Good habits to improve your cognitive performance during business trips

A leadership position in any field speaks for itself in terms of a person’s capabilities and cognitive performance. Not everyone achieves leadership status. However, it also entails a very busy life, long working hours, and frequent business trips, often crossing multiple time zones within a few hours. According to data from the Global Leadership Forecast 2021 study, six out of ten executives experience extreme exhaustion at the end of the day. Business travel plays a significant role in this feeling of extreme fatigue, which can sometimes impair cognitive performance if it involves insufficient sleep or excessively long workdays.

A study conducted by the NexTravel booking platform, which investigated the impact of business travel on productivity and cognitive performance, revealed that one in three people reported that work trips prevented them from being at their best and handling their workload effectively.

In the same research, three out of ten individuals mentioned that the need to be constantly available during a business trip, whether through phone calls, emails, or various instant messaging platforms, left them feeling exhausted and on the brink of burnout.

Irritability, excessive worry, a sense of disillusionment or cynicism when evaluating work goals, mindless eating, or weakened immunity resulting in frequent minor illnesses, colds, or viruses… all of these may mask physical and mental exhaustion due to excessive business travel.

However, the reality is that business trips are part of the lifestyle of a successful executive, and it is not possible to completely avoid them. Therefore, it is advisable to train capacities and skills to quickly recover from jet lag and regain mental sharpness and the ability to make sound decisions.

The Leader’s Performance program at SHA Wellness Clinic offers methods and strategies to survive the frenetic pace of modern life and continue being a brilliant leader. It is an intensive one-week program that includes cutting-edge neurocognitive stimulation treatments and effective holistic therapies to alleviate the effects of mental exhaustion. The program also focuses on adjusting diet and physical training to suit each person’s lifestyle and physical condition. These therapies can minimize the impact on cognitive performance caused by long business trips.

As Dr. Vicente Mera, head of the Healthy Aging Unit and Sleep Medicine specialist at SHA Wellness Clinic explains, “CEOs and top executives are accustomed to prioritizing professional goals in their daily lives, and it is crucial that they transfer that interest to taking care of their health. That’s why we suggest that they create an agenda, similar to their work calendar, where they note their strategic health goals for a decade with annual tactical objectives.”

When a person is chronically exposed to stress, whether due to decision-making responsibilities, a heavy workload, or even excessive travel, the body produces an excess of cortisol, which has negative consequences on various systems and organs, with the brain being one of the most affected. Its impact directly affects cognitive performance.

While it may not always be possible to control stressors, it is possible to train skills and utilize appropriate tools to react to stress in the best possible way.

Attempting to clear the mind and think of nothing can also be beneficial for resting the brain, as demonstrated in an experiment conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA). The study analyzed the brain patterns of 100 volunteers using magnetic resonance imaging after they performed a test of creative and intellectual abilities. The results showed that those who had achieved a state of “wakeful rest” had significantly higher scores than those who had not disconnected from their immediate reality.

Going for a run in the nearest park or hitting the gym is not a far-fetched idea when you are exhausted after a trip. This research shows that both resistance exercise and aerobic exercise improve spatial memory. So a 20-minute workout session before a presentation can help more than you think.

Taking handwritten notes may seem like a vintage practice, but according to neurologists, it greatly enhances memory and cognitive performance. This was confirmed by a joint research study conducted by Princeton University and the University of California: writing by hand helps retain more information and yields better results.

One of the most effective and powerful tools for managing stress is breathing. SHA Wellness Clinic has developed the Transformative Breathing protocol, which combines the proven benefits of ice baths with the therapeutic power of breathing, creating a transformative experience both physically and mentally. The protocol offers three experiences to teach the most beneficial breathing techniques that allow for the management of both acute and everyday stress.

Breathing techniques combined with a daily 10-minute cold shower have proven to be a magnificent strategy for recovering sharpness and cognitive performance after several hours of travel. Transforming your business trips into a pleasant and less exhausting journey is not only possible but also easier than it seems. Start today.