You're constantly traveling and you've just landed in a new location. You need to get to work, but your mind's still spinning. How can you keep your focus when you're working on the road? Establishing a virtual office plan is a great first step, but you might need a little more work if you want to remain productive.

Leverage Your Virtual Office's Secretarial Services

Your virtual office will come with secretarial and voicemail services. Use them. Secretarial and voicemail services collect messages for you, so you aren't being constantly distracted by new work while you're trying to finish your old work. Leverage these services to remain focused when you have deadlines to work on, and to ensure that you never miss a thing.

Create a Checklist or a Routine

Even if your scenery is constantly changing, your work habits shouldn't. Try to maintain a routine regardless of where you are, not just in terms of time, but also the order of your operations. Many executives, for instance, will start their day by checking their email, and then scheduling their daily priorities.

Having a routine makes it easier for you to get to work. There's never a question of what you have to do next, so you never have to analyze your next move.

Stick to Your "Office Hours"

Being on the road and having your office with you doesn't mean that you have to be "always on." Make sure that your recreational time is scheduled in, as well, so you don't start to feel the dread grip of burn out. Having office hours also means that you know that you need to complete your deadlines by the end of the day. Otherwise you can keep putting it off until the sun rises on the next.

Treat Your Virtual Office Like a Real Office

Your virtual office should be well-organized and persistent. Use cloud-based technology to create a virtual desktop that can follow you anywhere, and make sure that everything inside of your virtual office is well-organized and well-maintained. By sorting through your documents and files regularly, you can find documents easier when you need them.

Cloud-based applications have also made it possible to use the technology that you're used to from anywhere. Whether it's a certain CRM solution or a collaborative product, you'll be able to log-in and start working without having to install anything locally.

Make Sure All of Your Devices Are Well-Synced

Syncing between your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, and all other devices is a practical requirement for today's road warrior. If you need documents, you need them to be available. When setting up your virtual office, make sure you setup file syncing. This will also ensure that you won't lose any data.

Stay Connected With Your Managers, Colleagues, and Employees

One of the fastest ways to lose motivation is to lose touch with your colleagues. Make sure you're regularly communicating with anyone at your home base, or you will feel out of touch and potentially directionless.

Communicating effectively with upper management, colleagues, and employees will ensure that everyone is on the same page, and make it easier for you to get things done while you're on the road.

As an executive, staying connected with your offices is essential: otherwise, they may feel as though you are no longer paying attention to what is going on at the office.

With the right habits — and the right virtual office — you should be able to remain productive and efficient wherever you go. Having an established digital office helps: you'll always be home, wherever you are. For more information about the benefits of maintaining a digital office space, contact Executive Suites, LLC.