I do a good bit of traveling, but for some reason I feel like I’m doing things wrong.
You see, when you get on a plane in the middle of the week you’ll often see business people with their laptops out, typing furiously on their keyboards and generally just looking busy.
One time, I was sitting next to some suit who put CNET on his seat-back TV, as I rolled my eyes in my head.
It just felt like such a front, but whatever.
Still, I can’t get past the fact that maybe I should be making better use of my time while I travel, since so many people seem to be working while in-transit.
And it could simply be the demands of their jobs, tight deadlines, etc.
This is totally fair.
But for the life of me, I can’t do work on an airplane, train, or bus.
It’s cramped. It’s distracting. WiFi usually isn’t free. There are rarely power outlets.
But people are still doing it, and I get some kind of weird guilt FOMO when I make the choice to listen to music, read, or sleep instead of work on my laptop.
I also don’t want everybody in an aisle seat behind me (assuming I’m also in an aisle) to be looking at what I’m working on.
This is especially true if I’m writing a post that’s bitching about people that use their laptops on airplanes.
When all is said and done, moments like these make me feel like I’m simply not good at being busy while traveling.
I like to work when I can find the time to do so, but I’m not motivated enough to work under unideal circumstances.
Granted, a lot of time is lost during travel, so in a way I really admire peoples’ efficiency.
So tell me…if you like working while you’re in transit, why do you like it? Do you do it out of obligation? To optimize efficiency? Some other reason?
Any tips for this overly-casual traveller?