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Did you know the average business traveler spends between 48-74 nights away from home?  

For someone that doesn’t travel or travels very little, they seemed surprised, even shocked by this number.

Those that travel in this range, completely agree. And those of us who travel that amount by Memorial Day, know what it’s like to try and live in a home away from home.

 

Most do it very poorly and just survive. Or as I often say, “getting by, not getting better”. But does it have to be that way? Just getting by on the road?

I remember before I started traveling for a living, how much I looked forward to staying in a hotel. The criteria and expectations were so different back in those simple, naive days.

When I travel with my family and the kids, oftentimes it’s as simple as throw the stuff down, grab the swimsuits, and head to the pool.

But now it’s a whole different ball game with business travel especially traveling the amount I’ve done year after year now.

Here’s the reality:

A hotel room can make or break a trip especially that first night.  My normal routine before I became focused, okay obsessed with maximizing my energy on the road, was one of the following after I opened my hotel room door:

1. Chuck my carry-on wherever to deal with whenever, turn on the tv, and crash by relaxing on the bed
2. Kind of unpack and leave the room immediately for bigger and better things (never found out what exactly was bigger and better other than my gut and my next big meal or drink)

But I realized these two approaches always back-fired on me. I eventually came back to my “home away from home” and being negligent to set up this temporary home environment always had negative consequences:

• My room was a blast furnace
• My clothes were a wrinkled mess
• I couldn’t find anything in my carry on because it was late and dark and I was impatient and 
• I felt organized and frustrated

It came down to a lack of preparation on my part to set up my home away from home to work best for me. After all, I was on the road to perform at a high level (energy habit four) and produce results.

I was viewing my hotel room as a place to CRASH not a place of ENERGY.

And the irony is it would only take a simple plan and a few minutes of my time to solve this disorganization and frustration.

I wanted and needed my hotel room to create energy not consume energy for me and a few seemingly simple tweaks could actually give me a quick boost of energy.

This is what I came up with and I now live by the acronym HOME.

Ironically enough, since it’s one night or a week, the reality is it’s my home while I’m away from “real home.” Before we get into “the details” on how to make the most of your hotel room we have to discuss how do I make sure this is going to happen.

The Trigger.

I had to have a trigger so I can change my old habits of chucking my carry-on wherever and crashing on the bed.

The trigger is the key opens my door. Once that happens, I roll in my carry-on, grab the stand, and open up my suitcase.

Why?

Because I need this motion as an immediate trigger to the reality this is my new home.

For now.

The old way was just walk in, chuck the carry on and just move on not move in.

This trigger was my catalyst for this new change of behavior. So, how do you take immediate control of your home away from home?

Now, I don’t know the quality of your hotel, if you’re staying one night or one week. But this information applies no matter your situation.

And it all starts with The Trigger I referenced earlier.

Once my key opens my hotel room after check-in, I go through a four-step process found in an acronym: HOME

How to Immediately Take Control of Your Home Away From Home on Business Travel

1. Home

H – Hang up and unpack 

Okay, my hotel room is open and I have a choice what to do next.

The easy thing is to chuck the carry-on in the corner, grab the remote, and jump on the bed.

Or maybe the only thing you get out is your laptop to start cranking out some work.

I want to challenge you to begin the HOME away from HOME by starting with the “H” – hang up and unpack.

The very 1st thing I do is find the luggage holder, find the ideal spot in the room and immediately hang up my dress clothes. I always have nice clothes that need to be hung up so here’s my chance. I then unpack my entire carry-on. Huh?

Why? It’s simple and psychological: I don’t want to feel like I’m living out of a suitcase. And the reality is it only takes a couple of minutes. I’ve done it so many times, I can knock it out quickly.

I have my non-hanging clothes in packing cubes so they’re easy to pull out of my carry-on, open up a drawer, and either unload the contents or if the drawer is larger enough, I simply set the packing cube in the drawer wide open for easy access.

