Work travel often involves a high-pressure atmosphere and a taxing schedule that leads to unhealthy diets, a lack of regular exercise, poor sleeping habits, and even unhealthy vices like drinking too much alcohol or smoking.
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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.
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.
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 ...
People who take work trips two weeks or more a month report more symptoms of anxiety and depression and are more likely to smoke and have difficulty sleeping, compared to those who travel one to six nights a month, according to a new study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and City University of ...
Travel fatigue is a total exhaustion caused by too many days or weeks of constantly being on “alert” while you travel. It manifests as apathy toward travel activities that usually excite you, and a lack of motivation to enjoy local culture and cuisine.
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.
The daily activities and routines all change and you are exposed to new and different choices. Some of these prove difficult as we have many habits at home and when they change you are far away from the comfort of family and friends to help you through it. These are the main reasons why some people feel homesick.
It manifests as apathy toward travel activities that usually excite you, and a lack of motivation enjoy local culture and cuisine. Like other types of burnout, travel fatigue is a feeling of deep weariness and disengagement.
Tips for Overcoming Post-Travel DepressionStay active: Exercise, hobbies, and other physical activities can help improve your mood and give you a sense of structure. For example, you could start a new workout routine, join a sports team, or take up a new hobby like painting or gardening.
That 20% is an average, and what it represents can vary dramatically by career, so make sure you ask your hiring manager to tell you exactly what the travel percentage means for the position you're applying for.
In fact, frequent business travelers tend to suffer from health problems ranging from obesity to insomnia. “Oddly enough, those who never travel and those who travel the most seem to be the sickest,” says Soumya Panchagnula, M.D., a family medicine specialist with Henry Ford Health.