This is my fourth month living in a hotel, not continuously but four separate months. Over the past few years they have also been a few 3 week trips and two week trips. sometimes I have had a kitchen sometimes I have only had a fridge and microwave. You have to adapt.
Over those long durations I have built some habits and tips. Below is a list of my top recommendations for “doing time” before that journey home.
Tip #1: Unpack
If your room has a closet and drawers, unpack your clothes, hang things up, and establish places for things. If you have a desk, set it up as a work station.
Tip #2: Establish Routines
Having a routine will make life… well more routine. Have a laundry day, eat out schedule, if you like gyms, go workout. I personally will go to the lobby every morning. Not because the breakfast is outstanding, but it is the routine I use to start my day. They close it at 9:30, so I have to be down there before then. When in a hotel it gets real easy to be lazy and not get out of bed. With the breakfast I will get coffee and read a chapter in my Kindle.
Tip #3: Keep your space clean and orderly
When you come in at the end of a work day, it is easy to just let things fall where they may. You will soon find yourself disorganized and looking for stuff. The other benefit is that you make the maid services job easier. If you put everything away when you are done, they can wipe down the surfaces and not spend all day in your room. They are professionals, not your mom after all.
Tip #4: Bring a little bit of home.
When I travel I have a few things that I would hate to be without. Those things in a short list would be, iPad, Kindle, Camera, and Binoculars. With a few accessories, that is all I really need to make my stay more comfortable. iPad with an adapter and an HDMI cable makes it so I can watch Netflix on the hotel TV. You might add a laptop to your list, but tablets do what I need just the same.
Tip #5: Have a Bedtime
When your to do list is either read a lot or watch TV a lot, it can be hard to go to fall asleep. It is easy to leave the TV on to fall asleep to. It can easily become a habit as well, a substitute that fills the loneliness that can come with being away from loved ones. Staying up late can also happen easily as you try and avoid tomorrow.
I hope this helps you as you adapt to your long TDY. I have a feeling that this may be an ongoing thing for me for awhile. I am not thrilled about it, but it is what we have to do. There will be a day when I can speak freely to why and what we are doing away from our families. Until then I hope you will continue following along.
