Frequent Flyers: How To Maximize Your Air Time

With the advent of portable gadgets designed to make our lives more efficient, sometimes it is difficult to get away from work. While your air time may present a few quiet moments to finish up a task with your laptop, or send email via your PCS, your time may be better spent other ways. Always carry a pen, a notepad or journal, your business cards, and reading material with you and use these to maximize your air time.

What are the chances that the person next to you is also a road warrior? Take a risk, and start up a conversation. Two of my dearest friends today are people I met on a plane. One was heading to her honeymoon, and the other was a bank executive with claustrophobia. The honeymooner is a small business owner and her husband sold insurance at the time. The bank executive has moved on now to Switzerland, but we still stay in touch. Who knows? At some point I may end up doing business in Switzerland! Many of the business cards I have in my rolodex were garnered from conversations that were initiated while we stood in line waiting to go through customs or security, or to pass the time because of a delayed flight. Your next great business deal may begin in the air!

Rather than taking your laptop out to kill time, why not bring a good book? A fantasy that takes you away from your real world to a faraway land, or a story that captures your imagination is a terrific, stress-free way to kill off a couple of hours. Try to stay away from industry-related reading, unless of course, this is your only chance to fit it in before your next appointment. Another option for in-flight reading is a carefully chosen non-fiction work. Choose from a biography, an inspirational or motivational book, or something along the lines of self-improvement.

You can also use your air time as a private planning session. Perhaps you have had some great ideas percolating in your brain for a while, but haven’t had the opportunity to flesh them out. Pull out your notepad and a pen and start outlining your ideas. List the pros and the cons, define the steps you need to take, and begin mapping out a route to take you to your goals. By using your air time to network, rest your brain, or to strategize your next steps, you will find yourself more rested, and less scattered in your thinking when you land. This will free your brain power to focus on the task at hand with more clarity, resulting in greater effectiveness.

NOTE: This article was first published in Flying Hi, a travel and tourism publication serving Southern/Southwestern Ontario. Julie Christiansen is a trainer and coach, and a seasoned road warrior. For more tips like these, contact Julie through her website, www.angersolution.com.



Frequent Flyers: How To Maximize Your Air Time - To learn more about this author, visit Julie Christiansen's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
A Simple But Deadly Effective Referral Strategy that Has Created a 40 Million Business
	Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million using little to no paid advertising?
Marketing Offline Can Substantially Increase Your Online Business
	It is effective to market your online business locally primarily because potential customers and business recruits prefer to have the option of speaking with the business owner face to face. You will no longer be th...
List the Basics for Making Any Sale
	There is a Ford Mustang for sale down the street. I've driven by it several times. It's a 1966 . . . or maybe a 1967. Every once in a while I stop in the middle of the street next to the car and look at the sign. Al...
Dealing With Difficult People
	Dear Jane, I’m naturally high strung and picky. This can cause problems for me with people who are more easygoing. How do I not get caught up with judging them or even myself? Sometimes I want to avoid people with ...
Sell Your Seminar
	First, avoid such mistakes in your seminar promotion as:

---

Related Forum Posts
	Re: 7 Sure-Fire Time Management Tricks To Get More Done
	No B.S. Time Management
	Books You Wish Had Been Written
	Books that should be written
	Tough decision....
	About That File
	Supporters vs detractors
	Your age?