According to our research, 27% of employees feel like they’re wasting time on their commute. And when you add up all the extra minutes the mobile workforce spends getting to the office, meetings and attending events, there’s a lot of lost time. The solution? Use it to get things done. Here are our favourite ways to spend travel time productively.
Create a to-do list: Get ready for the day ahead by noting down all of your priority tasks. For the most effective time planning, record how long you estimate each activity will take, and the order in which you’re going to tackle them. There are dozens of apps like Wunderlist and Evernote that are specifically designed to keep your tasks in order. If you’re driving, you can even use an app like Dragon Dictation to avoid getting distracted.
Catch up with emails: Data from McKinsey & Company shows that we spend 28% of our week reading and responding to emails. If you can use your travel time to stay on top of them, you can focus on your colleagues and key tasks when you’re in the office instead.
Build your network: If you’re always on top of your emails, your travel time could be better spent making new contacts and touching base with colleagues and clients you’ve not spoken to in a while. That could mean being more active on networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, or creating a plan for ways to expand your contact base.
Learn a language: If you travel a lot, the chances are you have international colleagues. So why not use the time to take your overseas collaborations up a level by learning their language? It can help advance negotiations and build closer connections. Try an app like Duolingo and squeeze in 20 minutes a day.
Read: Taking time out to read has many benefits. Turning to the latest thought-leadership book from an industry expert will obviously help you stay on top of new developments, but even reading a novel can have positive outcomes. Recent research suggests that reading literary fiction helps improve empathy and our ability to understand others, both of which are vital to business according to negotiation experts.
休む：生産性とは関係ないことのように思われるかもしれませんが、しっかり休むことがパフォーマンス向上に大きく貢献します。仮眠を取るのがためらわれる場合は、マインドフルネスのエクササイズをしてみてはいかがでしょうか。HeadspaceやPersonal Zenといったアプリは、 頭をスッキリさせてくれるので、目的地に着いた時には落ち着きを得て集中することができます。
運動する：一日中電車で座っていて体力が余って困る場合には、歩いたり走ったり、自転車に乗って仕事に行くことができないかを検討しましょう。研究では、徒歩や自転車での通勤により、血圧が下がり、目的地に着いたときには、生産性が高まる状態になると示されています。
どんな道を通るとしても、行き先ではなく、その過程が大切です。通勤時間そのものをストレスを増やさずに、生産性を高められる時間に変える魅力的な方法を考えましょう。
