The battle between increased productivity and decreased costs is now entering the area of business travel. If you are a frequent business traveler, you may notice that more companies are imposing limitations on spending. Hotel choices may be narrowed, along with flight options. No longer is time management the most important aspect. Yet is that being “penny-wise and pound-foolish”?I can understand cutting back on hotels as long as they offer convenience of access to the job and business-related services. However the biggest time management challenge becomes choosing the best flight. For example, is it better to fly in the night before, arrive at a reasonable hour, sleep well, and be ready for your next day’s work; or, should you take a 5 a.m. flight (which means you have gotten up 3 hours earlier) so that you get the less expensive option and also save on an extra night’s hotel stay? This is one of the choices when a company decides to limit reimbursement for flights. No longer can you snare a reasonable fee on short-term notice to travel. Your decision becomes whether to take the sensible flight and pay out of pocket, or go for the less expensive and struggle with managing the rest of your day. On Dr. John Sullivan’s website (www.drjohnsullivan.com), he points out what a difference just a 1% increase in productivity can make:

In our time management training seminars, we are comfortable guaranteeing a 10% to 25% increase in productivity immediately with the implementation of our systems. This then becomes an investment in your business, not an expense. When your company is considering limiting travel spending, you might have them review Dr. Sullivan’s numbers to see what a measurable difference even a small boost in productivity can make.