be like Mr Bates from Downton Abbey 😉
I’m also a big fan of retro – like vintage flight bags and luggage from when jet-setting was glamorous.
If you enjoyed this post and if you like travel or retro – Let’s connect:
If you found this post interesting you can follow me and connect with me.
I blog about fun pop culture stuff as well as more serious business communication tips.
@tonybiancotti
Linked In – under Tony Biancotti
Or you can follow this blog.
These days, lots of people and organisations need help with how to COPE with too much work, too much information, too many meetings, delivering difficult news, business writing, effective e-mail, e-mail overload, cross-cultural communication etc. I like to help people COPE.
Are you still making the same business trip “mistakes” that I am?
I’m getting more efficient in the part of the business trip when I am AWAY working on the business side – and being more sensible about not trying to cram in too much.
The area I still need to improve is how I handle the RETURN – the “re-entry” – coming back from a business trip.
Is this an area (the return from the trip) YOU still need to improve?
Are you overly optimistic about your ability to just snap back from the business trip to your home life (and responsibilities)?
I recently had a very successful business trip to Singapore – but I didn’t handle the return as well as I could have.
I trained and coached people every day – Monday to Friday – worked all day Friday and then raced to the airport to catch the first plane back to my family.
It was an overnight flight – so I got hardly any sleep and got home exhausted and cranky. My two children desperately wanted my attention. (My wife was more understanding and knew I needed to sleep).
Anyway, I vow that for the next business trip like this – I’ll stay the extra night, rest and sleep and then board an early morning flight – so I am well rested when I return.
It’s my own fault – I thought I was doing the right thing by getting back to the family as soon as possible. As it turned out – I needed to sleep on my return and the “real me – the normal me” didn’t emerge until a day after my physical return.
I over-estimated my ability to bounce back from the trip and to bounce back into my “DAD” responsibilities.
To paraphrase from the movie Top Gun – my ego was writing cheques my body couldn’t cash.
From my days working as as a reporter – you get used to pushing on and pushing through and going and going until your story gets covered – then you “crash” and recover!
I’ve found that the corporate world requires a more measured approach – for sustained performance.
My friend Chris Adams (former Facebook and Movie Exec) has given me good advice before about how HE learned to be more effective on business trips.
I’ve taken his advice and improved my performance during the AWAY part of the trips. I need to change how I handle the RETURN part of the trip.
Here’s the original advice from Chris from a previous post….
We’ve had a lot of response to a Chris Adams video post where he gave tips and advice on how to perform better on business trips.
Here is a response/request from Melinda – a busy female business traveller who wanted some tips on what do you when you get back from a business trip and everyone (family and work colleagues) seems to “want a piece of you”.
What do you do? How do you handle the “backlog” of tasks.
Chris’s advice is, as usual, honest and colourful – and useful.
I personally put his tips to use of a business trip and the trip was much more productive – and enjoyable. Link at the end of this post.
The original Chris Adams video (in case you want to see it) follows this latest video where I put Melinda’s question to him.
Melinda’s response/request:
“These points are not just true for Dads, but really for ANY business traveller. Even us females. At my most travelled, I spent more than 260 nights in one hotel group in one year. And also had other trips where I didn’t use that hotel group. So about 300 nights away. This schedule severely limits time with partner/spouse, friends, and family. It IS tough when you get home late, exhausted, on a Friday and everyone wants “a piece of you” over the weekend as you’ve been gone.
But you need to do your expenses, recap reports, prep for the coming week’s trip, unpack, and re-pack for Monday morning’s flight…. and somewhere in there unwind.
When you do have a week off, being HOME is a priority – but the partner/spouse who has been at home the whole time wants to go away somewhere. Not easy to balance. So, more tips welcome!”
As promised Melinda – Chris’s tips:
What’s been your experience?
If you have any tips – please share in the comments section below.
———
So who is writing this?
Hi I’m Tony – a TV reporter and producer turned international communication trainer and consultant. I love writing – especially about the joys of travel – even business travel. I’m a bit like that George Clooney character in Up In The Air in that I actually enjoy the travelling life.
I love travel- even business travel – what about you? I no longer need the cane in this photo – the cane was just used when I was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon – and when trying to be like Mr Bates from Downton Abbey 😉
I’m also a big fan of retro – like vintage flight bags and luggage from when jet-setting was glamorous.
If you enjoyed this post and if you like travel or retro – Let’s connect:
If you found this post interesting you can follow me and connect with me.
I blog about fun pop culture stuff as well as more serious business communication tips.
@tonybiancotti
Linked In – under Tony Biancotti
Or you can follow this blog.
These days, lots of people and organisations need help with how to COPE with too much work, too much information, too many meetings, delivering difficult news, business writing, effective e-mail, e-mail overload, cross-cultural communication etc. I like to help people COPE.
Do you prefer get to the airport early and wait around?
Or do you find waiting around a waste of time?
Do you prefer to get to your gate early and wait?
Do you prefer to not wait at your gate for too long?
I’m travelling for pleasure this week (on a family vacation) – rather than for business. An “airport incident” inspired this post – that has important lessons on how you can avoid clashes and conflicts caused by different attitudes towards “timing”. Enjoy!……
I’m a “get there early and wait” type – my wife is a get there“just in time” type.
As you’ll read – difference in personality types can cause conflict and discomfort – unless you are aware of different styles and take measures to avoid friction!
Here’s the recent airport “incident” that inspired this post.
Taking Care of BusinessTravel 