5 Ways to Hack Your Commute
UPDATE:If you have a long horrendous commute, send an email to commute@wmmr.com describing why it is so bad for a chance to win a helicopter ride to and from work.
I used to think my commute was bad when I was travelling 45 minutes to work each way. Coming from a 5 mile commute before that, 45 minutes felt like forever. I was justified, I thought. However, it wasn’t until I doubled that time that I really knew what a commute was. An hour and a half in the car each morning can completely cripple your day if you’re not careful. So I write to you to spare you a year’s worth of commuting lessons with my 5 ways to hack your commute.
1. Try different things, figure out new paths
On my first day of the new commute, I plugged in my GPS and just drove how it told me. Usually this path is the best path, but it doesn’t take into consideration morning rush hours. I recommend figuring out the worst spots in your commute and seeing if there are ways around them. While it may say on Google Maps that you’ve added 10 minutes to your total trip time, you could actually be saving 15 due to the ridiculous traffic you would’ve been stuck in. Don’t be afraid to try things – you might not know if a detour is going to work until you try it one day.
2. Track your stats
One thing you’ll notice after starting your long commute is how often you need to fill up your gas tank. I decided to track my fill ups using Fuelly.com, which is a website that allows you to see an array of information, such as average miles per gallon and average price per mile. Using data like this can really fuel, no pun intended, your desire to make the numbers better. The only way to make these numbers better is to stop driving like a maniac and stop trying to be the highway police. This actually bring me to the next tip…
3. Be the nice guy on the road
This kind of feeds into the previous tip, but it is also really important for your mental health. No matter what you do, you’re bound to run into a couple crazy people on the road and it certainly doesn’t help you to get mad at them or try to run them off the road. What does help is trying not to care and moving out of their way. If it doesn’t harm you to pull into a different lane and let them by, then I see it as one less person riding my bum. Plus, they’re happier that you moved and maybe they won’t be so grumpy and angry. It’s all about karma really. Do you know you’re going to be in a merge point that causes a lot of traffic? Leave some space and let a couple people in. Wave and let someone know that there are still good people on the road. I know the feeling of being helped and waved to and I want to pay that forward. How does this all tie into the previous lesson? Well, usually when you’re actively trying to be nice you’re also not heavy on the pedal and wasting gas. It all comes full circle.
4. Learn a foreign language
You have a lot of time just sitting there in the car, you might as well do something productive. My suggestion is to learn a foreign language. I use Pimsleur’s Audio Lessons [Italian I]. While a little on the pricey side, these audio books are great and definitely teach you what you need to know. You could also podcast some foreign radio and listen to that. The lessons are especially great for harsh traffic areas – when you’re just sitting there bumper to bumper. I recommend pausing the audio when you need to make a high-traffic merge or lane change. You’ll end up focusing on the road anyway and losing whatever line the cd was trying to teach you. Better off just pausing it to be safe.
5. Invest in quality music
Not everyone wants to learn a foreign language and that’s understandable, so what is one to do to make the time pass? You could start by finding a radio station you like. WMMR is my local radio station of choice and they have a badass morning show with Preston & Steve. Sometimes the commercials just get to be too much though, so what do you do when the radio just isn’t cutting it? I recommend hooking your iPod up to your car’s auxiliary connection, using one of the FM transmitters. Maybe you don’t have an iPod/iPhone… you could try one of the satellite radio companies. They’re commercial free right?
Special bonus tip
Bring a bottle of water, a cup of coffee, or something with you for the trip. An hour and a half is just way too long to go without some refreshment and stopping at a store of fast-food type of place can cost you some serious driving time.
Got any tips of your own? Share with us in the comments! Good luck and happy driving!
