It’s been an intense few months. Blogworld 2011I’ve been to one conference after another. All have been amazing and fruitful, inspiring and intense. So how to find balance after all the business travel buzz?

Here’s a few of the ways I swing back from the endorphin rush to the everyday:

  1. Find some time alone – After a glut of handshakes and card exchanges it’s important to ground and settle in with yourself.
  2. Catch up on rest – Often conferences and seminars are adrenaline highs that have you pumping from dawn to nearly dawn. Wearing yourself out can lead to getting sick, muddled thinking, losing focus and poor follow-up.
  3. Get some exercise – It’s hard to maintain your workout on the road, but not impossible. Finding even a half hour on the morning yoga mat or at the hotel gym will make a world of difference. Help dissolve your back pain from sitting, tech neck and sore shoulders from heaving books, backpacks and swag bags.
  4. Take a tech break – It’s tempting to stay plugged in, on the phone, Blackberry, listening to MP3’s while exercising, driving or flying but give your brain and body a break with a single focus activity. It can be the most creative part of your day! I’ve found it hard to hit the pause button or turn off the radio – but I never regret practicing even five minutes of silence.
  5. Get out of here! Find some time outside. Walk, sit on the grass, bundle up and bathe your lungs, your body with fresh air.
  6. Eat sparsely and avoid liquor for a day. This isn’t always easy, especially in transit when bars, restaurants are so tempting and fun,  but chances are you’ve been noshing at the networking receptions, lunches and continental breakfasts. Help your metabolism and waistline out by eating raw food or lean proteins for a day and rinse out all the happy hour residue with lots of filtered water.

I love coming home after business travel with the rush of days spent glad handing and networking to a little more silence and the familiar. Now where was that stack of cards I have  to follow-up on?!

Copyright 2011, Elaine Masters, Award-winning author of Drivetime Yoga and Flytime Yoga, speaker and travel writer.