Creating a Stress-Free Business Trip

Follow these tips for creating a stress-free law business trip.  Some lawyers love traveling to other parts of the country or other countries; others find the process too stressful and rather not travel. Undoubtedly they are stressful but it’s often necessary to travel is for expos, conferences, and to work on a case or to close a deal.

Have a Travel Plan

No matter how far away the trip, it is never to early to start planning. You need to think about accommodation, how to get to the airport. Are you taking a cab? Driving yourself there? Is there a charge for parking? Devise a strategy and a timeline for everything before you leave to what happens when you arrive. Devising an itinerary reduces the stress.

Direct Flights Save Time

Traveling professionals book transportation with one eye on the budget. It is often cheaper to take multiple flights and have a brief layover. A direct flight may be the more expensive option than a layover or a break at one airport but it will save time. The risks of a delay could set you back further. With one flight, a cancellation or delay will impact the trip far less.

Have a Work Plan

Are you the sort of lawyer who tries to do it all before you go?  It isn’t important just to have a travel plan. You also need a work plan. Look at what work you can realistically do before the trip, what you can realistically do while traveling or once there. For everything else, there is only one thing to do: delegate. Trying to do it all leads to unfinished jobs and missed deadlines.

Technology

If your upcoming trip is a working break, there is no better time to look at your workflow and processes. Technology such as cloud storage and connectivity, and cloud-based SAAS (software as a service), PAAS (platform) and IAAS (infrastructure) helps you get work done wherever you are. Trips are stressful for many reasons, don’t let inability to work become an unnecessary stress.

Document While Information is Fresh

No matter what you’re doing it’s important to keep on top of everything. If you document as you go, keep information to hand, type up notes when you have a spare hour and record talks while in the conference room, you are less likely to forget. If you allow weeks to pass, it’s likely you’ll forget the information and lose the benefits of the trip.