Lastly, I take my toiletry bag into the bathroom and unpack them. All of them. I HATE scrounging through that small bag what seems like hours to find “that one thing” I need. I take a washcloth or small towel and set everything out. (I’m a little OCD in this way so you don’t have to take it as far as I do – I was going to include a picture but didn’t want to freak you out).

I can literally do this H Step in under 2 minutes.

2. hOme

O – Optimize the space

After H of “Hang Up and Unpack”, next, I begin to tailor the room to fit me. It is MY room until I leave.

Now, I’m not moving walls or taking down pictures but I am making tweaks that make me feel more comfortable.

The 1st thing I do is remove the clutter. I don’t need or even want all the magazines, advertisements, etc. laying all around the room. In one swoop, I grab anything out and put it in a drawer. 

The next thing I do is adjust the furniture. I know, crazy, right? I’m not moving the bed or redecorating but often I’m making two potential moves:

The Desk – if I’m going to be spending any amount of time in a workspace, I want to tweak it to fit me and this usually means changing the location to face a window if I can move it. I also see if there’s a way I can adjust the height to make it more of a stand-up desk. A personal thing with me.

The Chair – I’m a voracious reader (Energy Habit Four – Develop) so if I can put the chair in a more optimal location, again, by a window, all the better. I start my morning reading so I like to have the location all set and ready for me. 

Optimizing the space is a “feel thing”. If it’s a value to you, you know that about you and just need to act on it. You’ll be surprised what this can do for you.

If you’re not sure, just try it. I had never thought of it until a fellow business traveler on a plane told me about this idea. Now, it’s part of my routine.

How can you maximize the room layout to create energy for you?

This O Step takes me only 2 or 3 minutes.

So, H is Hang up and Unpack / O is Optimize Your Space and now…

3. hoMe

M – Manage the room temperature and scent 

Ah, the temperature. It’s never right. I’ve lost track how many times I walked into the hotel room and began to sweat. Not cool. Literally. I sweat enough in air conditioning, I don’t need any help in a warm room!

My HOME routine means I MUST change the temperature of the room to what is comfortable to me. Not my wife or my kids (sold separately on business travel) so it’s what I like and prefer. 

Often, I set it for my ideal sleeping temperature which is usually around 66 degrees. I know, one cool cat.

Another tweak I do with the room temperature has more to do with the room scent.

Here’s my Scent Hack: I bring cotton balls and put a few drops of essential oils to change the scent of the room. This is great when you come back into the room and have a comforting scent that is calming and familiar.

Did you catch that? Calming and most importantly, familiar. I love the scent of eucalyptus so this gets dripped on to the cotton ball and then put into the vent in the wall. Wha la. At night I’ll often change the essential oil to lavender to help me sleep (which I also put some on my body). Don’t knock it until you try it. 

Think about your ideal room temperature and scent. Chances are you’re put little to no thought into this question especially when you enter the room and part of your routine.  

This takes me a “cool and stinkin'” 1 minute.

H – hang up and unpack / O – optimize the space / M – manage the temperature/scent

4. homE

E – Exercise

Are you serious Clark? (name the movie: Christmas Vacation)

After I complete the 1st three parts of the H.O.M.E. acronym, it’s time to move the body especially on a travel day and quite possibly a busy day depending on what time I make it to the hotel.

Depending on how much time I have, this will determine whether I’m going to do something in my room or head down to the hotel fitness center or local gym.

And I always have a plan.

If I have a short amount of time, I can drop to the floor and do a few minutes of an ab workout or pushups or burpees that include pushups and work my abs.

If I’ve had little activity, I may do just 10 minutes of a High-Intensity Interval Workout (HIIT). You’d be surprised how much you can get your heart rate up and how much better you’ll feel in just 10 minutes.

Many times I want to find the hotel fitness center and just do some dumbbell workout. If I have more time, I may want to visit a local gym to workout and leverage the sauna or steam room or plunge pool.

But you need to have a plan.

Once I open that hotel room door, I need to know how much time I have, what I feel like doing, and what I’m going to do.

Don’t believe the lie that you don’t have enough time for a hit of exercise. If you’ve read my book, I say often:

Something, anything is better than nothing.

