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Make distance from work, work for you

What’s the average time that you spend in commuting from home to your work place? Plenty…for most.

Make distance from work, work for you


Swati Rai 

What’s the average time that you spend in commuting from home to your work place? Plenty…for most. Be it driving, being driven or using the public transport, there’s a lot one can, apart from complaining about the long distance one charts everyday, do to break the mundaneness of travelling the same distance day-in and day-out. There are many ways in which one can put commuting time to constructive use, to ace not only deliverables, but also score in self-improvement. Pick your fit from the activities, listed below to make distance from work, get working for you:

Virtual quick fix

So you are on social media and getting spammed, from all over. Your social media is clogged with messages and unanswered queries and so is your inbox. Swipe up and down, archive all the mail you want and respond to the mails pending for a long time, all this as you travel to work. How you use this time is will essentially mark the tone of the day to come. A bulk mail folder done away with, a trash can on the email app emptied and space created on your free mail app — is all the good news you want to start the day on a great note. Also, friends waiting to catch up on social media — the all important ingredient for the crucial and sometimes elusive, work-life balance is something that you can do in your own time while travelling to work. 

Background reading

That time when you have to read up on that all important pitch note, research for a new presentation or skim through a synopsis of a previous day’s meeting — you know when to do that. It is best to install apps that you can read on your device with little eye strain. Not happy about reading, you can also look at audio books or conveniently convert the written text into an audio and listen to it en route  work. Listening to podcasts and programmes that can enhance technical or soft skills on our way to work can also prove to be beneficial and time saving. 

Learn a new language

There are only a set of good headphones that one requires to learn a new language on the go. Accent familiarisation, learning new vocabulary practising sounds and regurgitation wherever required, can be done while travelling to work for hours on end.  

Missed out on the news?

Worry not, travel time at your rescue. Flip through the day’s headlines to be better informed, and do a quick news catch up to be cued up. Once you swipe that entry card at the office, your deadlines and other deliverables subsume and take you away from the day’s breaking news. Utilise the time commuting to stay updated on current affairs. The news you read can form part of important business communication skill at work or away. 

Work it!

Travelling on public transport? Then you would have started early to avoid the rush hour, great, so, now you can extend that 10 minutes to chart the rest of the way to office on foot. Park your car a little distance away from the workplace, or get off a few metres away from the office and do a brisk walk to reach on time. Not only will this get you moving but also get you to be more active at work. Stretching your limbs and focusing on your breathing, can all be done through the journey to work. This way will help tackle negativity at work before you begin the work of the day.

Maintaining work-life balance is the buzzword. Rather than looking out for drastic overhauls in one’s life, which are sometimes not practical, it is best to adopt doable small changes and modifications to achieve maximum mileage from work and life. 


Plan your day

Before you start your day at work, use the commuting time to make a quick ‘to-do’ list of things to be done at work. A mental note or a physical jotting down and review of a plan can help you start the day on the right proactive note. By utilising time in such a way you can also cut down on effective planning time at work and can perhaps also finish earlier.

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