OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 301 22nd March 2017 | Page 6

OMG Digital Magazine | 301 | Thursday 22 March 2018 • PAGE 6
What Successful People Do
During Their Morning Commute
By Laura Vanderkam
How to get ahead while you get to work.
Just about everybody who wakes up early and battles
traffic just to get to work feels discouraged at times. A
recent study from Princeton University that tracked the
moods of Texas women throughout the day found that
they were most unhappy during their morning commutes.
But these trips don't have to feel like a maddening waste
of time, even if your journey is epic. "I've got quite the
commute—three hours!" says James B. Bunn, chief
marketing officer at Brahmin, a handbags and accessories
company. Bunn drives from his New York home to
Brahmin's Massachusetts headquarters every few days.
The key to surviving—and thriving—is strategy. "Over
time, I've learned to turn it into a time for me to accomplish
a lot," he says. Though the most commonly accepted
way to do that is to talk with colleagues or connect with
friends, using a cell phone—even a hands-free one—
increases your risk of accidents. Our advice? Skip the calls
and try out these five other ways to increase your work
and personal satisfaction.
Buddy Up
Figuring out schedules for a carpool can be tricky. But a
little inconvenience—and a few planning emails—may
be worth the effort, if you're sharing the drive with, say,
a mentor who can advise you or a co-worker who can
talk over an issue with you that will save you time at the
office. The perfect ride-sharer may be right at home. Take
Michelle Paquette, PhD, and her husband, both professors
in Kansas City, Missouri, who commute together most
mornings. "When we're really on the ball," she says, "we
brainstorm ideas and how to deal with co-workers, which
is a nice way to add another five productive minutes to an
otherwise too-short workday."
Even if you don't work at the same place as your spouse,
there are advantages to driving as a couple, namely
reconnecting. "Carpooling turns otherwise wasted
time into a daily date," says Dr. Paquette. And though
that might not translate into a higher salary or a corner
office—it does increase the most important measure of
your success: your happiness.
Get Car-Schooled
Do you really need to listen to a morning DJ crank-call
an elderly woman who believes she's speaking to Lady
Gaga? Upgrade your commute—and sharpen your
mental acuity—with an audio version of a classic from
your library, or get a subscription to Audible and listen
to the freshest business titles (my favorite: The Power of
Habit). Another overlooked option is the offerings from
The Great Courses (everything from physics to the history
of the ancient world, taught by big-name professors),
the lessons of which often apply to the work world (my
favorite: "Secrets of Mental Math").
Don't forget hands-free language programs. Mary Alice
McDonald, who works in music publishing, has been
learning Russian during her morning commute. "I like
to mentally practice common words and phrases that
apply to my commute," she says, especially when another
driver cuts her off. "You can only imagine how colorful
my vocabulary is becoming." Not to mention: learning a
language spoken in a country where your organization
does business can give you a leg up when it comes to
advancing.
Talk to Yourself
Most of us realize that practicing a presentation or a tricky
conversation the day before can help us sail through the
actual event. But we fail to do so, mostly because by the
time we get to the bathroom at the end of the day, we
want to wash our faces and go to bed—not deliver a
speech to the mirror. Instead, rehearse your talk at the
wheel. No, you won't have your PowerPoint slides, but feel
free to gesture at the passenger-seat headrest.
Your hobbies can also use the attention. Barbara North, a
director at a conference-and-event video company, drives
across the Bay Bridge many mornings, a process she calls
"painful and boring." So now she uses the time to practice
numbers for the two bands with which she sings, including
an all-girl punk rock band that does country-music covers.
"Not only does it free up the time I would otherwise have
been looking at music at home," she says, "but I'm actually
spending more time on music than I used to, which
means I am spending more time doing something I really
love. Bonus: She's really ready for gigs. Some days, she
confesses, she drives, instead of taking public transit, "just
to have the extra time with my practice tapes."
Get Your Exercise
Getting that hour of cardio in during the day can be
tough. You've either got to get up at dawn, squeeze it into
lunch (plus, take the requisite shower) or find a way to
stay awake enough to work out at night. That's why Bailey
Mader, a software developer in Johnston, Iowa, bikes to
work: "I am lucky enough to have a trail between my office
and my home, so I can get lost in my thoughts without
worrying about traffic." Mader reports that while her
method takes a few more minutes than driving, the time is
far from wasted. "I also feel more awake on the mornings I
bike, so I more than make up for those scant extra minutes
with heightened productivity. Biking is my caffeine!" She's
not wrong. A number of studies have found that people
feel more productive after exercising.
Even if you have to drive or take mass-transit to work,
you can consciously choose to incorporate activity into
your commute. Get off at an earlier bus stop on a nice
day, or park farther away, at the back of the lot or in a
garage a few blocks away. "My commute begins with a
walk," says Naila Bolus, president and CEO of Jumpstart,
a Boston nonprofit that prepares low-income children for
kindergarten. "Every single morning I walk my twins to
school; it's something we do together, and I love sending
them off on their day."
Feed Your Inner You
We all want to maximize time, do well at our jobs. But
the commute can be one time to pamper yourself. Bunn
reports that he often turns those three hours into simple
enjoyment and relaxation, listening to "ball games or even
comedy radio, for a laugh." By getting your me-time in the
car, you might not ne ed to cyber-surf during the day, or
at night, to decompress, leaving you more time for—you
guessed it—your life.