🔗 Share this article

For numerous individuals, the idea of a "perfect" daily travel might sound ridiculous. If heading to an office, it frequently entails either rush-hour buses and trains or stressful road congestion. One may not expect that either of those options provides much room for happiness, but there are approaches we can use to make them more pleasant, productive and healthier. It pays to devoting some consideration into this, because commuting can elevate anxiety, reduce ability for physical activity and lead us to the consumption of additional treats.

Performing a Journey Evaluation

An ex-attorney now a personal efficiency consultant advises initiating a travel assessment to gauge its actual impact. "Begin by scheduling it on a calendar. Developing a visual representation of how much traveling eats into your day gives an accurate view. It’s not just about how much free time you have remaining, it’s about observing how the commute impacts other areas in your life."

If you’re trapped on a bus, rather than scrolling, you could use the time to brainstorm a particular idea.

The goal is not to fall into a vortex of negativity but to get creative about how to make the most of your unused time. One tactic is to incorporate routine pairing into your journey to get other things done. As going to work is something that you perform every day, attaching another pursuit to the regular pattern makes it more probable that it will occur. That might mean incorporating physical activity into journeys by biking, or walking some of the way, or running home. But it might also mean studying a new tongue, focusing inward, doing admin or touching base with friends. The typical commute is around just under thirty minutes, rising to nearly forty minutes in densely populated urban centers. That totals about a significant portion a week that daily travelers have to themselves.

Leveraging Structured Time

It is said that the daily commute has the clear upside of offering a predictable, scheduled block of time to devote attention to an idea. This echoes the concept of intense concentration, which suggests using periods of time to concentrate intensely on one subject. "Thus if you’re stuck on a bus, as an alternative to browsing, you could leverage those moments to plan a defined idea, either for work or a personal project," suggests a consultant. "One reason ideas frequently come to us in the shower is because we’re so rarely quiet and calm so ideas don’t have the opportunities to come to mind."

This does sound appealing. What if, in place of gritting my teeth as I enter a arduous journey, I could rethink it as two daily productive planning times? Actually, I know this is possible. I have a colleague who wrote a book on his regular train ride and another who employs the time to work on her new business idea.

Maintaining Positivity In the Face of Delays

But how do we maintain optimism when faced with traffic jams, or not securing a seat and standing sandwiched in a tight space? The answer, says a wellbeing expert, lies in the principle of radical acceptance. "A great deal of life’s stress comes when what we would like life to be is not matched by reality. If we can close that discrepancy, we are going to eliminate a lot of unnecessary frustration. Pose the question: ‘What is under my influence? Have I tried to affect that? What is beyond my power? What narratives am I telling myself?’" Steering clear of catastrophic thinking is one of his recommendations. Is the journey actually a horror show or is it just a bit frustrating? "Think data, not hysteria," he says. "This train is running 15 minutes late. Is there anything I can do about that? No. OK. In which case, settle down and enjoy the additional free time. You were planning on listening to a podcast? Well, now it’s going to be a podcast and a half."

Establishing Habits for the Evening Commute

For the trip back, it can be useful to develop rituals that signal to your brain that you are shifting gears. "I love listening to fun audiobooks," notes a coach. "Anything that will take us out of job-related thinking – a humorous show, listening to a favorite album – will work. Or you could leverage the journey to send an urgent email so you don’t need to do it later. A lot of people have difficulty with the boundaries between work and home."

The Question of the Pretend Commute

Which leads to the dilemma facing many people who work from home or do a mix of home and office work. Should we create a pretend commute to ease the changeover? For some, when remote, the day is started and ended with brief outings. It is recommended that even if you don’t have a pet, it’s a good idea to get outside or at least get moving. "If you don’t, that lingering sluggishness is going to stay with you as you go into your day's tasks. Physical activity is a great way to alleviate worry and stress. Even something as simple as doing some stretches for a few minutes can balance the mind."

So simply leaving bed five minutes before the first online meeting isn't to be encouraged? "If you don’t establish a gap between rising and work, what is your experience going to be like? If you made the time, the impact that work has on you would be diminished by the end of the day, since in terms of time less of your conscious time would be taken up by it," an advisor notes.

Not that everyone who works at home needs a simulated commute. Some people actually have strong separations between home and work. "It's easier if you have a dedicated office so you can use the door to indicate the start and finish of work. But I know someone who has a special pair of office shoes to get into and out of work mode. For them, that’s an adequate of a boundary."