This article is brought to you by the book, Beyond Travel by Marcey Rader. An absolute must-read for a business traveler from my mentor and now friend.

Most business travelers have one thing in common and that is they’re on an airplane. But how they use their time on the flight is where things change.

How we use our time is a very personal thing. Not convinced? Tell someone they’re not using their time wisely and just wait for THAT response.

I suggest stepping back or getting ready for the inner defense attorney in them to come pouring out.

And since I’m a student of road warriors as a business travel performance expert, I’m always watching, listening, and learning how they spend their time.

One of the best labs for this observation is the airplane, imagine that.

You can tell who is on the plane for business travel and who is there for leisure.

The ones that stand out as the business traveler use their time doing three primary things:
1. To Work
2. To Watch Something
3. To Sleep

They sleep because they’re exhausted before they even land at their destination on the very 1st day of the trip, We know how THAT story goes, and it’s not the ideal way to start your Anchor Day.

I’m often either asked how I spend my time on a plane and/or those around me comment on my use of time on the flight.

Let me give you a money PRO TIP this early in the article.

Create Your Flight Plan.

A pilot has a flight plan and so should you. Both take you from one place to the other.

This is the exact opposite of most road warriors.

Again, what do they do?

Work
Watch Something
Sleep

Some multi-task and are somehow able to do all three at the same time… but do none of them well.

Have you seen that guy or girl? Is that you?

If it’s an early flight, they’re knocked out before the flight even takes off.

When they awaken from their coma nap with award mocking, I mean marvelous hair, they crack open their laptop and randomly go at it.

Then they get bored and start to watch something.

That’s more of a Flight “C’mon Man” than a Flight Plan.

And I’ve found there are four arguments with business travelers on whose time it really is on a flight:

The company time – no matter what time you’re on a flight (I’ve worked for companies like that and despised it by the way)
The company’s time during normal business hours (and is there such a thing on the road?)
The company and your time as long as you get your work done
YOUR time and only your time unless you choose to use YOUR time for work – after all, business and personal hours are easily blurred on the road

No matter where you stand on the four arguments, the point is you need a plan and I propose…

The Elite Road Warrior Flight Plan which has the following three elements:

What you’re going to do
The order you’re going to do it
Approximate times

The moral of the story here, Road Warriors, is whatever you do, you do on purpose.

If you work, you know…

What you’re going to do
The order you’re going to do it
Approximate times

If it’s a blend (between work and your time), you know…

What you’re going to do
The order you’re going to do it
Approximate times

If it’s only your time…

What you’re going to do
The order you’re going to do it
Approximate times

Why is this so important? Because how we use our time is how we spend our lives, and this includes a flight especially if you fly a ton as I do.

Elite road warriors use their time wisely in their Work, their Health, and their Home Life, the three focus areas.

And it starts with one of my favorite locations to do Focus Work.

It’s where the phone doesn’t ring.
Someone can’t swing by my office.
I can choose to be online or offline.

The following things everyone can do on every single flight no matter if it’s an hour, across the country, or across the ocean.

What changes? The length and frequency.

The longer the flight, the longer each of the following may occur and just how often I choose to do them.

The important point here is what they are.

And remember, our Flight Plan exists of:

What you’re going to do
The order you’re going to do it
Approximate times

It’s asking this very critical question:

Where Do I Want This Time to Take Me in the End?

When you land, how did you use your time?

Here are Seven Things I Do On Every Flight

1. Read / Listen

The 1st thing I do every single time is read/listen to a book.

Why first?

Personally, I just can’t get any work done because of all the interruptions of people boarding the plane, getting by me since I prefer the aisle to get up to stand, stretch, and walk.

So, through the years I’ve learned that if I don’t read first thing, I rarely get to it later on, but that’s just me.

I find it also calms my mind and puts me in a place of personal or professional development which is energy habit #5.

Prioritize the important not urgent first.

To be clear, my reading time is boarding time after I find my seat and get situated until once I reach 10K feet. My goal is to have read/listen time.

This part of the flight will always happen: I have to find my seat, everyone else has to find theirs, and they will announce when we hit 10K feet. So, leverage this predictable time to get your read/listen to on.

Challenge: If you’ve not read the Elite Road Warrior book, I challenge you to get it, and dedicate this boarding to 10K time to read the book.

2. Drink Water

Most people avoid water on the plane for a couple of reasons:
1. They say they don’t want to have to get up to go to the bathroom but then will have two cokes or an adult beverage or three.
2. They just don’t drink water normally when they’re on the ground and it’s just not part of their Road Routine.

The reality is you should double your amount of water on the plane. Huh? Why?
When you are on a plane, you’re basically flying in a sky desert, according to Life Hacker, where the humidity hovers around 10- 20%, which is less than the Sahara Desert, crazy enough.
This is due to the plane’s air circulation, or lack thereof.
Compare that to normal humidity, which is between 30-60%, and it’s no wonder you’re more dehydrated on a plane, which is why you often feel a little more fatigued, have headaches, and nausea when flying.
On a plane, if you were to bring a soaking wet washcloth onto the plane, within 90 minutes, it will be completely dry!
According to Dr. Peter Hackett, the director of the Institute for Altitude Medicine, you should drink about 8 ounces of water for every hour you’re in the air. So just plan on drinking twice as much water on a plane when you’re flying.
The last thing I do before boarding the plane is head to the bathroom and try to go (I hear my father say, “Son, just push and try anyway!”), then I fill up my water bottle. It’s the times when I don’t and rely on drink service that we hit turbulence for six hours on a two-hour flight and the flight attendant can’t get up – or can they? Hmm.
And did you know every airline has at least this one thing in common? Free Refills on water.

