Stop Burning Out on Business Trips — Do These Routines Instead

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Key Takeaways

- Travel disrupts rhythm, so consistent, simple routines outperform discipline or willpower alone

- Protect sleep and energy with portable habits, not reliance on unpredictable environments

- Reset quickly after landing to stabilize stress, digestion and circadian rhythm

I travel enough to know that our health and wellness on trips usually does not suffer because we “lack discipline.” It suffers because travel is engineered to break rhythm.

We rush to make flights, we are overstimulated between presentations and meetings, we get dehydrated and we eat at odd times. I am not someone who loves an 8 p.m. dinner, but I have learned that resilience matters, especially when the timing of meals and sleep is out of my control.

Then you top it off with hotel rooms that sound like they are powered by steam engines (we all know the pipes and HVAC units), and regardless of time zones and packed schedules, we are still expected to be sharp in a board meeting, charismatic at dinner and “on” at a conference before our body clocks have caught up.

For most entrepreneurs, the default response is to power through: more caffeine, a heavier meal because we “barely ate all day,” one drink to take the edge off (or help close that deal) and a promise to get back on track when you are home.

Because I prioritize my health, I have stopped improvising and started relying on specific protocols. I also asked founders, leaders and executives what they do to keep stress low on the road. The answers that resonated were not extreme, just simple, repeatable routines that make the body feel predictable even when the schedule is not.

The goal is not perfection. It is to land calmer, keep stress down and protect the two things that drive performance everywhere else: sleep and steady energy.

Before I share what these founders and executives rely on, below are my personal non-negotiables that keep me grounded when travel gets chaotic:

- No alcohol on planes. Alcohol has never made me feel good on a flight. It’s the fastest way to wreck my hydration, sleep quality, digestion and clarity.

- No heavy meals in the air. Travel is already a load on the body; a big, salty, hard-to-digest meal mid-flight rarely ends well.

- Move like it is part of the itinerary. I love my “airport steps,” meaning that instead of sitting at the gate before boarding, I walk while I take calls or listen to podcasts, take stairs, stretch at the gate and get up regularly during the flight to help my circulation. (Yes, I am that girl stretching in the aisles!)

- Protect sleep fiercely. A sleep mask is non-negotiable. And because hotels are a wildcard with noise, I love a white noise machine (or a white noise app + small speaker).

With airline choice, I prioritize direct flights and choose carriers where I can upgrade or leverage status. I also have recently fallen in love with airlines like JSX, which remove a surprising amount of friction from travel with their short airport lead times, small terminals, great service and takeoff often within minutes of boarding.

For entrepreneurs whose nervous systems are already running hot, reducing the stress of getting there is part of the wellness plan.

Below are additional routines from executives and founders I enjoyed learning from.

1) The two-hour rule: Reset immediately after you land

Laura Lisowski, Director of Corporate Governance at Nasdaq, has a simple belief about business travel: the trip is often won or lost in the first two hours after arrival. She runs a quick reset sequence designed to lower stress, stabilize energy and cue her body clock to the new time zone.

First, she tends to her “light needs and leg needs.” She gets outside for about 20 minutes of daylight and takes a short walk as soon as possible. Next, she eats a straightforward, protein-forward meal, nothing complicated, just something stabilizing.

Finally, she sorts the hotel “microclimate” right away: thermostat down, window open if available, plenty of water in the room, chargers plugged in and a setup that feels predictable and aligned with how she sleeps at home.

It is not glamorous, but it is the difference between landing “on” and landing behind.

2) Make sleep portable, not dependent on hotel luck

Leah Solivan, TaskRabbit founder turned VC, author and podcaster, calls sleep her number one performance lever while traveling. Her approach is simple and serious: she does not outsource recovery to hotel conditions.

Her non-negotiables start with a Lunya sleep mask because “hotel blackout curtains are never enough.” She takes magnesium at night, turns off screens 30 minutes before bed and maintains a consistent wind-down window, even if the day includes a late dinner or a glass of wine.

Leah has learned from experience that “compounded sleep loss is the fa