7 Tips For Staying Organized On Business Trips

Happy Tuesday!! You guys know this year has been the year of travel when it comes to business for me and while it’s been amazing – it’s also been a total CHORE trying to keep up with everything. When you work at home, you don’t have the luxury of just “clocking out” to go on a trip (especially a work trip) and that means that it can be SO easy to get behind and nearly impossible to catch up when you get home. I find it usually takes me almost an entire week to get back in order. I got home from New York last Wednesday, and I’m STILL catching up even though I worked during my trip. Here are seven of my best tips for you at-home entrepreneurs to stay as organized as possible on your business trips!

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7 Tips For Staying Organized On Business Trips

ONE: Prep as much as you can in advance.

For me, this means writing at least a week of blog posts in advance with images already inserted and the post schedule (including filming and editing videos if they are scheduled to go up). That is a big part of my week, so if that is taken care of, it’s one less big thing for me to worry about. This may be something different for you – but I suggest discovering what takes up most of your time during the week and try to get it taken care of as much as possible. I also make sure my instagram posts are scheduled + captioned as well.

TWO: Allow yourself 30-45 minutes to answer emails each afternoon.

It’s terrifying to get home after being gone for 5 days and not have answered a single email. If I take a small amount of time to make sure I’ve addressed the most pressing emails and flagged emails that can wait until I get home, I am much less overwhelmed when I sit down to my desk following the trip. While this may not always be possible (depending on your internet speed / availability), if you do have access to reliable internet, I highly recommend this tip.

THREE: Utilize Trello to your advantage.

I’ve talked about Trello before here, but it truly is one of the most amazing organizational tools out there. I have my entire life organized on Trello and I will never go back. It’s so easy to keep my to-do list, upcoming appointments, calendar, paychecks, and all blog organization here. It’s also great because I can share it with people like my intern so she can help me with to-do’s as well.

FOUR: Keep a tight schedule.

It really helps me to have my schedule totally planned out so I know where my down times are to get some work done. I always like being on a tight schedule anyways, but having each of my days lined up and planned make it much easier for me to schedule in work during break times. Whether that means editing images on the fly, organizing emails or finishing any last minute blog posts I didn’t get done during the prep weak.

FIVE: Know your limits.

This may mean that you don’t stay out until 1am because you actually do have to get up early in the morning to get work done. Know where you can relax, and where you need to be strict with yourself. This is especially important if you have packed days because you are going to want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep so you can be productive during the day.

SIX: DO NOT FORGET YOUR CHARGERS.

Do you want to know what is worse than forgetting your laptop charger on a business trip? Zero things. ZERO THINGS ARE WORSE. This is right up there with forgetting a phone charger, back up portable chargers and for me, my DSLR charger. Make sure you have remembered every charger you need so you can charge everything over night and be ready to go in the morning.

SEVEN: Keep as much of a routine as possible.

You will be able to avoid that week of catch up when you get home if you try to keep your routine as much as possible, even if it’s adjusted. I always try to make sure I’m getting up and doing the little things like getting my makeup done, share my blog post to my social channels and take a peek at my emails. That morning routine makes it easier for me to start my day and stay on top of everything.

PIN THIS FOR LATER:

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I hope these tips help you stay as organized as possible and keep yourself from getting so behind that you can’t catch up when you get back home. The more you prep and stay organized on your trip, the easier that transition will be!

What do you like to do to stay organized on business trips? Let me know in the comments below!