This exercise approach of something, anything is better than nothing, is my BIGGEST boost of energy for wherever my evening will lead me.

This takes me anywhere between 5-30 minutes. And worth literally every minute.

My Suggestion 

Start with one of the four above that would make the biggest impact on your energy if you were to implement it. 

For example, the 1st one for me was simply changing the room temperature. Sounds silly but I HATED coming back to a warm room after a long day and it felt like forever for it to cool down especially if I had to be out late that day.

Next for me was hanging up my clothes and fully unpacking. It was more of a mental thing at first but led to not consuming needless energy looking for things and feeling like a visitor in my own room. 

What I enjoy the most through my stay is Optimizing the Space. Changing the room to fit my flow has made working (Perform Energy Habit) and reading/thinking (Develop Energy Habit) so much more enjoyable to me. 

Look for something that will be a simple and impactful change and you should see immediate feedback on its effectiveness. Remember, the goal is taking ownership of your hotel room to create not consume your energy. 

Let’s Land This Plane

The H.O.M.E. Method is easy to remember and easy to use chronological process but can be done in any order. It starts with the Trigger – once your room key opens the door, the H.O.M.E. acronym is activated and it’s Go Time.

H – Hang up and unpack

O – Optimize the space

M – Manage the room temperature and scent

E – Exercise – something, anything is better than nothing

It only requires a short amount of time but can have quick and tangible results. 

So, wherever you are on the road, do something, anything just not nothing to master the business travel life. Leverage that road to becoming an elite road warrior today. 

YOU GOT THIS!

If you’re interested in the audio version of this post, check out the Elite Road Warrior Podcast episode 015. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and on this site under Podcasts.

 

I’ve gone through seasons of becoming a “seasoned business traveler.”

At first, I was overwhelmed with this newfound freedom. Someone is paying me to fly somewhere, paying me to eat already prepared food, not have to make my bed, and no family responsibilities. Could this get any better, seriously?

I was on a tight travel budget on my first travel job and learned to make the most of each dollar. I had the budget of a small child who hated food. If I stayed at a hotel that offered a decent breakfast then I could save that money for a better dinner!

I figured out what airlines, hotels, car rental companies had the best deals and perks.

Then I upgraded travel jobs. Again. And again.

Better flight options. Nicer hotels. Better rental cars. And oh the food and drink dramatically improved!

I ate the best of the king’s food and drank the best of the king’s wine and lived like I was on vacation on the road.

And my result?

You’ve heard of the Freshman 15, right? Then there’s the Travel 20. 

And being the over-achiever I am, of course, I gained the 20 pounds AND added another 20 pounds at no additional charge (at least to me).

I was becoming the guy I always looked at as undisciplined on the road.

Ugh, man.

 

Change of Perspective…

Through the years, my Road Perspective has changed.

I realize it’s not a Vacation but a Vocation.

If you’re truly a Road Warrior, you’re on the road a lot and I mean a lot. You MUST learn to view the road differently.

Yet most business travelers don’t.

The only thing they gain through all their years on the road is their weight.

Holy fat man, Batman!

Here was my change of perspective:  

Learning to leverage the road to make me better in the ways that I WANT TO IMPROVE.

Here Are Three Specific Areas to Change Your Road Perspective:

1. Your Health

I could go on an on about this one but almost every single Road Warrior is simply out of shape. The road has enabled you instead of empowered you.

Most barely move within their day. They sit most of the time, only walk when they have to, rarely get their heart rate up unless they’re forced to take the stairs, and strength training? Does my one sit-up to get up out of the bed and an arm curl to drink a beer count? 

C’mon man.

The reality is you have more control than you think. You have more time than you think. You don’t have a room full of family when you wake up in your hotel room. Your spouse doesn’t order your food at the restaurant for you. And you could choose to workout, even for a few minutes, instead of hitting the bar early or binging on Netflix.

Stop making excuses to others and lying to yourself. Channel that competitiveness and drive in you to leverage the road to get back into shape.

2. Your Work

Many of us were killing it on the road when we first started traveling. We were scrappy, hustlers, and willing to put in the effort.

