I rather like business travel in moderation, and I’m not the only working mother who feels that way. I get a break from the three year old’s whining, from endless carpooling, and from my messy house. I get to meet some of my favorite people face to face, which always brings new energy and inspiration to my work. However, I despise coming home from a business trip, even though I’m always thrilled to see my husband and kids again.
Business Week Working Parents blogger Anne Tergesen returned from her most recent trip to chaos:
My flight landed early (!!) and I got in a taxi. Still feeling sick, I was so happy to get home. When I opened the door, it was uncharacteristically quiet. The kids were at the neighbor’s. The cats barely glanced my way. I was thinking about taking a nap…. Until I looked around. There was cat vomit on the living room rug. The cat litter – well, lets just say no one had paid much attention to it in the three days since I’d last been there. Toys were strewn everywhere. The beds were unmade. Mail was piled up. The message light on the answering machine was blinking. The Internet connection wasn’t working. There was no food in the refrigerator. When our nanny returned with the kids, she told me my husband had forgotten to check over the homework. One of the teachers had mentioned something about a problem.
Whether you’ve got kids or not, a spouse or roommate or not… sometimes the hardest thing about taking a business trip is when it ends. Unless you’re a real road warrior, it’s almost impossible not to get behind in your regular work while you travel. It’s tiring to fight your way through airport security lines, cram your bag into the overhead space, and stay in fleabag hotels. You might be jetlagged or maybe bloated from too much airport food. If you’re like me, you may have overdone the caffeine during the day and the partying at night on the trip. It’s a recipe for a crash on return.
I made a rule for myself that helps a little: I don’t schedule any meetings or telecons or major deadlines for the day after I return from a trip, because I know I’m going to be doing laundry, handling email, offloading my husband by doing more childcare, and otherwise trying to recover. That won’t work for everyone, because it’s not always possible to clear off an entire day from the schedule, especially if you’ve just been out due to travel. For me, though, it’s not optional — I just can’t function if I don’t arrange my work life that way.
If you are a regular business traveler, how do you deal with re-entry pain?
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