Let’s face it; business travel is no cakewalk. It might sound exciting, and it is as you get to meet new people, explore new places, and hone your skill. However, it also involves hours of traveling, working round the clock, attending meetings and conferences, and interacting with new people to accomplish their business travel goals.
Consequently, long working hours during a business trip can negatively affect your well-being and health. Moreover, factors such as improper meal timings, jet lag, delayed flights, and unfamiliar environments can also contribute to stress. And if you fall sick, it can impair your job performance, and you may not be able to achieve your business travel goals.
Hence, it is imperative that you, as a business traveler, must take care of yourself during business travel.
Listed below are some of the tips on how you can achieve business travel wellness.
To learn more about business travel wellness tips, read on.
1. Stock up on Healthy Snacks
According to Forbes, 44% of business travelers are more likely to eat unhealthy food during their business trip than at home. During business travel, delayed flights, hectic meeting schedules, long hours of journeys, etc., can be a barrier to eating healthy. So, you end up eating junk foods such as pizzas, pasta, burgers, fried chips, etc., to curb hunger. However, eating these while traveling can make you sleepy, sluggish, and sometimes even nauseous.
Stocking up on healthy snacks is one of the best ways to stay healthy and ensure business travel wellness. You can carry some roasted nuts and seeds, energy or protein bars, and cereals which are great alternatives to fried food items and sweets. You can also purchase seasonal fruits on the way to the airport or order a vegetable sandwich. They are loaded with nutrients that will help you stay active throughout your business trip.
2. Don’t Skip your Breakfast
Business travel includes hectic schedules. You may sometimes skip breakfast to catch an early morning flight or attend a meeting. However, research shows that skipping breakfast regularly can cause several health problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. It also leads to increased hunger, thus, leading to consuming large portions of food the rest of the day.
A vital business travel wellness tip is to eat your breakfast daily. Breakfast is an important meal of the day. It would help if you ate a nutrient-rich breakfast such as oatmeal, fruit salads, a vegetable sandwich, wheat bread with peanut butter combined with fresh fruit juice, or protein-packed smoothies. If you do not have enough time, you can eat a bowl of cereal and drink a glass of milk. A healthy breakfast gives you the energy to carry out your daily business activities.
3. Stick to a Balanced Diet
Business travelers often indulge in local cuisines and eat outside while traveling. Binging on all pastries, desserts, local savories, and sweetened beverages can cause carbohydrate overload. Overindulging in carbohydrates leads to bloating, mild weight gain, and digestive discomfort, which are signs of unhealthy eating.
Hence, sticking to a balanced diet during your business travel is very important. You must incorporate fruits, vegetables, high-fiber food, or meat in all your meals to help you be full for a long time. This enables you to reduce impulsive food decisions, often leading to unhealthy eating habits.
4. Book a Hotel with a Fitness Centre
You are away from your regular gym workouts or early morning exercise routine during business travel. Unlike your regular days, you don’t get an opportunity to work out, making you feel inactive and tired. It also causes physical and mental exhaustion, and further hampers your focus on business travel activities.
A workout after long flight hours or a long day stuck in a boardroom can work wonders. Hence, you should prefer a hotel that provides gym facilities. Most hotels will have a gym with basic amenities such as a treadmill, exercise bicycle, and a few weights. You can also book hotels with swimming pools or better workout facilities. This is a great way to start your day or unwind after a long day.
5. Include Minor Workouts in Daily Regime
Sometimes, you may be unable to book a hotel with gym facilities. When there are no gym facilities, you tend to skip your regular workout and end up staying in your room for long hours. Staying within the four corners of your room can make you anxious and restless.
You can avoid this by doing minor workouts every day. Some of them are-
- Yoga, planks, jumping jacks, lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and many more, which you can easily do in your hotel room
- Enrolling in online fitness classes will allow you to work out from the hotel room/premises. Some of these classes are also freely available.
- Going jogging or walking near your hotel for at least an hour or using the staircase in your hotel instead of the elevator.
Following this business travel wellness tip will help you stay active and healthy without missing out on workouts.
6. Call your Friends and Family
One of the most challenging parts of frequent business travel is time spent away from home. You are away from your loved ones for many days during your business trip. You may not even be able to communicate properly because of different time zones or hectic work schedules. There will be days when you miss your home food too. These factors can help you feel low, isolated, stressed, upset, and sometimes even frustrated, affecting business travel wellness.
Keep some free time when planning a business trip to call your friends and family. If you spend time talking to your friends, your mood will be lifted, and you won’t feel lonely or stressed. Friends and family will provide emotional support, especially when you are feeling low, which creates a sense of belongingness and improves your mental health.
7. Increase your Mobility
Business travel often includes employees sitting for long hours in a meeting room or working continuously on their laptops. However, sitting for prolonged periods or increased screen time can cause several health complications, such as neck and back pain, strained eyes, less blood flow, sore shoulders, and stiff leg joints. According to WebMD, sitting for too long increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
To avoid such health risks, you must increase your mobility. Some of the ways in which you can increase your mobility are:
- Take a 5-10 minutes break every 45 minutes. You can go for coffee breaks or walk up to your colleague’s desk.
- Change your position almost every other hour. For example, you can stand up or move around while talking on the phone.
- Do simple stretching exercises for your neck, hands, legs, and back every now and then.
- Place your laptop and mouse according to your height to prevent slouching.
8. Keep up your Water Intake
Most employees often forget to drink water while traveling because of hectic schedules. Not consuming enough water causes dehydration, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, cramps, and worsening jet lag. Also, if you are traveling via flight, the air cabins have low humidity, as air in high altitudes is completely devoid of moisture and can cause dry throat.
The Aerospace Medical Association suggests that you must drink around 8 ounces of water every hour you are in the air. To avoid dehydration, always ensure that you carry your own water bottle with you while traveling. Coconut water is a good replacement, as it is natural and loaded with electrolytes and nutrients. While it is easy to be drawn to carbonated drinks, you must completely avoid drinking them as the sugar content causes excessive hunger and binging.
9. Get Sufficient Sleep
During business travel, your work schedule is packed throughout the day. You must attend various meetings and conferences, meet new people, and go for lunch/dinner with clients at different times. Because of this, you may not get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can be frustrating and adversely affect your mind and body, causing symptoms such as nausea, irritable mood, forgetfulness, inability to focus, headaches, and many more.
One of the best business travel wellness tips is to get a sufficient amount of sleep. You must get at least 7-9 hours of sleep to stay active and productive. To get a night of good sleep, you must:
- Create a proper sleep schedule
- Listen to soothing music before sleeping
- Maintain a quiet environment
- Avoid going to bed hungry or stuffed
- Avoid consuming caffeine or alcohol late in the evening
You must also ensure to get enough sleep the night before flight takeoff and plan your business travel itinerary to give you enough time to rest.
