Many of us spend hours each day commuting to and from work. This can feel like wasted time – but it doesn’t have to be. There are many tasks that you could be doing during your commute to make this time feel more productive. Doing these tasks during your commute could give you more time to relax at home, and could even help you to be more productive at work. Below are a few examples of ways to make your commute more productive.
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Catch up on emails and messages
Providing you’re not driving to and from work, your commute could be the perfect time to catch up on emails or messages. This could include catching up on group chats and making sure you haven’t missed any important questions or updates. You may even be able to catch up on work emails if you have you’re able to log in to your work email on your phone. If you often spend the first hour of your day catching up on work emails, this could help reduce some of this work by allowing you to effectively start early.
Plan out your day/week
Your commute could be a good time to plan out your daily or weekly schedule. This could include planning work tasks throughout the day and potentially even planning what you’re going to have for dinner. Notes and calendar apps are great for building schedules. Just try not to overplan your day – leave some room for the unexpected.
Read a book/listen to an audiobook
Your commute could be a great chance to do some reading. If you take the bus or train, you could pack a physical book or download an ebook to one of your digital devices. Alternatively, you could listen to an audiobook on headphones or through your car stereo if you drive to and from work. Choose books that you actively want to read and take advantage of freebies and discounts.
Test your brain with puzzles
You could also spend your commute exercising your brain with various puzzles. A crossword could be a great puzzle for testing your vocabulary and general knowledge. A sudoku could meanwhile challenge your deductive reasoning and pattern spotting. There are so many other puzzles that you can try including paper puzzles and digital puzzles. Puzzle mobile games have become particularly popular in recent years and you can find many of these in app stores. By regularly solving these puzzles, you could build your problem solving skills and keep your mind sharp.
Walk/cycle part the way
A lot of us commute by car or by public transport. In fact, walking and cycling the whole way is often not possible for many of us who have to cover many miles to get to work. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t walk or cycle part of the way. Getting off at a station five or ten minutes away could allow you to incorporate some exercise into your commute. This could help you to stay physically fit without having to take extra time out of your day to visit the gym. You could also get to work feeling more physically and mentally alert. Cycling allows you to cover more ground quickly, but you will need to bring a bike and be comfortable using it. If you prefer to walk, make sure that you leave enough time.
Check out the day’s news
During your commute, you could also catch up on the day’s news. This could include the old-fashioned approach of buying a newspaper or simply reading stories online via your favourite news outlets websites. If you’re in the car, you could simply tune into the radio and listen to news updates as you commute. There are also regular news podcasts that you can download on niche subjects. You can even use voice recognition tools like Alexa to report the latest news.
Learn a new language
Always wanted to learn a new language? Your commute could be the perfect time to do this. There are many language learning apps that you can download to teach you phrases and test your knowledge – these could be great for using on the bus or the train. Meanwhile, for those that drive to work, there are language learning audiobooks and podcasts that you can listen to. Do your research in order to find the best rated language learning resources.
Reach out to friends and family members
Is there a friend or family member you’ve been meaning to get in touch with? Your commute could be a good time to finally message them. Many of us regret not keeping touch with loved ones and old friends. Each week, consider challenging yourself to reach out to a new friend or family member to see how they are doing.
Plan social events
On top of reaching out to friends and family members, you could use your commute to plan social events together. This could include planning a simple meetup with a single friend or planning more elaborate events like parties and trips (you could use your evening commute to contact venues and vendors, saving you from having to do this when you get home). Work social events may also be possible to plan during your commute if you haven’t had a chance to talk to people at work.
Digitally declutter
Our digital lives can often get very cluttered. Occasionally, it’s beneficial to organise a digital clearout. This could include deleting photos and emails that aren’t needed to free up space, uninstalling apps you don’t use, unfriending people on Facebook you don’t talk to or simply sorting through messy filing systems. Such a task can be long-winded and is often not something we want to do at home in our free time, so why not do it during your commute?
Apply for new jobs
If you don’t like your current job because of the long commute – or for other various reasons – you could consider using your commute to look for other jobs. This saves you having to spend your free time at home applying for jobs. If you don’t like applying for jobs on your phone, consider bringing a laptop. Obviously, you won’t be able to apply for jobs while driving, however if you’re taking the bus or train it should be possible.
Use online dating platforms
Your commute could even be a chance to work on your romantic life. Use this time to swipe and peruse through dating profiles and message potential matches. You could even plan dates while on your commute. Again, this is something you can’t really do if you drive to work, however you could do it while taking public transport.
Get paid to taxi others
Drive to work? Using ride-sharing apps you can find other people locally who may be going the same direction as you. This could allow you to essentially get paid to commute. You may even be able to find someone regular to give a lift to who could become a new friend.
Take time to destress
Sometimes relaxing on your commute can be the most productive thing you can do. Many of us have busy work lives and our home lives can be equally busy. Your commute could be a chance to take a break. De-stressing activities to consider could include catching up on TV shows, listening to music or playing games. Alternatively, you could use your commute to practise some meditation. There are meditation apps and audiobooks that can help you to relax. Of course, you don’t want to get too relaxed – especially if you’re driving – so choose the right types of meditation aids.
