10 Productive Tips: What To Do On a Long-Haul Flight

Long-haul flights don’t have to be too crazy boring or tedious. It’s an experience if you’re flying up front in first or business class. Here are some ideas on what to do on a long-haul flight to keep yourself busy. We’ll try to be productive so you won’t lose your mind or waste time while traveling. When you are in one seat for 6+ hours, you can’t go anywhere until you get to your final destination. 

Many people may not find long-haul flights pleasant, but if you do it a lot, you get used to it. Flying to Europe from the US is long-haul, even though it’s only between 6-9 hours. You won’t even feel how long the flight is if you can sleep through most of it. Here are tips on what to do on a long-haul flight. These tips are based on personal experience and a lot of long-haul flights in economy class.  

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Create a music playlist 

This tip is debatable as airlines’ in-flight entertainment varies. Most airlines include music as part of their entertainment options. You can create a music playlist you can listen to while you’re working (more in the work section below). 

On the longest flight in the world on Singapore Airlines, they had an amazing and extensive music selection. Since I’m a 90s girl, I especially loved the 90s music section which features my boybands. Not just the American boy bands: they had selections from my British and Irish boybands. 

My brain completely exploded. I allotted an hour trying to add all my favorite songs and bands to a playlist that was playing as I was working. You can also do this offline on your phone. You can create an offline playlist that you can listen to help you get in the zone as you work.  

Work (offline or online) on ultra-long-haul flights

While I have a full-time job that requires me to be online, I also have this blog on the side. To create content, I need time to type articles, sort photos, and create and edit videos. What better time is there to do these tasks than on an ultra-long-haul flight? 

When I travel solo, I have much more time than usual since I don’t have to look after my boy. I use the extra time to catch up on work. This allows me to create content that I’ll be able to post after I’m back from my trip. For those who travel with little kids, I’ve also included tips on what to do in a separate post. 

Digital nomads find a way to frontload work or schedule their time wisely so they can do their job while enjoying the sights and sounds of whichever city they’re in. Travel days are a great way to get work done. You’re sitting in one spot for hours at a time, and it’s quiet (at times). It beats sitting in front of a desk in the office. But a plus is you have the anticipation of being in a new place when you get there. You don’t lose vacation days, and you’re still productive enough to complete your work for the day (or more). 

Create an outline or checklist of what you need to achieve if working

I’m typing this post while on the longest flight in the world. I had an outline of other posts, but I decided to create a new post because it’s still fresh in my mind. I’ll then schedule a backup on the cloud. I’ll also mark photos to include in the post when I get stable internet access.

If you have an outline or checklist of what you want to achieve while working, it can help you stay focused. You’re not just staring blankly at a computer screen wondering what you’ll need to achieve on the flight. Pre-load everything and make sure they’re available offline since you can’t trust the stability of Wi-FI while on the plane. 

Content creators who deal with video tend to use this time to edit their work, pre-filming a lot of segments beforehand. Bloggers and writers like me use this time to look at our notes and type it all down on Docs or other Word processing sites. 

Binge-watch movies or TV shows

If there’s one thing most people do on a long-haul flight, it’s to binge-watch TV shows or movies from the IFE. Every airline has different offerings, but Singapore Airlines has one of the best, at least in my opinion. The longest flight in the world is around 18+ hours, so if you don’t account for sleeping or napping, that’s around 8 to 9 movies that you can finish. 

The inflight entertainment offers entire seasons of TV shows, as well as movies that have been released a few months after their original cinema release. There’s plenty to watch and keep you occupied on the flight. 

I only do this option during meals, since there’s not enough space for me to use my computer. Also, who wants to work while eating? It just doesn’t make sense. Food is meant to be enjoyed, and not just gobbled while working. 

After I’ve finished my meal, the tray and remnants of my meal still take up all the table space available on the seat so there’s nothing else to do. Depending on how much meal service you get on your flight, you can finish 1 or 2 movies using this method, or at least a few TV shows. 

Learn about new cities while looking at the map 

If you’re an AV geek or just like geography in particular, you can look at the inflight entertainment to see how much longer the flight is. Most of these long-haul flights use the same system, and it changes views so you can see cities you are flying close to or have passed. 

The longest flight in the world flies over a lot of countries, so it’s not that boring. However, even if you are flying over huge swathes of water, it’s pretty interesting to see islands one may never even heard of on the map. A lot of these places you may never get to see in your lifetime, but it’s still a fun way to add more cities to your bucket list. 

I look at the map every so often to see where we are, and how much longer there is on the flight. I wouldn’t recommend doing it a lot since it will make you a bit stir-crazy knowing how long there is left on your trip. 

Catch up on rest and sleep

If you’re stuck in a piece of metal in the sky and you’ve exhausted yourself watching or working, you can always try to catch up on rest and sleep on the flight. On flights over 15 hours, aim to sleep at least 5 hours so you can get a bit of rest before you arrive at your destination. 

Catching up on rest is also a way to jolt your body to get used to the time change, especially on big time differences like Singapore and the East Coast of the US (12 hours with daylight savings, 13 hours without). 

