Reading time: 3 Minutes
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.
Reposez-vous : cela peut sembler un peu hors sujet lorsque l’on parle de productivité, mais vous assurer que vous êtes bien reposé peut jouer un grand rôle dans votre efficacité à accomplir vos tâches. Pour ceux d’entre vous qui n’aiment pas faire la sieste, vous pouvez envisager de faire quelques exercices de méditation. Les applications telles que Headspace et Personal Zen peuvent vous aider à clarifier votre esprit afin que vous soyez plus calme et plus concentré lorsque vous atteignez votre destination.
Exercices : si l’excès d’énergie est un problème lorsque vous êtes assis toute la journée, il est peut être intéressant pour vous de noter que vous pouvez marcher, courir ou faire du vélo pour vous rendre au bureau. Les études ont démontré que marcher ou se rendre en vélo au travail peut réduire la pression artérielle et même vous faire vous sentir plus productif lorsque vous arrivez au bureau.
Quelle que soit la route que vous prenez, n’oubliez pas que ce qui compte c’est le voyage, et non la destination. Alors choisissez la route de la productivité qui vous attire le plus, plutôt que d’ajouter du stress à votre trajet.
