How many hours a week do you spend driving to work?
For ease lets say your drive takes an hour!
That’s 2 hours a day.
10 hours a week.
520 hours a year!
That’s a lot of time in the car. With life being so busy, the drive to work is a great time to do things for yourself that can be hard to find time for.
Here are 3 things you can do on the drive to work so you can be less like this…
and more like Zach Galifianakis
1. Listen to an audio book
So just about any good book now days has an audio book (yay for the commuter!). There’s no time like the drive to work to start on a book that you’ve always had in mind but never had the time for.
I know I listen best in the mornings so I listen to an audio book on the way to work. Figure out which drive is the best for you.
With a lot of audio books I’ve listened to so far being around the 4 hour mark it means I get through nearly a book a week.
So, when I get home tired, I don’t feel like I’ve just worked all day but done something small for myself as well.
A good personal development one to get started is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It’s short, sweet and life changing stuff.
But if you’re more fiction type of person check out the New York Times best selling fiction list.
The easiest way is to download Amazons Audible app on your phone. It automatically syncs everything you download.
And off you go!
2. Practice a morning routine
Mornings are tough. Having a morning routine before work. Nearly impossible.
But the time in the car is a great place to do a quick morning routine. Since you drive every morning without fail – keeping to the routine is pretty easy!
Tony Robbins Get The Edge program has a 15-20 minute ritual.
He begins with a breathing exercise.
From there he goes to grateful list.
Then to a visualisation of where you see yourself.
And finally finishing off with a mantra.
He recommends trying a mantra like – “All I need is within me now”.
Tony recommends saying this all out-loud. While that might take some getting used to, starting by saying it in your head is more than okay!
When I tried this initially I admit saying it out loud made me feel a bit crazy but it’s worth a try!
Without realising this, after a few weeks of practicing this mantra, I carried it with me everywhere. It’s really changed my mindset and I find when the negative talk begins, that mantra tends to come up in my mind.
Related posts on motivation & helpful habits:
3. Take 5 minutes to be mindful
A commute is a great time to take 5 minutes out to just be mindful.
Turning off the radio and just being in the moment is something you can do while you’re driving.
Actually look at things that are happening, instead of worrying about work or what to do next.
Or take a moment to focus on your breathe.
Another great thing to do, if you’re having a hard time or going through a difficult experience, is to use the time to focus on feelings.
This is something I read about in Pemas book Things Fall Apart.
You’ll find yourself being lost in thought and starting to feel upset.
Pema suggests actually focus on the feeling, or the fear behind it.
What is it that you’re afraid of? Holding on to the feeling and thinking about it logically is a great way to process it. Instead of avoiding it like we tend to.
