Embracing Airport Time

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I used to dread the time waiting at the airport, whether that was when I just arrived or during a layover. I would allow it to completely ruin my day at times. We won't even get in to my response to delayed flights. I will just say they were never my proudest moments.

It was sometime after my sixth year of traveling on a weekly basis, (okay, I'm not always a quick learner), that I began to realize that I could use that time in the airports doing something now that would free me up later after I had landed. Over time, what had once just been a complete waste of time waiting and becoming frustrated, became time for me to complete the work for my day job so that when I arrived home or to the hotel, my time was my own.

Now days, I really use that time for things I never had time to do before but has improved my work and personal life dramatically, such as cleaning out my email inbox, responding to voicemails, revising my to do lists, updating my calendars, completing reports, or any of those 100s of things that are best done in one sitting, undisturbed that I often times found myself avoiding or putting off. Using this time to un-clutter my email, revise my calendar or make my to do lists, actually made me more productive and saved me even more time once I landed becoming a double bonus.

For those of you not traveling for work, it's a little easier, because if you aren't traveling for work, you are probably traveling for fun. Either way, I doubt that waiting in the airport is the highlight of your trip, and this same thought process can be used for you too. Just substitute items for your personal life instead of work life. Respond to your emails, hand write letters or thank you cards, (especially if you just staid with someone on your vacation), read the manual for your new camera if you are on the way to refresh your memory on what all those buttons do, go through the pictures on your phone or camera on your way home and delete all those naked shots that sounded like a good idea on vacation. Anything that you need to do but just haven't had time for, this is a perfect time get it done. With a little preplanning, you should be able to knock a few things off your to do list and kill some time.

I have learned learned that the trick is not to feel as if you are a rat stuck in a cage, but instead to embrace the time you have and utilize the time to your advantage.