One of part of growing up is realising that when you go on vacation, life doesn’t just magically stop the way it used to.
Emails keep coming. Deadlines continue approaching. Projects are still lingering.
I hate being that person who’s always desperate for a charger or hopping between wifi spots. Between school, work and a blog, I learned a lot this summer about how to be productive while traveling. There’s definitely an art to staying on top of things without missing out on everything around you.
Here are tips on how to be productive while still enjoying your vacation:
1. Plan Ahead
If there are things you can take care of before take off, putting in some extra hours of work before your trip is definitely worth it (example: it’s 5am right now but I’m going to be in Edinburgh for the next two days so post queue-ing it is).
2. LISTS!
Lists are your friends. Your best friends. Make a chronological list of things you’ll need to do during your vacation. This’ll help you find out how much time you’ll really need to sacrifice and let you worry less about forgetting things while taking tourist selfies.
3. The Wifi Thing
Wifi can be hard to get when traveling or on-the-go. I’ve seen some pretty terrible hotel wifis (#tbt the time it only worked in the bathroom). If your hotel wifi is somewhat lacking, ask the front desk what cafés or near by shops can help connect you to the web-world.
3. Set Aside Time
Instead of trying to answer emails mid-walking from monument to monument, setting aside an hour or two of bone-bustin’ productivity can really help. And this doesn’t necessarily mean slaving away in your tiny hotel room. Go do your work in a cute café or by the beach (they have wifi on the beach now-a-days right??).
4. The Early Bird Gets the Worm
This goes hand in hand with setting aside time. Waking up an hour or two earlier than your travel-mates to get stuff done can be great because if you finish everything you have to do early, you can really enjoy the rest of the day. (ex. Remember how it’s 5am? After this post is queued, I’ll be able to focus on Edinburgh and the Fringe and mi amigos).
5. Know When Enough is Enough
When all is said and done, you’re still on vacation. Even if you’re like me and actually like being busy with a million things at once, there’s a breaking point. If you’re really overwhelmed, let your boss/teacher/readers ( 😉 ) know that you’re out and about traveling. They’re sure to understand and make accommodations.
We’re all so so busy now a days that life never seems to stop. Hopefully these steps make it a little easier to juggle travel and productivity!
What are your mid-travel work tips? Have any funny wifi stories?