Balancing business travel with your life: 5 tips

An increasing number people who travel for a living are concluding that their lives are out of balance. More than half of all business travelers say the time they spent with family has been significantly reduced as a result of being on the road, compared with 39% in 2001. And more than one-third said social time spent with friends suffered through the demands of traveling for their company, compared with 28% in 2001.

If you feel you're on the road too much, here are five steps toward positive change.

1. Tap the brakes before you get into an accident. Years of heavy travel will take a toll on most people. If you can think of your career as a car ride, remember to hit the brakes every now and then. That means taking breaks from traveling.

2. Use the tools you have to set a reasonable pace. This is a struggle for any business traveler — even the ones who have achieved a better balance. Microsoft Outlook's Calendar function is a good tool. It allows you to identify the most important appointments and it prompts you when they're due. While that's far more efficient than writing everything down on a memo pad, it is possible to have too much of a good thing where every little "to-do" item starts popping up on your screen, frequently interrupting your concentration. Another option is Franklin Planner for Outlook (www.franklincover/fpo) which lets you further prioritize your appointments. It also integrates nicely with Outlook. A caution: Technology alone won't put your life back into balance. But it can help.

3. Ask yourself: Do I really need to be there in person? A lot of business meetings can be accomplished virtually, with the help of Web conferencing software. The use of "virtual meeting" technologies experienced an uptick after 9/11, as companies cut back on business travel. But even now, as corporate travel heats up again, there are still plenty of smart reasons to pick Web-based meeting applications over an in-person meeting. Not the least of these is the fact that you eliminate the stress of traveling.

4. Remember: Garbage in, ugh, garbage out. When you spend time on the road, you tend to eat food you normally wouldn't (and in quantities you wouldn't) drink things you wouldn't, put off exercising and get insufficient sleep. Whoa. That alone is enough to knock your life out of balance. Try to maintain as many elements of your “regular life” on the road to maintain your health. Pack essentials that support familiar routines and diet.

5. Don't forget your friends, family and loved ones. It's possible to burn the figurative candle at both ends to have a successful business. But, the whole exercise seems rather pointless if you alienate everyone around you in the process. Don't think of your colleagues and relatives as obstacles standing in the way of your success — tethering you to the office when you should be out on the road drumming up business. Think of them instead as your support group. They'll be there when you need them.

Is bringing your career into balance an all-or-nothing proposition? Not necessarily, small steps and best practices repeated over time help you have a life and a career.

By Christopher Elliott