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How to Handle Conference Travel Stress

How to Handle Conference Travel Stress

How to Handle Conference Travel Stress

How to Manage the Stress of Conference Travel Like a Pro

Traveling is stressful. It is. Whether it’s a work-related trip or a much-anticipated vacation, there is a fair amount of stress involved due to the many logistics that one has to manage. In fact, 90% of people admit to feeling varying degrees of anxiety when traveling.

Business trips – like attending a conference – come with their own unique set of additional pressure points. As opposed to a vacation, where your only goal is to relax as much as possible, business travel is typically defined by a set of goals that one must try to achieve to justify the expenses and other resources of the trip.

So how do you minimize the stress of conference travel? The short answer is: through strategic preparation. The longer answer is: keep reading for all our best tips and tricks!

Five tips as you prepare for the conference trip

Much of the stress of conference travel comes from having to deal with things last-minute and having to do so in a non-habitual environment. Here is how to reduce this to a minimum.

  1. Plan your flight and accommodation in advance. The last thing you want is registering for a conference only to realize a couple of days before your trip that there is no more space in the nearby hotels. Similarly, if your trip involves air travel, look up and book your flights in advance. If you are able to book direct flights, we strongly recommend that – it eliminates the hassle that inevitably comes when one leg of a trip gets delayed or canceled.
  2. Communicate with conference organizers on deadlines. If you are a presenter, you will have a set of deliverables to provide to the conference organizer: an outline of your presentation, a slide deck, a bio, etc. Make sure to ask for the list of deadlines as soon as you confirm your participation, and then actually stick to these deadlines. This will help you feel more prepared for your upcoming engagement – plus, it means conference production teams won’t be chasing you with last-minute emails. A win-win.
  3. Set an OOO response and plan to disengage from daily work. We’ve seen many people trying to juggle their daily responsibilities with their conference attendance. It always looks like a nightmare. Being at a conference means that you are not going to be as productive as you normally would be in your office set-up. At the same time, being constantly distracted by work means you are not making the most of the opportunities of the conference, be it networking, improving soft skills, identifying potential research partners, etc. So plan your work in a way that allows you to disengage for a few days of the conference, set an out-of-office response for incoming emails, and then immerse yourself in the conference environment.
  4. Write down a list of goals and prioritize them. It’s good to have a goal in mind when traveling to a conference. For example, as a speaker, your goal might be sourcing as much feedback as possible from your peers to make sure you constantly raise the bar in your research. For some, attending conferences is all about networking and identifying new career avenues. It’s useful to have a goal – it helps you manage your time and frames your choices. On the flip side, many travel to conferences with too many goals. And that’s quite stressful. If you have too many goals, you’ll end up dispersing your efforts and achieving superficial results at best. That’s why our advice is to write down everything you’d like to achieve at the conference and then organize that list in order of priority. Focus on your top two or three goals. If you can get to the rest – great; if not – don’t sweat it.
  5. Prepare a general plan but don’t over-schedule. You will find yourself much more relaxed if you have a general idea of how you want your travel and conference attendance to go. Think of such logistics as how you will get from the airport to your accommodation, what breakfast places are open nearby so you can have a snack before the conference begins, etc. Think of professional goals and how you’d like to go about them – e.g., how many relevant people you’d like to ideally connect with, what presentations are a must-attend for you, and so on. This type of planning will give you operational parameters. Don’t over-schedule, though. Not only will you be adding unnecessary stress to your plate, but you will be also closing yourself off from noticing and embracing unexpected opportunities.

Three tips for managing your stress on-site

In our experience, much of the anxiety at the conference is caused by the pressure – often self-imposed – to always be “on”: be ready to engage in small talk, constantly appear interested and interesting, deliver a flawless presentation, ask smart questions, and make as many connections as possible.

Don’t get us wrong. There are many people who are exceptional at this. They are the social butterflies who don’t have to put any effort into networking. They are just naturally good at it.

However, if you don’t fall in that category, here are a few tips to help you alleviate some of that anxiety that you might be experiencing just thinking about everything you should be doing at a conference.

  1. Give yourself regular breaks. Whether you’d like to collect your thoughts, decompress, or jot down a few notes following a networking session, allow yourself to take breaks. This may involve taking a short walk outside of the venue, finding a quiet corner at the conference venue, or grabbing a coffee from a nearby cafe. Social engagements can be rather consuming, so it’s perfectly reasonable to step away at regular intervals to recharge.
  2. Be realistic in your expectations. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself. It’s better to make a few meaningful connections at the conference than dozens of superficial ones. As a presenter, if you are able to inspire just a couple of people, you should be proud of yourself, as opposed to feeling stressed that your presentation didn’t provoke as many questions as you expected. Do your best and focus on quality as opposed to quantity.
  3. Disconnect from daily work responsibilities. As mentioned earlier, plan your work in a way that allows you to disconnect during the days of the travel and the conference. This means doing some work ahead of time, perhaps delegating certain tasks, and putting some items on your to-do list for when you return. However, this also means not giving in the temptation – or the toxic habit – of constantly checking your emails. In fact, if possible, turn off your email notifications altogether.

Plan ahead but don’t stretch yourself thin

All of the tips we’ve shared today come down to the one fundamental rule of minimizing conference travel stress: it helps to be prepared, but give yourself the flexibility to discover the unexpected. Don’t miss out on all the amazing opportunities an academic conference has to offer by being too rigid with your planning. At the same time, alleviate some of the stress that comes with the unknown by setting up certain parameters and making a list of priorities.

For more tips on how to prepare for a conference, check out our checklist of tips to make the most of your experience.

 

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