Spending most of the last decade on the road 100% of the time I found myself quite burnt out. Looking back now I know the cause of my burn out was because I had become a workaholic, with all seriousness, I was addicted to avoiding anything but work. It was when I “woke-up” one day and realized I did not want to spend another 10 years like this and sadly I was way past the point of burn out to fix it without taking a break to reset.
So, here are a few lessons I learned too late:
Set Boundaries Ahead of Time
FIRST do you need to physically take this trip. So much can be done through video conferencing. Remember it is not just your time but also those you are coming to see. For you it maybe 3 days out of pocket for a 4-hour long meeting.
Set dinner plans for a reasonable time, if you took a 5:45 AM EST flight do not make dinner plans for 8:30 PM PST
Book your flight for an appropriate time for all parties, understanding budgets matter, but understand your time and energy cost money too, do not always sacrifice your time and “just power through”
Set the time when your day will end. Completely end, no more emails, time to start your evening routine with no work involved.
Nutrition
Planning your meals
Thinking of your food ahead of time assists with making good decisions and not leave you reaching for anything from anywhere when you get hungry
Pick a hotel with a restaurant or with restaurants within walking distant
If you check a bag or drive an immersion blender is small and easy to pack
With Shipt, InstaCart and Amazon Fresh (in select areas) you can now get your food delivered right to your hotel room.
Salad fixings are great options and easy to prepare in the room for lunches
Some hotels may even have kitchenettes or even grills outside to cook food on
Smoothies fixings if you have your immersion blender. Also, if you stay at the same hotel every week or so they may hold a blender for you.
You CAN fly with solid foods. This is often is a misunderstanding, but solid food is okay to fly with. I often would make protein balls ahead of time to bring with me. These were a life saver when the plane got delayed when I was trying to avoid the food (and alcohol) at the airport
Avoid Alcohol on the road. Alcohol has a ton of sugar that can affect your sleep that is already difficult on the road…. And so many other reasons to avoid but let’s stick to making sure you sleep well on the road
Fitness/Wellness:
Set a routine right away, your well-being is the first thing pushed away when time does not permit
There is so many resources now that can assist with your physical activity
Hotels are getting much more advance with their fitness center,
I worked in the hotel I was staying in, so I preferred not to work out next to the guy I just checked in
Hilton Full-Service Brands are starting to recognize this importance and designing rooms called 5 feet to fitness, keep an eye out for these
MindBody App was my personal favorite it has all ranges of fitness centers and you can search by time, location and style
Classpass has exploded onto the market and you can pay one fee and get nationwide classes, understand your points maybe very different per city you’re in. There is even a corporate package that may entice your Human Resource Department to purchase for the whole company
Jade Travel Mat is super small and can be folded up and fits in your front pocket of your suite case and can easily rolled out in your room no matter the size. Great apps for this is Glo or even YouTube (checkout Yoga 4 Change channel, for a great cause, classes and meditations)
Meditation!
You will do physical exercise for your body, try to eat healthy foods and clean your body but if you do not cleanse your brain burnout will still happen. There are lots of apps for this too my current favorite is Sound True right now.
A Routine that May Work
When reflecting back I did have wonderful weeks on the road when burnout was not 100% present and I felt I had control of my schedule. Here is an example of one of those great weeks
Since my flight was slightly delayed and I would not have time to stop at store I had my groceries delivered to the hotel through Shipt
Took the time on the night I arrived to prepare my salads for next few days lunches
Found a 6 AM power yoga class 5 mins from hotel, no excuses
Making a smoothie in my room with my immersion blender
Headed downstairs no later than 8 AM (remember I worked in the hotel I stayed)
I checked in with the team and made it very clear with the team when my day would end, they held me accountable for ending my day.
For dinner I would try to head out of the hotel. I was lucky enough that one of my close friends lived in Buffalo now, so I was able to make plans with her one of the days I was there. Finding a new local spot and possibly even finding a local attraction to checkout
I ended each night with a wonderful conversation with someone not work related (keeping those personal connections), meditation, a warm glass of tea and my favorite book or TV show