It may be hard to sleep on the plane, especially if you’re flying on economy, but if your body is exhausted enough, you may just pass out. This is one reason why I try to reserve window seats when I travel, so I can lean my pillow against the wall and try to sleep from there.

I travel yearly to Europe and Asia from the US and learned to sleep on travel days so I can use the time to explore my actual destination. 

Eat Or Drink (A Lot) During Your Flight

If you are traveling suites, first, or business class, then you’re in luck. Most long-haul airlines offer dining on demand, as well as provide an almost infinite amount of drinks. You’re paying all that money (or points) to sit up front on the plane, so why not get your fill? 

Some premium economy flights are also generous when it comes to drinking, so you can also drink your weight in water or other drinks that they may offer you. You tend to shrivel up on long-haul flights so always keep hydrated during your flight. My husband knows that I try to get water every time a drink is offered because I just love to drink water so much. 

Play video games or finish games you’ve always wanted to complete

My husband and I were gamers before we had our kid. Sadly, I’ve had to let go of the hobby to make time for other endeavors, like side hustling and child-rearing. However, if you are flying by yourself and want to relax after work, then you can always use the time to play video games. You can finish games that you’ve been slowly chugging along, or you can set a timer to game for an hour or so, then go back to work. It’s all up to you. 

We tend to bring a Nintendo Switch as our portable game console of choice, but another option is the portable Steam deck, which may be as powerful as your laptop for PC games. 

Finish books or audiobooks you’ve always wanted to complete

Reading physical books or on a Kindle on a plane is not my idea of productive time, but you do you. Audiobooks are my preferred choice and are a godsend in case you’re traveling with kids on long-haul flights. When I’m busy trying to keep my child entertained or holding him as he tries to sleep on the plane, I put on an audiobook and block the rest of the world out. All that exists is me, the kid, and the book. 

I love to listen to as many books as I can because it helps me imagine I’m in a different world. I could be the main character or a spectator in the story that’s unfolding. Like everything else, there are only so many books you can read in your lifetime, so finishing a book is a priority for me, and I multi-task to get more done. I talk more about how I listen to audiobooks while I multitask below. 

What If I want to do everything you suggested while on a long-haul flight? 

I get it. There are just too many things you would want to do and even if you’re on a long flight, there’s just not enough time to do everything you want. Here are some tips if you want to do everything. 

Give a time limit to a task 

You want to watch that movie or TV show that most people have been talking about, or want to finish a new level in your video game, but also need to work. In my case, I usually give a time limit to a task. I use the majority of the hour to work, but I allow myself at least 15 minutes of rest after completing that hour or finishing a task. It’s a reward for me to keep going. 

After that 15 minutes, I’ll get back to work. If I’m in a state of flow, I’ll keep going until I need a change, and then I’ll reward myself through entertainment or games. 

Multitasking isn’t always that hard 

Multiple studies say that multitasking isn’t great since it takes a while for your brain to shift its focus from one task to another. However, there are some things you can do which is considered multitasking. For me, when traveling, I would need music to help me get in a state of flow and create. Noise-cancelling headphones are helpful and I would just block out most people in the airplane cabin with me as I work. 

I’ll get to listen to my favorite artists while creating content, which I consider work. I also try to listen to audiobooks that don’t need a lot of concentration to follow (like romance books) when working. However, that audiobook method only works if I don’t need to concentrate too much on a task at hand. I usually do that when I’m waiting for a big file to open or save, or if I’m running a query and waiting for an output. It may only be a few minutes, but when you keep doing it, you’ll get to finish the book! 

I’m tired, but I need to work

If you need to work but are tired and jetlagged from the flight, go to sleep. When you feel refreshed and wake up, then you can work. If you push yourself to work when your brain can’t even function correctly, then it won’t do you (or your work) any good. 

If you’re waiting to board or in a queue, listen to an audiobook, read a book, or watch something. These suggestions are mostly passive activities that you won’t need to concentrate on. Yet, you can still get something done. If you want to work, remember that small things matter. You can do menial tasks that don’t need a lot of brainpower. Say, you’re making a blog post, use the time to format, or run queries on chatGPT instead of editing or creating the actual content. You’re still making small steps to completing a task, but won’t take as much brain or willpower to do it. 

Remember to get up and stretch your legs

You can stretch your legs in your seat or do exercises so you’re not sedentary the entire time you’re on the long-haul flight. I drink a lot so I can force myself to go to the toilets a lot. While in the bulkhead, I stretch a bit, and then walk back to my seat. You’re not stuck to your seat the entire time, nor are you expected to sit the entire time. The galley is also a great place to look for snacks and keep them close to you if you get hungry. Not a lot of airlines offer snacks in the galley on long-haul flights, but in my experience, Eva Air, Japan Airlines (JAL), ANA, and Singapore Airlines have them! 

10 Tips on What to do on a long-haul flight 

Those are some tips I’ve gathered based on personal experience on what to do on a long-haul flight. Do you have anything else to add to the list? Feel free to leave them in the comments below! If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading this article. Hopefully, it helped you on a long-haul flight to wherever your travels take you!