Since I live in a rural area, just about anywhere I go is one to two hours away.  The closest large grocery store is 20 minutes away.  So I’ve learned a lot of little tricks as to what to do with this time that I’ll share with you today.

1. Obviously, you can listen to soothing or upbeat music to either wind down or get geared up for your day.  On my longer trips I use 20 minutes of my time just for this purpose.  It makes a huge difference.  I make my own CD’s with my favorite tunes of the month on them.
2. Listen to motivational gurus. I hope to have some podcasts for you to listen to soon, but until then, anything by Brian Tracy, Steve Chandler, Les Brown, or your own favorites will do!
3. Storm your own brain. This works for short commutes as well as long ones.  When a problem arises, instead of stewing over it, which only makes it worse, use your commute time to brainstorm ideas to resolve the issue.  Brainstorming is not just for large companies or groups of people.  Write the problem at the top of a sheet of paper and write down every solution that pops into your head.
4. Turn off the radio. It’s fine to get weather and road information, but listening to drivel is never as productive as going inside yourself to find out what’s in there.  Besides, none of us need to be more brainwashed by some of the exaggerated political views expressed just to get the station’s ratings up.  Use the radio for your purposes and let the blowhards’ words go where they belong – into thin air!
5. Practice your scripts. These can be anything from a few lines you have in your church play, to what you want to say and how you want to say it to your boss, your teenager, all the way up to a movie script!  Practice your tone of voice.  Practice a song you need to rehearse.  Practice your 30-second commercial for the next networking event.
6. Daydream. Create your ideal day.  Segment intend.  These are very powerful ways to use your commute time.
7. Plan dinner. This may seem simple, but I have often had dinner preparation go much more smoothly just because I took the time to plan it out, only in my mind, ahead of time.  I decided what to do first, next, and so on.
8. Reflect on the day replaying any negative events to your advantage.  If something didn’t go the way you would have liked, instead of dwelling on it, pretend it went the way you wanted.  How would that scenario have played out?
9. Make a commitment to that one thing. There is one thing you can do today, tonight, or tomorrow that, if you did, would make a huge leap for you in propelling you forward in your life.  What is it?  Make a commitment to it.  Decide exactly how, when, and where you will fit it into your schedule.
10. Decide on a new role. Don’t like the way you’re treated at work or home?  How would you like to be treated?  What character can you think of in a book, play, movie, or television that portrays the qualities you desire?  Practice the persona of that character.  Challenge yourself to carry it into real life.  You’ll be amazed at how effective this strategy is.  You’ll start to hear, “Wow, you’ve changed!”
11. Clear your head. Practice alert meditation.  No, it’s not dangerous.  Sometimes I just have to turn everything off, including my own voice, and just be.  It’s meditation with your eyes open.  If you do it correctly, you’ll be even more in tune with traffic and intuitively know when to slow down and anticipate changes in your route.
12. Practice positive thinking. When a negative thought enters your head, immediately replace it with a positive thought.  If more people would do this while commuting, we would have much less road rage.  When I catch myself becoming upset with a driver who I’m judging is driving too fast, instead of letting him push my buttons, I just get out of his way and think, “Poor thing.  He must be late.  I could probably help him with his time management skills.”  Then I take a second to appreciate the fact that I am running on time and that I have pre-paved my good mood.  All is well!
13. Open your present. This one is from Steve Chandler who says:

“Practice being awake in the present moment.  Make the most of your awareness of this hour.  Don’t live in the past (unless you want guilt) or worry about the future (unless you want fear), but stay focused on today (in case you want happiness.) . . .See your whole life as being contained in this hour.   . . . It’s amazing what can be done by people who learn to relax, pay attention, and focus, appreciating the present hour and all the opportunity it contains.  The great French philosopher Voltaire was on his deathbed when someone asked him, ‘If you had 24 more hours to live, how would you live them?’ Voltaire said, ‘One at a time.’”

Do you really want to spend the next hour becoming frustrated over something which you have no control anyway?  If you’ve been commuting for awhile, you know how long it takes to get to where you’re going.  Allow enough time from the start.  If you’re in an unexpected jam, you know there’s nothing you can do about it.  Getting angry at the people in front of you who aren’t moving isn’t going to do any good; becoming upset with the people who caused the accident or problem isn’t going to clear it any faster.  Just about everyone has a cell phone these days – make your calls and enjoy your unexpected leisure time.  Maybe the universe put you in the situation for a reason.

14. Set small goals. Whether you are in to goal-setting or not, setting small goals for the day or evening will give you something positive to think about for your commute.  Working on small goals is often more motivating than big goals because they’re more easily achieved.  If you’re a strategic planner like me, you’ll have small goals already broken down for you; try to make them even smaller.  Think in terms of even smaller steps.  This is fun and energizing!
15. Plan to make somebody’s day. In his autobiography, They Call Me Coach, John Wooden says:

“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

The best way to make sure they can never repay you is to do something for someone without letting them find out you did it.  Plan this during your commute – what a challenge!

These are my 15 ways of utilizing my commute time – I’d love to hear some of yours.  Leave me a comment using the link below, and have a blissful day.

You can subscribe to this blog here.

GET CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE NOW When you’re ready to stop talking about changing and ready to actually create the life you want, you’ll want to purchase my latest e-book to help you get started and on the right path.  I share my latest success tips and how I’ve applied 20 years of solid business principles and the law of attraction to acquiring the life of my dreams.  Wake Up and Create the Life You Want: A Guide to Self-Empowerment is helping many others do the same.  It comes with my free report on “The Science of Getting Rich.”

Posted under Education, Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Leadership, Motivation, Success