Business travel is never an easy beast. It involves leaving your home, your family, and the colleagues you know. Instead, you have to live out of a hotel room, navigate an unfamiliar country, and work with people you’ve never seen before. To make matters worse, trips like these are often so short that they feel like a whirlwind of activity. If you aren’t careful, that could flatten you in no time. And, if that happens, there’s no way you’re going to perform your best in a business sense.
This is especially the case when it comes to long-haul travel. Embarking on an important meeting is the last thing you’ll want to do after a fifteen-hour flight. But, if you’re traveling for work, that may be precisely what you’re expected to do. The good news is, stepping off a long-haul flight and into a meeting doesn’t need to end in disaster. To prove that, we’ve got a few pointers which could see you prepped and fresh the moment you step onto that runway.
Adjust to time zones in advance
When it comes to long-distance travel, time zones are the most confusing thing of all. If you’re in a time zone hours outside of what you’re used to, it could unravel you. Which is why it may be worth adjusting ahead of your trip. If at all possible, set your clocks back or forward ahead of time. As strange as it may feel waking up in the dead of night, you wouldn’t believe how much this can help once you arrive. Rather than losing your head and your sleep, you’ll then be able to stay calm, collected, and ready for business.
Push for first class
First class is always preferable for long-haul trips. But, with business in mind, traveling this way becomes a must. Sleeping in an economy seat is near enough impossible. By comparison, a first class place could see you sleeping peacefully all flight. Of course, you may need to convince your boss of this. You may even need to upgrade your ticket yourself, but that’s doable too. If you fly often, you may find that you’ve accumulated enough miles to do this for free. Even if you’re a few short, you could top up by searching for airline miles for sale. Then, you’ll just need to steer clear of the free champagne, and you’ll be ready to walk straight into that meeting.
Prep on the flight
This should go without saying, but it’s also essential you use your flight for meeting prep. Jet lag will leave you lost at the best of times, let alone if you haven’t revised your notes for hours. That’s why it’s crucial you take your laptop or tablet on that flight with you. Make sure, too, that you can access all necessary files without an internet connection. With endless hours ahead, this would ensure you enter that meeting more prepared than ever before. In that case, we would say a sale looks pretty certain.
