Here's why traveling for work is making us feel stressed, exhausted, and homesick. A combination of heightened risk, travel disruptions, and mental health challenges is weighing on business travelers.
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“Business travel can be indeed grueling as it takes you away from your regular routine. As a result, people have limited access to supports that keep them healthy and emotionally stable,” says psychologist Charmian Jackman. That's no small task, given how frenetic and exhausting business travel can be.
Travel-related stress can spark mood changes, depression, and anxiety. Travel can worsen symptoms in people with existing mental illness. Below are some steps you can take before and during travel that may help reduce stress and protect your mental health.
You could be experiencing a burnout if you ever wake up feeling dejected and exhausted, like you want to give up on the day before it has even started. These are the days when all you want to do is crawl back under the covers and not move all day.
In studying thousands of de-identified health records to determine the impact of business travel on people's health, the Harvard Business Review found people who spent at least 14 nights away from home per month had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) scores than those who spent only one to six nights a month ...
For travelers crossing =3 time zones, especially if they are on a long-haul flight, symptoms (e.g., tiredness) are likely due to fatigue rather than jet lag, and symptoms should abate 1–3 days post-flight.
Traveling for work benefits both employees and companies in various ways. Employees get to visit new places and experience different cultures, learn new skills, interact with other people within the industry, and more.
Although many companies consider travel time to be an uncompensated part of an employee's regular work duties, some organizations pay for extra travel time. Learning what travel qualifies as paid drive time and what's part of your normal job duties can help you predict the amount of compensation you may receive.
People may experience travel anxiety because of the unknown. For example, they may wonder what would happen if they ran out of money, got lost, or became ill. Having a plan in place for worst-case scenarios may help ease these fears.