What do you do when you travel to your work every morning? You probably do one of the following things:
- Play with your smartphone
- Converse with friends on WhatsApp, Facebook, or other social media accounts
- Read the newspaper
- Read a book
- Listen to music
- Sleep
These activities help you pass the time on the bus, train, or subway. However, you can use your time even more effectively by doing things that will not only help you pass the time but are also useful and constructive.
Below are eight useful things you can do on your way to work. These are only suggestions; if you have something better to do, then do it.
What to Do on Your Way to Work
1. Repeat affirmations
Is there something you want to do but need the encouragement to do? Do you need motivation to develop a positive attitude? Affirmations can help you with that.
Instead of letting your mind roam where it wills, or just jump from one meaningless thought to another, repeat a positive affirmation over and again. This will program your conscious and subconscious mind to help you with your goals and awaken the motivation and energy to pursue them.
2. Find a solution to problems
Is there something bothering you that needs a solution? Use the time to find the solution.
Use the time to think of positive solutions. Don’t think negatively and how bad the situation is. That’s a waste of time. Think of possible solutions. Visualize how the problem is being solved.
3. Look at the people around you and study them
Look at the people around you. Watch how they behave, act and talk. You can learn a lot about people and about their body language. This knowledge is an asset, and a skill that can help you in your life.
Watching how people talk, act and behave, teaches you how to interpret body language, which can be useful on many occasions. Watching other people’s behavior could also make you understand what habits of yours to cultivate, and which ones to change.
4. Listen to an audio book
Store a few audio books on your smartphone or tablet, and use the time listening to them. You can listen to stories, or listen to nonfiction books.
5. Make plans
You can use the time to plan your day, plan your vacation, or make plans for your business.
You can use the time to decide upon the steps to take to improve your life, think of an article or book to write, or what you need to do to make changes in your life.
6. Meditation
Did you know you can meditate while sitting in the bus or the train? Yes, it’s true, you can. I might not be perfect and your focus might not be strong enough, yet it is possible to meditate.
it’s noisy and there are people around you, but nobody needs to know what you are doing and you can at least try to ignore the noise.
Don’t do anything to attracts undue attention. Just sit down with your eyes closed or keep them open, but do not look at anything in particular.
Try to be aware of your thoughts, but don’t follow them. Just look at them, as if from the outside, watching them, but not getting involved with them. This would calm down your mind and make you feel peaceful and happy.
7. Learn a foreign language
You can use the time on the bus or train to learn words and grammar of a foreign language.
You can either take with you a book teaching a foreign language, a small dictionary, or use an app on your smartphone that teaches a language.
8. Learn to relax your body
If you may attention to your body, you will notice that it is often tense. This tension is involuntary, wasting your energy and tiring your body. Since you have some spare time on the train or bus, why not try to loosen your tensed body?
Do this in a way that does not attract undue attention. Just focus on your body and relax any tensed muscles. You might find out that as soon as you relax a muscle, it becomes tense again. However, with some persistence, gradually, your body will learn to relax.
Do you have any other ideas on how to use the time effectively when commuting? Great, go ahead and use them.
Doing something useful, instead of wasting the time will give you a great feeling of satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
