The Modern Leader
Traveling while working remotely? Here's how to make the most of your trip without letting work take over your life.
Why it matters: Working remotely from a different time zone can blur the lines between work and personal time. Setting boundaries ensures you enjoy your travel while staying productive.
A personal journey: Lessons from Warsaw
When I first began traveling to Warsaw to open a new office, my workdays truly became marathon sessions:
- 9 AM: Arrive at the office after breakfast
- 9 AM - 12 PM: Focus on morning tasks
- 12 PM - 1 PM: Enjoy lunch with the team
- 1 PM - 6 PM: Continue working on projects
- 6 PM - 7 PM: Have an early dinner
- 8 PM - 11 PM: Attend evening meetings with colleagues back in North America
- 11 PM - 12:30 AM: Respond to Slack messages and wrap up the day
That's over 15 hours of work-related activities each day! I would do this four days in a row. As you can imagine, this isn't sustainable. Without setting firm boundaries, it's easy for work to consume your entire day, especially when juggling time zones with a geographically distributed team. I had to get a handle on managing my schedule to prevent burnout and still enjoy the benefits of traveling.
The challenge
- Time zone clash: If you work on a distributed team (or, better yet, you're working substantially different hours from your team than you normally would), you'll find yourself extending your workday to accommodate regularly timed meetings.
- Overlapping commitments: Sightseeing and work responsibilities compete for your attention. There's a balance, of course, and you're not taking vacation time for a reason, but you are in a different city/country and there's a line to balance here.
- Risk of overworking: Without boundaries, you might inadvertently work 15-hour days. I speak from experience!
How I recommend balancing your experience
- Adjust your work schedule
- Shift your hours: Align your work to early mornings or late evenings to accommodate team meetings while freeing up daytime for exploration.
Example: Work from 9 AM to 12 PM, take a long lunch for a few hours, and then start back up again around 4 PM until it's time for a later dinner. You may need to take a meeting or two in the evening, but you're leaving plenty of time during the day to explore without affecting your working hours.
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Communicate availability and stick to your boundaries: Let your team know your adjusted hours to manage expectations. I can't stress this enough. I update my Slack status when I travel for this reason:
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Prioritize tasks:
- Identify high-impact work: Focus on critical tasks during your most productive hours. I actually find when I'm traveling I can do my deep thinking work in the morning because nobody else is online to require meetings.
- Remain flexible:
- Make some concessions: I block off a lot of time on my calendar in the evenings and just tell folks to check with me before scheduling time in that window. It's not an "absolutely not" because I can't inconvenience my colleagues just because I'm choosing to work in a later time zone.
The bottom line
Balancing work while traveling in a different time zone is achievable with intentional planning and clear boundaries.
Remember: The goal is to enjoy your travels without compromising your work commitments. Learn from my personal experience and set boundaries, but make sure you're actually enjoying your time while traveling!