But now? We claim we work smarter not harder, but are we really?

Most Road Warriors I meet are, well, lazy. They just “get by”, always seem to be working because they’re not disciplined and focused. They waste time on the road and complain about how busy they are on the road.

You spend most evenings on the road with your laptop lover just trying to push-through when the quality of your work is suffering when we think it’s improving.

We’ve found ourselves in a rut in how we “do productivity” on the road but if we’re honest, it’s not working or could definitely use a Road Makeover.

What if you were to leverage the road to get back to being efficient and effective? What if you upped your game and became “that guy” or “that girl” again…?

It starts by changing your perspective of Work and how you can leverage the road to improve it to work for you not against you.

3. Your Home Life

Come again? Home life on the road?

Exactly.

SO many business travelers, especially men, have little to no contact with their spouse and / or kids on the road and if they do, it’s a generic check-in that feels more like a commitment than a true connection. 

Here’s an obvious reality that we quickly forget on the road: the life of our significant other and/or kids go on WITHOUT us on the road. Weeks, months, then years go by and we wonder how we got to where we are because we don’t truly know our family anymore.

This can and should change if you change your Road Perspective. And isn’t our family what truly matters the most in the end?

My perspective was changed by a hurt wife and kids because I was always too tired and my schedule was always more important. It caused un-needed pain and a ton of rebuilding trust to my family.

 

In the End…

Let me ask you now: What is your Road Perspective? Think about it. 

Are you leveraging the road to make you better with your Health, Work, and Home Life?

You’re not alone and my focus of writing is to help you change your Road Perspective so you can be at your absolute best BECAUSE of the road, not IN SPITE of it.

You can do this when you change your Road Perspective!

I’m on a flight right now and eating homemade scrambled eggs, sautéed spinach and kale, cut up bell peppers and cucumbers with cherry tomatoes. 

I do this every flight.

On the other hand, I’m sitting next to Egg McMuffin Man. Have you seen him?

Right now he’s inhaling an Egg McMuffin, hash browns, and washing it down with a jumbo Diet Coke. Diet, of course.

Does that make me better?

Well… I’ll let you be the judge.

The point is we’re both on the 1st day of a business travel trip and we both made an anchor decision how we’re starting off our trip.

He’s now in a coma while his phone is still on playing a movie.

I’m choosing to write.

Again, you be the judge.

Unknowingly, he’s making decisions that are setting the tone for the rest of his trip.

I see this kind of guy ALL of the time when I travel.

And there’s a reason he’s overweight, marginally effective, and lacks energy.

The Research.

Daniel Pink in his latest book, WHEN, talks about Beginnings – Starting Right, Starting Again, and Starting Together.

His premise is many, what he calls, False Starts, are MORE due to WHEN than WHAT. 

If we do certain activities at the wrong time no matter if they’re the right activities, they simply will not have as strong as results.

He also addresses the need for Fresh Starts. 

When we False Start, we need to Begin Again fresh.

Makes sense.

For example the 1st day of the year, or month, or week are what social scientists often call a “temporal landmark.” 

In 2014, three scholars from the Wharton School of the University of Penn published a study of the use of temporal landmarks and how we can leverage them for new beginnings or fresh starts.

These scholars analyzed 8.5 years of Google searches. They found that certain word searches spiked dramatically on key “fresh start days” and triggered a predictable motivation in people.

Daniel Pink noted there are two types of Temporal Landmarks: Social and Personal

1. Social – those everyone shared: Mondays / New Month / New Quarter / Holidays

2. Personal – unique to the individual: birthdays / anniversaries / job changes

As the Wharton scholars concluded, “People can strategically create turning points in their personal histories.”

Now, the goal is to find what potential days could be your own Temporal Landmarks.

And I call this concept Anchor Days.

Definition of an Anchor Day:

“Key behaviors done on a specific date to serve as a kickstart for a period of time”

The power is in the word: ANCHOR.

