7 Ways to Make the Most of Your Long Commute

Specific daily tasks test our tolerance in a jet-set environment where you constantly wish you had more than 24 hours in a day. The cover pic shows my dream of ...

Stock photo of a person aboarding a train. (Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels)

This story originally appeared on Calendar

Specific daily tasks test our tolerance in a jet-set environment where you constantly wish you had more than 24 hours in a day. The cover pic shows my dream of commuting to work; the below pic shows much closer to the truth. But your long commute is what it is, and you may as well make the most of the reality you have and your long commute and make it productive.

Think about your commute to and from work—and your buffering on a really brief Facebook video. Both make you powerless spectators while valuable minutes of our lives pass you by. If you aren’t Mark Zuckerberg, you don’t have much influence on the former, but there are a number of things you can do to improve the latter.

Suppose you wake up fresh and invigorated, excited to take on the day with the assistance of that motivating podcast, only to discover your energy and sense of productivity dwindling. When you have to suffer an hour-long (or more for some) journey before you can even begin working and paying attention, it can zap your motivation.

You Can Make Those Commuting Hours Useful With Seven Ways to Make the Most of Your Long Commute

Here’s how to do it:

1. Consider Joining a Carpool or Taking Public Transportation

This may seem counter-intuitive to saving time by carpooling instead of driving alone to work. Still, those extra few minutes spent carpooling help you better utilize the entire chunk of commute time for the practical tips listed above.

Additionally, you will get the opportunity to network with people from other industries while also helping the environment by conserving gasoline. For a hassle-free service, choose Waze Carpool or Uber Pool.

2. Take Use of the Time to Organize Your Thoughts

Our mornings are usually a jumble of hurried activity. There’s rarely any time to halt and breathe between getting ready, getting the kids dressed, food prep, and so on. Use your commute time to collect your scattered ideas so you can start the day with a clear focus.

You may also plan out minute details of the project you’ve been working on or whatever hustle you’re working on (shout out to the world’s over-achievers!). Taking the time to think about things might help you develop solutions to complex problems you’ve been pondering for a long time.

3. Make a Day-Ahead Schedule

You may now go on to planning the day before you start it if you’ve sorted out your thoughts and ideas (or if you’re already the sorted-out kind). Almost all successful individuals in the world begin their days with a clear plan in mind and on their workbooks since this allows them to do more in a given day—and isn’t that the point of productivity?

When you do this throughout your commute, you will be able to get right to work when you arrive at the workplace. Make to-do lists and create notebooks with applications like Evernote. If you’re driving or riding, you may utilize the voice note feature to dictate your duties to it.

4. Listen to Audiobooks and Podcasts About Self-Improvement

Get the most productivity out of yourself. It’s best to start the day on a happy note. This is an excellent time to do it if you haven’t previously done it after waking up in the morning. Of course, audiobooks aren’t the only way to go to work for folks who walk, drive, or ride their bikes. Even when listening to audiobooks, though, drivers should exercise extreme caution.

I leave one side of my earpods out for extra safety because I’m in traffic, and I stay ultra-aware—You’ll want to do this too. Also, an occasional novel makes me feel a lot more alive than constantly cranking down on the business stuff.

(Juja Han/Unsplash)

5. Make a List of the Phone Calls You’ll Be Able To Make Throughout Your Commute

During this time of day, get any informal or routine phone calls to friends and family out of the way. It will be a task checked off the to-do list for the day, no matter how little. Of course, you may also schedule a teleconference at this time, but make sure you’re not in a boisterous environment.

6. Enroll in an Online Course

By enrolling in an online course, you may boost your commute productivity to new heights. This method only works for people who spend a significant amount of time on the go. Because you must be completely focused, or you will not learn anything. You may discover a new skill by taking a half-hour session every day for a month!

7. Pick Up a New Language

If an online course seems too challenging, learning a language is a lot more straightforward option. If you’re a travel fanatic, knowing more than one language is crucial and handy for many occupations (which most of us seem to be these days). Duolingo is a powerful program that takes you from zero to sixty in straightforward, easy-to-learn steps.

Alternatively, you may utilize this time to do activities that make you feel bad because they interfere with your work hours, such as social networking or watching your favorite Youtuber’s cosmetics tutorials.

Remember your commute time is only essential if you contribute value to it.