I go into serious organizational mode in the final week and days before a business trip. While the weeks leading up to the trip are likely spent on work-related details and putting together a conference or project—those final days and hours are spent on all sorts of details like stocking and organizing the cupboards, cleaning out my e-mail in and out boxes, and making sure all the laundry is done. There is just something about the pending trip that pushes me to try to get everything in the best possible order I can muster.
I have a couple theories as to what is going on for me (and my poor home)—one is that I have worked so hard to pull together a conference and cover all the bases that I am in hyper-mode when it comes to organization and once all the conference stuff has been sent away and it is down to just hopping on a plane for me, I just cannot help the organization stuff and I keep going.
The other theory is that since I work so much from home and I am leaving my family behind that I feel like I need to have my home scene in the best possible shape so that while I am gone and when I return things will go smoothly. Of course, I know intellectually that I have no control over what happens while I am gone, but I cannot help but think if the papers are all filed away and there are clean sheets on all the beds, that everything will be lovely while I’m gone and I’ll be able to step right back into my life when I return. My way of gearing up for a business trip is to do a heavy round of spring cleaning and organization.
Also: Living with Frequent Business Travel
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