Let’s breakdown the key aspects of an Anchor Day…

THREE Key Aspects of an Anchor Day to be effective and be powerful:

1. Set Date – there must be a CLEAR starting date – This is the WHEN – a “specific day”

2 Catalyst Behavior – Key actions you need to do – This is the WHAT

3. Specific Triggers – reminders or cues / IF this, THAN that = WHERE

All three aspects are critical for an effective Anchor Day that gives you sustainable energy and incredible results.

Ideally, you combine the specific day / catalyst behaviors / specific triggers into a plan to make the most of the Anchor Day.

Anchor Days require Intention and Discipline.

They don’t “just happen”.

Did you catch that?

Anchor Days require Intention and Discipline.

They don’t “just happen”.

You must INTEND to do them.

And they cause you to exert effort that requires discipline.

But the payoffs are absolutely huge.

So few people do them that when you create and implement an Anchor Day you’re already in a very elite group of high performers who are living with an Energy Edge.

Back to the book, WHEN, for a moment.

The author, Daniel Pink, offers the potential of 80 + days in the year when you can make a fresh start:

•1st day of the month (12)

•Mondays (52)

•1st day of Spring / Summer / Fall / Winter (4)

•1st day of an important religious holiday (1)

•Your Birthday! (1 only thankfully)

•A loved one’s birthday (1)

•1st day of school or semester (2)

•1st day of a new job (1)

•The day after graduation (1)

•1st day back after vacation (2)

•Anniversaries (7)

Hopefully your mind is working through what ARE your anchor days or what COULD BE your anchor days.

Here are my own personal on-going anchor days on a consistent basis:

1. Mondays

2. New Month

3. New Quarter

4. 1st day of a business trip

Now, let me drill down on one that makes the biggest impact for me on a consistent basis:

Business Travel…

My work is business travel a majority of the time.

As a result, having an Anchor Day is absolutely key for me.

I’ve learned through the years the MOST IMPORTANT day of business travel for me is the 1ST day of the trip.

Why?

It’s rather simple. Because how the 1st day goes, the rest of my trip usually goes.

A creature of habit.

If I can establish an “anchor” of certain behaviors on my 1st day, they will be my anchor keeping me grounded for the rest of the trip.

On the flip side, I witness first hand business travelers with shallow or no anchors and their 1st day of the business trip is inconsistent and all over the place.

And I’ve learned, once the train leaves the station, or in my case, the plane leaves the airport, I need to work my Anchor Day Plan.

Not going to be THAT guy anymore.

Personal Example…

So, let’s work through the three aspects of an Anchor Day in my example of a Road Warrior:

Set Date – 1st day of my business travel – this is my WHEN

Catalyst Behaviors – What I EAT / How I MOVE / When I Sleep

And here are some examples for me personally:

1. Taking my Breakfast with me – don’t leave to chance (AND if I have a healthy breakfast I’m FAR more likely to have a healthy lunch / dinner) 

2. Snacks – bringing / buying (stopping somewhere to get fresh snacks) – finding a Whole Foods / Trader Joe’s, etc.

3. Hotel Room – I found this to be a big one for me because it’s my Home Away From Home on a trip and certain behaviors can really set me up

4. Connect – Check in with Home – this is done by early morning videos / audio / text messages so my family has them from me before they even wake up

5. Rest – Early Bed Time – this is SO key the 1st day because most of the tie I have an early flight and changing time zones

Now, remember, after the Set Date and Catalyst Behavior, is the 3rd aspect of the Anchor Day which is…

Specific Triggers  reminders or cues / IF this, THAN that = WHERE

•   Water bottle / tupperware / snack bag out the night before

•   Apple Watch alarms – stand / drink water

•   and the example I gave in detail: Hotel Key hitting the room door – trigger for the H.O.M.E. acronym to kick in

Wrapping This Up…

You need to think through your own world.

What needs to have an Anchor Day?

What day if you leveraged the concept of an Anchor Day could provide you the needed energy and focus you need?

Is it Mondays / new Month / new Quarter / a Big Project / possibly business travel…? 

Answering this question will give you the ability to leverage the Power of Anchor Days for your business trip.