I'm not rich. I'm not well-off by any means. I've just started working for the past year, paying off student loans, and the whole nine yards - I'm sure you know how it is. Anything I save goes to paying off my loans. And so I live in a very modest home with a very simple lifestyle - that's also by choice, not by sheer necessity. I am a minimalist by nature. Minimalists only keep the bare minimum of what we need. We don't hoard things. We don't like cluttered spaces. Basically, we don't like many possessions.

But just this past weekend, I was stunned at how attached I, a minimalist through and through, have become to the concept of "home". I say the 'concept of' home because again, I do not live in a lavish house; there's not much in the physical home to get attached to. I don't sleep on a bed. I don't have a big-screen TV. I barely have a functioning kitchen. My office space is probably where I spend most of my time but again, nothing too over the top. And so it wasn't that I was attached to some thing but rather simply the concept of "home".

I was due to fly out Monday morning from NY to head back home to Atlanta when Sunday night I realized that I was going to miss an important presentation next Tuesday if I left. I had completely forgotten the presentation was so soon and had booked my return tickets hastily. I quickly called Delta and changed the flights. After I hung up the phone and made arrangements to cancel my rides and all that, it all sunk in: I wasn't going home tomorrow. I was actually kind of bummed that I wouldn't be going home the next morning. I asked myself why and eventually got to the reason: I had been out for about a month and was looking forward to relaxing. That was the key.

We get attached to this concept of "home" because we define home as a place we can relax. We find it difficult to relax everywhere else. This is at the root of stress and burn-out. Over the summer though, I am a digital nomad, traveling for at least 1-2 months at a time, not returning home to relax. So I put together some ways I have tried in the past or want to try soon to relax while on the go so I don't ever have to be attached to this concept of "home" as the only place I can relax.

1. Extend your morning routine.

   Being a night owl, I know how hard it is to ask someone to wake up earlier than is required of them, but hear me out. Too often do we wake up with barely enough time to get ready and be where we need to be. Instead, wake up 30 minutes earlier and use that time to quietly reflect, read something, and just do what you'd like in general. I like taking my time getting ready and after I'm done, I enjoy just sitting on the couch with something to drink and thinking about my day - what's in store, what I need to get done, who I need to meet, etc.

2. Read something.

   Read anything really. I have Kindle where I'm reading a couple of books like Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki or Anything You Want by Derek Sivers. I have a whole long queue of books I want to read after these. I always enjoy a good Tom Clancy spy novel as well. Reading fiction or non-fiction will get your mind off things. Reading lets you inject yourself into another world, and even though it's temporary, when you come back, you'll be surprised but you'll have ideas and solutions for the problems you face in the real world. You'll find your subconscious has been hard at work all along. 

3. Take breaks.

   An average person can only focus on a task for an hour and a half before the law of diminishing returns kicks in. You keep putting in more time but your brain is not quite all there and you're getting diminishing returns. After an hour and a half, take a quick mental break. I like to reminisce on some of my favorite memories. You can choose to just take deep breaths as well. Take a quick walk. Do anything for 5 minutes, including reading if you want. I actually also enjoy catching up on my Twitter feed (mostly world news, tech news, and inspirational/self-improvement articles) in small bursts whenever I can spare a few minutes. These short bursts of escaping keep me sane throughout the day when I don't have enough time to read anything substantial.

4. Connect with someone.

   When you're on the go, it's difficult to take a minute and just catch up with someone because that's not necessarily on your long list of tasks. Passion is contagious though. When you find yourself feeling stressed, take a second to call/text/email/IM someone you know that can bring you back to life. Someone who you care about and share a lot of memories with is usually best. Reminiscing is an instant de-stressor. This is the age of the Internet too though, so if you don't know anyone like that, you have the whole world at your fingertips. Send out a tweet/status update/blog post - but instead of complaining, ask a question that you want people to respond to. Ask them something personal about themselves - for some reason getting to know people better, even if they're strangers over the Internet, gives us all a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

5. Stay on top of the small things.

   Rookie travelers always make this mistake and that's why they have to go home after a few days: they let the small things pile up. I'm talking about emails, phone calls, texts, and errands. Just about all of us now have smartphones and they can be our best friends and our worst enemies at times. When we're not on top of our communication, that blinking green light or that counter in the notification bar can drive us insane. I can't recommend Inbox Zero to enough of my friends and team. Your to-do list can be a mile long but stay on top of the communication - respond back to emails, reply to texts, etc. Simply say you're out right now and you'll get back to them by this date or you'll return what they need by this date. People respect that. Or learn how to delegate better while you're traveling. Don't take on assignments you won't have time for.
    

6. Be realistic & hit the reset button.

   Sometimes we over-extend ourselves and try to get too much done while we're on the go. We just have to throw up our white flag and ask for help. Everyone knows we wear our underwear under our pants and they can see we don't have a cape on; we can stop pretending we're invincible superheroes. We do have to simplify our schedules and take into account that we're only human. From time to time we have to make a "home" away from home. Schedule in those days in between all your traveling that you know you can just sleep in or catch up with everything. Those days are godsends. You don't feel like you accomplished anything the whole day but the next day you more than make up for it, trust me...

What other ways do you guys battle stress and burn-out either on the go or at home? Send me some feedback below, or on Twitter or Facebook.

(Photo courtesy of Kenneth John Brown)