Optimize your commute time and open a new world to yourself
How much time do you spend commuting back and forth to work each day? Is this time you spend, and never get back, a mind numbing journey, an exercise in frustration or an enriching experience?
Take this time for what it is…Time. After all, Time is the the most valuable commodity we have at our disposal, and one that is spent by most people like it comes from a never ending source.
Most states look down on the use of your vehicle as a mobile office, and it never really was a great place to conduct business in the first place. I have never spoken to anyone during my commute and felt I made great decisions or had meaningful dialog.
However, your vehicle can be a great place to educate oneself. Take the time that you have, 15 minutes or an hour, and use it to the fullest possibility.
Audio-books, podcast and radio news are the most common educational and informational sources that can be used while commuting. An Apple iPod can be loaded with audio-books from sites like Audible.com or podcasts from your favorite website or magazine. You do not have time to read the Wall Street Journal, why not listen to it while driving to work?
An iPod can play through almost every single car radio with an adapter. Alternatively, you can burn audio-books and podcasts back to CD if nothing else works.
I find that I listen to local radio new on Monday and Thursday mornings and listen to audio-books during my commute through the end of Thursday. Friday morning, I listen to a podcast or two and the way home I listen to music. This works very well, and helps break up the information sources.
I have a long daily commute and I am able to listen to one or two books a month. Most of the books I listen to are on management or self-development topics. The last couple of books have been on history and astronomy. You really can learn just about anything!
Believe it or not, you can greatly increase your exposure to great literature; increase your knowledge on any topic; and absorb powerful life changing information all by using the time that would otherwise be lost in the grind of a daily commute.
My view of commute time is that it’s a waste. Time is the only resource that is truly a scarce commodity – no matter what you can never buy or trade for more.
I luckily live close enough to my work that my commute is short, so I alternate between driving and biking. When I bike, I feel I’m using my time wisely because it’s a half hour I don’t have to spend working out later – I’ve turned my commute into a time saver (and money saver – no gym membership).
When I had a longer commute audio books were the best thing ever. The time passes by and you end up using your commute actually doing something – listening to a book and hopefully getting something out of it.