So, I chug water often and let it do its magic.

Challenge: Drink about 8 ounces of water for every hour you’re in the air.

3. Think Space

What is Think Space? Taking time to think and put your thoughts on paper.

It’s the key element of Process the Thoughts which is the 2nd part of the Invest in You Formula of energy habit 5: Develop.

Why take time for Think Space?

Personally, my brain is always and I mean always going. I need time to get what’s in there, out of there.

I’ve always been good at the 1st part of the Invest in You Formula of Sharpening the Mind by putting things in but not getting things out. Hence the need for Think Space.

What do I use?

The Elite Road Warrior Journal which has two sections: one for Think Space and one for Monitor the Heart (journaling)

How long do I take? Depends on the flight but anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.

What do I think about?

You name it.

Sometimes it’s just free form. I just open it up and go wherever my mind takes me. And since it’s scary in there, what I think or write about may be all over the place.

But usually 5 minutes or so into Think Space, my mind starts to settle and I think about something specific and process it.

Ideas:

Your trip
Follow-up
Your goals
How to connect with family/friends

The point here is leveraging the peace and quiet in the air and creating time to think.

I have a blog post about Think Space along with an entire chapter in the Elite Road Warrior book for more details, examples, etc.

Challenge: plan just 5 minutes to do nothing but think on your next flight and write it down, preferably in the Elite Road Warrior branded journal – just sayin

4. Stand and Stretch

Believe it or not, you’re actually almost completely at the mercy of the seat belt light or everyone else’s sedentary behavior. 30-60 seconds to stand and stretch makes a huge difference every 30 minutes.

Why? Your body gets tight especially the older you are. And your mind gets tired.

I define a break as Move the Body and Rest the Mind. And a break can be a micro-break of 30-60 seconds. Perfect time to stand and stretch.

If you don’t stand and stretch consistently, you’ll be surprised quickly by just how much this one act will do for you on a flight to go back and do whatever you’re doing.

Challenge: commit to take just one stand and stretch break during your next flight

5. Work

This one goes back to the four arguments of whose time is it really on a flight.

If and when I work, I try to leverage this unique time:

No phone calls
No work chat or texts
No stop by your office to chat
No WiFi if you want to – if I want to be officially “off the grid”, I can be and ain’t nobody can do anything about it

My guidelines for working on a plane:

Have Rules – how long
Have a Plan – high leverage tasks
Have focus

This can be Deep Work time. If you abide by the guidelines, you can knock out this Time Block of focused, deep work time to make some serious progress.

6. Walk

Every hour or more I get up and am free to move about the cabin as they say.

My water kicks in and it’s go time and I mean literally. It’s a great reminder to stand, stretch, and walk.

I always choose the bathroom in the furthest direction. Why? Get more walking and potentially stand and stretch time if I have to wait.

Again, going back to the definition of a break. Move the Body and Rest the Mind, a walk no matter where you walk is a great catalyst to do both and then come back even more refreshed to get back to the task at hand.

Challenge: commit and take at least one stroll down the aisle during your next flight (if you did #2, drink water, this may just be your trigger reminder)

7. Meditate

Once we’re about to land and the cabin is getting cleaned/ seat trays in their full and upright position, I use this time as a trigger to meditate.

I don’t get down in a lotus position and make a scene to go Zen on everyone. But I do take a few moments to meditate after I put all my gear away.

Why? Get in the right headspace.

I want to get where I’m going prepared, focused, and in the right state of mind.

And this is done by mindfulness.

You can hear more about it on the Elite Road Warrior Podcast episode #27 on why meditation didn’t work for me on the road… (which is a hook title, FYI) so I’m a big believer in the benefits of taking time on a flight to meditate and get my head in the right place.

Because, at least for me, once that plane lands and I stand, it’s go time. To work or head home. Either way, I want to be mindful.

Challenge: take just one minute to try and meditate once your flight begins to descend to become mindful of what’s next after the flight

Honorable Mentions – let me give you three

Watch Something

The default and in the top two tasks most do on a plane.

If and when I watch something, this is my time to binge-watch something. Breaking Bad was my show and now it’s Bosch from Amazon Prime.

Sometimes, especially on a late flight on the way home, it’s nice to zone out to a show or a movie.

There’s nothing wrong with it but to me, it’s a reward once I get my Flight Plan high leveraged tasks complete.

2. Talk To Your Neighbor

The irony here is one of the unwritten rules of a business traveler on a flight is applying the DND international symbol – putting on the Do Not Disturb headphones then not making contact.

But sometimes it’s nice to talk to someone – you never know where it could lead. My last keynote came from someone I sat next to on a flight!

3. Develop

Learn something beyond a book/audiobook.

Lastly, I want to prove to you the power of a Flight Plan in action with focused work.

The Elite Road Warrior book was written over a nine-month period of time by committing to this very plan of the seven things I do on every flight. I prepared myself by reading, drinking water, and standing/stretching/walking to stay sharp to write flight after flight after flight.

This can be done Road Warriors and if you’ve read or listened to my book, you’ve benefited from it too!

So, wherever you are on the road, do something, anything, just not nothing to master the business travel life.

Go and get your Flight Plan on today.

You Got This!

References

7 Early Warning Signs for Companies to Avoid Business Travel Burnout:

Top Ten Business Travel Hacks Guide: