6 Tips For a Successful Business Trip

The good news is your business or the company you work for is doing well and now you’re needed to go to a conference or meet some clients across the country. The bad news is you might not be in charge of your travel logistics and, even if you are, there are always challenges.

Traveling for work can be a great experience but it can also be exhausting and stressful if you’re not careful.

Implement the following tips and, not only will your business trip be a success, but you’ll return home energized.

Stay hydrated. Be sure to drink a lot of water. This will help you stay energized and will also minimize the negative impacts of travel, such as jet lag or infrequent meals.

Get rest. It might be tempting to stay out late enjoying the nightlife in a new city but leave the karaoke for home. Ensuring that you get enough rest will enable you to be at your best in those meetings will clients or help you be more engaging as you network at a conference.

Enjoy the outdoors. Don’t get stuck in a conference hall or a convention center all weekend. It can be easy to avoid fresh air and day light when staying at the hotel hosting all your events. However, our bodies need the sun and it helps our emotional well-being, too, to spend time outside.

Limit the alcohol. Having a drink can help decrease your anxiety and make it easier for you to talk with strangers or new acquaintances, but it can be easy to overdue it. Not only will you feel lousy for the next days’ agenda, but you might discover you’ve said some things you regret.

Make friends. Be sociable and kind to those you encounter, from the taxi driver to the receptionist at the hotel, to the sales manager you have lunch with. These encounters will shape how you experience your trip and will go a long way toward determining the success of your trip and the impact it makes on your company. Kindness is good business.

Expect things to go wrong. Yes, things will go wrong. Prepare to be disappointed. Your flight might be delayed. The hotel shuttle might make you wait longer than you’d like, or you might even miss a meeting. Be prepared for this and don’t let it throw you off for the remainder of your trip. If you adopt a bad attitude it will impact some of the other issues we discussed, making you less interested in traveling again for work in the future.

Boost Your Career With These 5 Tips for Healthier Living

In the US, employees take an average of about five sick days per year. That might not seem like a lot but consider the number of times you work when you’re sick with a cold or some other ailment. When you’re ill you likely are not working at peak performance.

In order to excel in your work and career you should also pay close attention to your health. Below are five simple strategies for improving your health and boosting your performance at work.

Sleep 7-8 hours. Getting adequate sleep provides many health benefits and studies have indicated that getting 7-8 hours of sleep reduces stress, increases creativity, improves memory, and sharpens attention, among other things. On the other hand, sleep deficiency has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.

Meditate. A brief, daily practice of meditation can result in significant health benefits such as reduced stress, better sleep, and perhaps even improved immune functioning. Meditation can also help you focus on positive and encouraging thoughts, which can lead to more joy and greater focus throughout the day.

Drink (a lot) of water. Staying properly hydrated is important to provide energy, strengthen muscles, improve skin, and keeps your gastrointestinal tract functioning healthily. As we’ve all heard, our bodies are mostly water and we need to drink enough daily to avoid fatigue, headaches, and other issues.

Move 30 minutes. Our bodies are made to move and we need to ensure some basic level of movement daily in order to stay healthy and strong, and to avoid illness. You don’t need to train like a professional athlete or body builder to see results. Get out and walk two miles on your lunch break, or bike in the morning before work … or, better yet, bike to work. Schedule this time every day just as you would any other important meeting. You’ll soon find that you have more energy and accomplish more throughout the day.

Avoid alcohol. While a drink at a social event or company party might lower inhibitions and help manage some social anxiety, frequent alcohol consumption has many negative consequences—damage to the brain, heart, and liver—and can lead to addiction. In addition, alcohol is a depressant and if you struggle with depression it can exacerbate it. To be at your best limit your alcohol intake.

Implement these five simple strategies and you’ll soon feel healthier, stronger, and more energetic.  

5 Tips to Work More Effectively and Productively

If you find that your days seem to run into each other and you're constantly working on yesterday's to-do list, here are 5 tips to manage your work day more effectively and productively.

1. Start the day with a tall glass of water and some energizing food. You need energy and strength to be at your best and so it's important to hydrate with water when you awake and to eat something high in protein and low in sugar, in order to avoid a crash later in the morning.

2. Identify your top 3 tasks the night before. Your day should start the previous night or afternoon. At some point in your day identify the top 3 tasks you need to complete tomorrow and write them down.

3. Ignore email and complete your most important task first. Avoid getting bogged down by email early in your day. Save the email for the afternoon and attack your most important task of the day first. Once that is completed you'll experience a great surge of energy and pride in your work.

4. Work in 45 minute bursts followed by a short break. Allow yourself to focus more efficiently by working hard but briefly on your tasks and then allowing time for a short break. If you work for 45 minutes and follow that with a 10-15 minute walk you'll return to your work with more focus.

5. Eliminate everything in your in-box before the day ends. Attack your email and clear out your in-box in the afternoon, once you've completed your most important tasks. Respond to necessary emails and file away those you need to save. Stop working with an in-box empty and you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment and won't spend the evening worrying about the items you need to deal with.

Implement these 5 tips and your work day will be much more efficient and productive.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 6 Ways to Recharge at Work

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below, Cassey Ho, identifies six ways to recharge at work, especially for those sitting at a desk all day.