Simplifying Life for More Productive Travel

Whenever I get stuck on a story or read a convoluted sentence, I think of a curmudgeonly editor who barked, "pare it down," so often I can still hear his voice (and irritation) decades later.

"Go for clarity. Simplify, simplify," he'd say. But we yearn for clarity and simplicity more than we achieve it. Our work and personal lives are bursting with clutter. Moreover, experts say, the cumulative chaos in your life, on your desk and in your head all contribute to stress.

The "simplify, simplify" philosophy works for the traveler, too, says Odette Pollar, SmartWaystoWork.com founder. She's often asked for advice on how to be happier and more productive on the road.

"When we talk about simplifying our lives, we're really talking about two important themes: getting organized and finding balance," she says. "We work longer hours because we're not getting everything done. We're not getting everything done because we're stretched too thin. We spend more and more time working to get caught up, which necessarily means less time with family and friends--which we need to keep some sort of reasonable balance in our lives. It's a vicious cycle, and often when we attempt to fix it, it just gets worse."

That's why Pollar has a special contempt for multitasking.

"It's another way of saying you're doing two things badly, which means you'll probably have to do both tasks all over again--or live with the mediocrity." And that, she points out, is something high achievers have trouble doing.

Clutter can be more overwhelming when you're away from home. "You've got the issues in your home life you've left behind," Pollar says. "You've got work piled up and situations at the office to handle from afar. And then you have the task at hand, the objective you're trying to reach on your trip." Add all the things you can't control--the crowded flight, the delays and the bad service--and you've got a recipe for extreme anxiety.

Pollar and other simplicity experts make the following suggestions:

• Streamline your packing. Make a checklist of what you need and stick to it. "I never check a bag," Pollar says. "I pack as light as I can and don't end up wasting time at the baggage carousel."
   
• Don't expect to get as much work done on the road as you do in the office. You can't get five hours worth of work done on a five-hour flight where you can't spread out, phone calls are difficult and laptops can't always be used. Her advice: "Read and relax as much as you can while you're on the road. And if you read in bed to wind down before you go to sleep, don't make it your work papers."
   
• Treat yourself. Take a bubble bath. Take a nap in the middle of the day. Stay in your hotel room for dinner. For many travelers, especially women, room service is a wonderful indulgence, she says. Someone else cooks, someone else delivers, someone else does the dishes, and usually, someone else pays.
   
• Combine business with pleasure, even if it's only to visit a park or museum. My friend Jennifer always schedules a massage or facial at a day spa when she travels. "It's great for unwinding, and I never seem to have the time to get them at home because I work such screwy hours," she says.
   
• Don't mistake simplification for deprivation. "It used to be that stories about simplifying your life featured two incredibly wealthy, successful people who gave it all up, sold their house and left the city to open a B&B. Or they got rid of all luxuries in their life. All very extreme." Pollar's view of simplicity is reducing the unnecessary complexity in your life and giving up the excess that doesn't serve you."