Your fitness routine is iron tight, you know what exercises you’re doing on a daily basis, which running routes you need to work through, how many miles you need to clock on the bike and or whether it’s boxercise or a HIIT work out tomorrow… but what happens when all hell breaks loose and work tell you, you’ve got to go and represent them at a conference for a few days. What happens to that scheduled, like clockwork fitness routine you had down? Uh-oh, it gets that almighty pause button. The one we all dread, especially when we’re completely nailing out fitness training. The answer? We need to maximise our downtime.
Often when we go away for work, particularly when we’ve finished the work day and gone back to the hotel, we’re still in ‘work mode’, some hotels can be a little bit stagnant with gym equipment if they have a gym at all, some have nowhere for you to even run to shake off the day either. So it can get somewhat ridiculous and you almost get to the point of not even trying. So what can you do? At the start of the year, I was invited to a special event hosted by Crowne Plaza Kings Cross to do a class with none other than, Alice Liveing!
“It’s clear that how people feel about business travel is changing. A typical business traveller spends between 21 and 40 nights away each year, and our Crowne Plaza research and guest insights demonstrate that today’s business travellers want to maximise their downtime. Increasingly people are using their business trips as an opportunity to discover a new place, work on a personal project or simply enjoy some ‘me time’. We know it’s not all about work when you’re on a business trip and our new outlook is that we’re ‘all business, mostly’ That’s why Crowne Plaza is working with a series of partners to help guests maximise their downtime, enabling them to put as much energy and ambition into ‘project me’ as they are into work. To do this, we’re working with a leading media partner to launch a dedicated ‘Downtime’ channel, as well as Conran + Partners and the School of Life to create an environment that champions the work-life blend.”
Now, Mike mentions the School of Life, and whilst at my event I had the pleasure of meeting some of the team for a quick presentation. It is interesting that often we know in textbook form what we should and shouldn’t feel about situations, but actually it can be hard to put them into practice, for example getting anxious or stressed, particularly with work. However, the team from the School of Life, (an organisation that help develop emotional intelligence) spoke about who to handle these common issues. It was really refreshing to hear of the Crowne Plaza’s new partnership and how they also see the benefits for their guests.
When you stay in hotels when you go on holiday, you tend to be pretty relaxed, but when you go for work-related purposes, it almost seems we can’t ever switch off. You miss your fitness routine, you don’t relax with reading as much, in fact, you tend to never stop. Hands up if you’re guilty? Mine is firmly raised or was until I went along to this event at Crowne Plaza Kings Cross. You may or may not recall, but I went to stay at this same hotel when it was under the management of Holiday Inn, way back in 2015 when I once upon a time deemed myself a fashion blogger…little lol right there. This hotel has completely changed, and for the better! It’s sleek, and almost ambient and relaxing, with an indoor pool, amazing fitness facilities, and a library-style conference room. When I worked in the events industry, my clients would of loved this for a meeting as it so close to London St Pancras International, meaning you can access all parts of London really easily. It really has changed, and definitely changed for the better.
Ten Best Things About Business Travel:
- Benefits of meeting face-to-face and meeting new people
- Escaping the office
- Experiencing a new culture
- Enjoying good food and drink
- Ticking off a new destination
- Staying in a nice hotel
- Company covering the cost of visiting a new place
- Gaining air miles or hotel loyalty points
- The feeling of importance that comes with it
- Telling people that you’re travelling on business
Ten Worst Things About Business Travel:
- Being away from your family
- Travelling to a destination but not having time to explore it
- Sleep pattern getting unsettled
- Missing out on events back at home
- Eating out a lot impacting healthy eating habits
- Having to live out of a suitcase
- Having to spend your own money on travel costs
- Working longer hours and harder than you do in the office
- People’s perception vs reality
- Being in stuffy meeting spaces
Those are the 10 best and worst points about travelling with business according to a survey conducted by One Poll in April 2017. Do you agree? Personally I love to travel with business, but I do need reminding about when to switch off, and do something for myself instead of just work, work, work. I try to keep my routine as best I can, but be slightly flexible as some things just wouldn’t be doable.
It was a super event hosted by the Crowne Plaza Kings Cross, and the class Alice Liveing put on was great way to kick start my day. However, the main take back from the maximise your downtime event was, that it can be so easy to get caught up in negative thoughts and emotions, especially when we work too much and get tired from exhausting travel. So it really is so important to have that downtime, work with our own personal way to release tension, and rid the stresses and strains of the day. How do you find travelling for business? Do you struggle to ever switch off?
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