How to Work On The Go

I travel pretty often, and often while I travel I have work that I need to get done while I’m on the go. Nine times out of ten I will not refer to my trips as a vacation because I have work to do while on them. Our current trip to Iceland is no exception, and although it may look like fun and games I’ve been working hard behind the scenes. Today I’ve partnered with HP to share my best tips for how to work on the go.

1. Schedule a time to work.
Whether you need to schedule it ahead of time or can carve out slower parts of your day, you need to designate a proper working time. I prefer to work in the evenings after the day is over and the kids are asleep (if they’re with me), otherwise I’m far too distracted by the day to focus on what needs to get done.

2. Use the right gear.
If you have any major work to do, I’d highly recommend bringing a light laptop instead of a tablet or cellphone. I brought my HP Spectre with me on this trip. I was excited to use it and it was easy to travel with. I’m actually writing this post on it right now, and it’s performed very well with my file-size-heavy images and editing. I’m still amazed at how thin and light it is, it barely weighed down my backpack while in transit.

3. Bring the right software.
Since I don’t usually use a laptop when I’m home I have to take a moment before my trips to be sure that all of the right software is on my laptop, as well as any files I’ll need when traveling. In a normal workday I typically use Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Dropbox, WordPress, and a weekly to-do list. The HP Spectre has been very good with handling my file-heavy image files and editing process.

4. Focus on the work.
This step is usually hard for me if I try to work during the daytime as I really love a quiet space to work. I prefer to work somewhere quiet like a hotel room or other space that doesn’t allow for much noise or distractions so I can focus and get work done efficiently.

5. Reward (treat) yourself.
If I know I have something to look forward to at the end of my work, I know I’ll work both harder and faster. It can simply be something as simple as heading to grab a cup of coffee or going to the pool. After this post I get to sleep, but enjoy more of our trip tomorrow. A reward serves as good motivation for progress in my work.

That’s it! I feel that while 99.9% of the hard work while traveling is sticking to it, these tips will make it easier and more productive for you to get work done while on the go.

Do you have any tips for working on the go? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

This post is sponsored by HP, a company I have grown to know and love over the years. Thank you for helping to support the sponsors that make this blog possible.