What's up everybody?
And welcome back to Vagabrothers.
I'm Alex. I'm Marko.
In this video we're going to be sharing with you guys and girls some of the tips and tricks that we use
to stay productive while on the road,
which as you may know is pretty often.
A lot of people ask us how we do what we do:
making well researched, high production quality videos on a regular basis.
Truth is that we depend upon a team that stretches all the way around the world- from LA to Toronto,
New York to Moscow, not to mention wherever we happen to find ourselves.
So in this video we'll be sharing with you some tips and tricks that we use
to stay productive on the road, keep our team on the same page, and still have time to enjoy the trip.
We've collaborated with Chromebooks to bring you this video
and show you how we use their laptops to stay on top of our game,
no matter what time zone we wake up in.
You're watching Vagabrothers,
and this is how to stay productive on the road.
Travel is fun.
But when you have to get work done,
it can be really disruptive.
You're in an unfamiliar place;
your body doesn't know what time it is,
but your deadlines back home remain the same.
For our team with so little face time and everyone working in different time zones,
we rely on collaborative cloud-based systems like Slack,
Evernote, or our favorite, Google Docs.
The Chromebooks are seamlessly integrated with the entire Google suite,
which allows us to share publication dates with Google Calendar,
budgets on Google Spreadsheet, and script ideas on Google Docs,
not to mention lets us keep our frequent flyer numbers at the tip of our fingers during check-in.
Everything is synced through the cloud,
which means our team back in California
can be making updates on a script that we can access on location in real time.
Whatever your preference,
there are plenty of apps to download in the Google Play Store,
and Chromebooks is specifically designed to work with the cloud,
which means all of your work is already automatically backed up.
So if the airline loses your checked bag, and you put your computer in your checked bag,
you're not totally screwed, but come on.
You know not to put your computer in your check luggage, right?
I mean, right?
Which brings me to my next point that the Chromebook is perfect for carry-on luggage
because it weighs just over two pounds,
and it's a half an inch thick.
It slides very easily into your carry-on luggage.
So you never even have to worry about potentially losing it in your checked luggage
because it goes right into your carry-on luggage.
See what I'm getting at here?
Tip number 2: Globalize your calendar.
When you've got deadlines that span multiple time zones,
you've got to keep everything synced up using a shared online calendar.
We actually start our scheduling using an old-school handwritten planner.
Every Sunday we spent about an hour sketching out the week to come,
and then we transfer the important dates over to a shared Google Calendar
that's visible to everybody on our team.
But digital calendars are really great for business travel
because they help you avoid confusion with time zones.
If you have a meeting next week in Berlin at 4 p.m.,
you can actually put the location of the meeting, which will automatically change it to the time zone
in the location of your meeting.
This feature is crucial.
It's saved our but numerous times,
and we highly recommend that you use it.
It actually pulls your airline reservations from Gmail and your hotel address
straight to Google Maps and then sends it to your phone,
so you don't find yourself lost late at night looking for your hotel.
This deep compatibility with the Google suite is one of the reasons the Chromebook
is such a great tool to take with you on the road.
I love sketching out ideas by hand,
and one of the cool things about the Chromebook is that comes with a stylus,
which allows me to harness my handwritten creativity without sacrificing collaboration.
Tip number 3 is basic, but vital:
keep your batteries charged.
I'm not just talking about the batteries for your phone or your computer or your camera.
I'm talking about your batteries, too
Yes, you, are your batteries charged?
Keeping your batteries charged is easier said than done.
But here are a couple tips that are pretty basic.
Number 1:
Take it relatively easy the week before your trip.
Number 2:
Get a good night's sleep the night before your trip.
And number 3:
Make sure that all of your batteries for all of your devices and yourself are
properly charged before you set foot out the door.
A single charge on the Chromebook lasts 10 hours.
That's enough to get you through a full day of work,
a flight from London to Rio,
or let's be real, binging an entire season of Netflix.
Black Bear anyone?
The Chromebooks start up super fast.
So the second you hit cruising altitude,
you can power it on, flip over the screen, and turn your tray table into a movie theater.
Ok, what do you want? Peanuts or pretzels?
Do you have any popcorn?
For all the talk of staying connected,
remember that a lot of your creativity happens when you're offline,
especially when you're traveling.
Sometimes your best ideas come when you're miles away from cell service and then........
inspiration strikes.
That's why it's super important to use the offline time to your advantage.
Let the creative juices flow.
Be productive even when you're offline.
My favorite place to be creative is on the airplane.
I never buy online Wi-Fi because
I know the airplane is the one place
that I'm going to be completely free of distractions.....
at least most of the time.
With nowhere else to be, nothing else to do, I can focus on my tasks,
on my creativity flow, or just catch up with emails that piled up while I'm overseas.
Whether it's writing a script, researching new destinations,
or catching up on creative writing,
Google Docs works offline.
So the second I touch down,
It syncs across all my devices
and with the rest of my team.
Most of us love travel because it's an escape from the routine.
But in all honesty,
keeping a bit of regularity in your schedule
will really help you stay on top of things while you're abroad.
It can be as simple as finding a good coffee shop to go to each morning when you're in a new city.
It helps you reset, ground yourself with some ground coffee beans, and
even feel a little bit like a local.
Beyond that trying to maintain a fitness or a self-care routine
will help you keep your balance while you're away.
It can be as simple as rolling out of bed, doing some push-ups,
some sit-ups, a little bit of yoga
or meditation before you start your day.
Regardless of how well you prepare,
there's still one thing that can throw you off your game:
Jet lag.
Everyone deals with jet lag differently,
but personally I take a bit of a Taoist approach-
working with jet lag, rather than fighting against it-
that is if you fly west, you're going to wake up early.
Harness those extra hours for some uninterrupted creative time-
a meditation session or going running across your new city.
It's a great way to get your bearings,
and watching the sun rise will help your body clock adjust.
And if you're traveling east, you're going to have trouble going to sleep.
Use that time to catch up with friends back home,
edit the day's photos for Instagram, or curl up with a good book until you fall asleep,
otherwise baths really help.
Call the front desk, see if they have some bubble bath, like some bath salts,
and then go onto YouTube and listen to some Mongolian throat singing.
Trust me.
The last, but certainly not least:
make sure to steal away and have some time for a
legitimate real cultural experience.
It can be as simple as stepping out of the conference room for a quick tour of the city,
grabbing dinner with an old friend or
checking out that bar that you saw on a Vagabrothers' vlog and really just want to go try.
And if you can swing it, delay your trip by 48 hours,
and make a little mini vacation at the end of that business trip.
If you don't feel like pushing your luck,
just bring home a souvenir for your boss,
and thank him for the opportunity to get out of the office.
Who knows? That little fridge magnet might just send you to Thailand.
Okay, those are our tips on how to stay productive on the road.
What are yours?
Add your own tips in the comment section.
If you liked this video, give it a thumbs -up and share it
with your co-workers and travel buddies.
If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe and turn on notifications.
And if you want some more information about Chromebooks,
there is a link in the info box.
As always stay curious, keep exploring, and we will see you on the road.
Peace.