How To Do “It” While On The Road

By Natalie Sisson –

When you’re traveling for business it can be pretty challenging to do it while on the road.

And by ‘it’ I mean working on your business. You have to deal with lack of internet, no fixed place of work, different time zones, dealing with new infrastructure and more.

As a full time Suitcase Entrepreneur who has no home, office or place of work, I have had to master working from trains, planes, boats and automobiles.

As a result I’d like to share with you a number of ways that you can be more effective, productive and streamlined when working while traveling.

It’s all about the mindset

The more flexible and open-minded you are when traveling, the better you’ll be able to deal with anything that gets in your way – and trust me there can be many things. If you acknowledge before you head off on your trip that you may miss appointments, lose your way, have hassles with taxis or hotels, and potentially have to pay for wifi, for example, you’ll actually be better prepared.

You can of course prepare in advance by looking up on timeanddate.com the timezone you’re heading to, and how that will affect your sleep patterns as well as your current calendar entries and whether you need to rearrange some meetings. Just knowing the time, makes you feel more confident about what you have planned on your business trip.

Get connected and stay that way

Depending on how important it is for you to have data and cell service, you should look into this before you head away. Boingo offers 500,000 hotspot locations and one monthly low wireless plan which is a god send when you can connect up (almost anywhere).

If you’re smartphone is unlocked it’s really easy to buy a sim card in many western countries and top it up or pay as you go to make local calls and not get charged a fortune. Otherwise you can always use Skype from your laptop (and add credit) or stay in touch using What’s App – a free app that you can SMS people from without needing data or a cellphone plan.

Become a technology whiz

Thanks to a plethora of online tools available to you, there is no reason for you to not be able to work from the road using your laptop and even just your smartphone. Having most of your key business processes online and in the cloud is going to be critical if you want do business and travel.

Below are just a selection of a few of my favorite tools I use to run my business from my suitcase:

Dropbox: This cloud storage system is where I host all my important documents, videos, audios and photos that I need to access regularly. It syncs with your laptop, computer and smartphone app so you can access every file at any time – even from another computer with your login details. And it’s secure.

Boomerang: This is a very cool email tool designed to ensure you answer your most important emails at a time that suits you, and send them when it’s most convenient. Plus you can ‘boomerang’ emails for another date, so you don’t lose track of them, but you can read and action them when it’s really necessary.

Asana: My project management tool of choice because it’s free, simple to use and very intuitive with type and enter commands to keep on top of your tasks and your teams. You can even highlight your priorities for the day.

Gmail Offline: Simply download this app from Google Chrome and it will transform your life. It syncs with the past 10 days worth of emails and means you can read and respond to them all offline (while sitting on  plane for example) and when you next connect up, all your replies and emails get sent.

Remember that business travel should be fun and easy, especially if you’re prepared and connected in advance. Most of the tools and strategies above are free and definitely doable for less than $100. If you want to know what other tools I use to run my business you can access my free resource page and my travel tools page too.

Natalie Sisson is a Suitcase Entrepreneur who is on a mission to ensure others create freedom in business and adventure in life. She blogs about how best to use online tools, social media and outsourcing to build a thriving online business you can take anywhere. Over at the Suitcase Entrepreneur she offers free resources and tools, digital products and programs and business design coaching to ensure you create your ideal lifestyle. She’s also founded the $100 Change Initiative to empower hundreds of other entrepreneurs to start a business or project they love for $100.