Let’s face it, the most stressful part of any trip is the preparation. Your mind races with all the things you need to do. What saves me is the trip checklist I have created for my business. When I schedule the trip, I open the ‘vacation’ document I have stored in my computer files, and scan down the list; then I cut and paste what I need to do before the trip into an event I create on my calendar. I also create an event for the day I return to the office, reminding me of the things I need to undo (like turn off the vacation message on my email).
Here are some examples of what is on my list:
- Make sure bills are paid.
- Vacation message on email.
- Print boarding passes (some airlines now can scan from your phone – although it varies by airport – I can tell you from experience that Fargo, ND airport does not have this capability)
- Call credit card company to tell them traveling so charges not denied.
- A few days/week before my departure, I send an email to my clients so they don’t try to email me in a panic and get an “out of the office” reply. I encourage them to contact me immediately if they have any questions or projects that need attention. When I first started doing this, I was surprised that this frequently results in additional income, I assume because of the scarcity factor; when clients realize you won’t be available, suddenly they decide they can’t wait to get moving on projects.
And for packing, here’s a cool app to check out: Stow
A great packing list makes preparing for your next trip easy, but making those lists has always been a pesky, time-consuming chore. Sure, you can create & save a packing list as a Word doc, but Stow makes packing lists simple by allowing you to quickly create and customize a list from a template. You can even create your own templates for trips you take regularly.
Stow also works great if you have a lot to take with you for your day. You can even save your morning routine as a template to speed the process.
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