Long-haul flights can be challenging and tiring but are often difficult to avoid, whether you are going on vacation, visiting relatives and friends, or traveling for a meeting. The good news is that Wifi is available on most long-haul flights so online entertainment, such as spinning the reels at an online casino like this or playing a few hands of poker are always options for passing the time.
Given the amount of time that a long-haul flight takes up, wouldn’t it be good to be able to use that time in a constructive way? The good news is that you can. Here are some tips for staying productive when you’re cooped up in a plane for hours at a time.
Physical Refreshment
Although you will be sitting down for most of the time that you’re on a long-haul flight, it can still be physically draining, so taking the opportunity to look after your body is a good idea.
One of the best things you can do on a long-haul flight is catch up on some much-needed sleep. Bring a neck pillow, an eye mask, and noise-cancelling headphones to help you sleep more comfortably. You may also find that you can benefit from practising mindfulness. Use the time to practice mindfulness and work on any underlying anxiety, you can use deep breathing or meditation to calm your mind and body.
Learning
Being on a long-haul flight can be an ideal time to look into learning. For example, you could use your flight time to learn a new language through a downloadable language app. You could watch a documentary¾using the plane’s in-flight entertainment system to find out more about a topic that interests you will enable you to learn something new and feel productive at the same time. It is even possible to learn a new skill by using your flight time to take an online course or tutorial through your tablet or laptop.
Writing
We often don’t get the time to flex our writing skills during the busy working day, but a long-haul flight can be an ideal opportunity to do just that. You could use your flight time to reflect on your life and write in a journal. Jot down your thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Maybe you could write a letter or a long email to a friend or family member you haven’t seen in a while. If you’re feeling creative, you could even write a short story or try your hand at poetry, so that you can exercise your imagination while passing the time.
Work and Planning
If you’re travelling for business, then working on a project or report that you need to complete makes a lot of sense, and unlike in an office or your home, you won’t be interrupted by other demands. But even if it is not possible for you to get work done on a flight, you can still use the time to be productive.
If you’re going to a new place where you will have time to explore, use your flight time to plan your itinerary. Research the top sights, restaurants, and activities in the area and create a plan for your trip or plan your budget with a list of your expenses and draw up a plan to maximize your available spending money. You could even take the time to get some essential organizing done, perhaps using your laptop or tablet to organize your digital files, sort through your photos, or delete old emails.
Entertain Yourself to Relax
Finding a way to entertain yourself that exercises the mind or the imagination can help you to be more productive on your flight and allow you to be more relaxed and better prepared when you arrive at your destination.
For example, long-haul flights are the perfect opportunity to dive into a good book, so why not bring a few books with you or download some e-books to your tablet or e-reader? You could take a deck of cards or a travel-sized board game with you as a way to pass the time and have some fun on the flight.
Many of us have a long list of podcasts that we want to listen to but haven’t had the time to do so, so what better way to catch up than to use the peace and quiet of a long-haul flight? And, for the ultimate brain exercise, you could take a Sudoku or crossword collection with you to stimulate your mind and entertain yourself at the same time, ensuring that you arrive at your destination as refreshed and alert as possible.
