Be More Productive While Commuting
Posted by Vincent | Filed under GTD, Productivity
I chose to live in downtown Vancouver instead of on campus for many reasons and I’m really happy with my decision. However, there is one big drawback to living off campus: the time spent commuting. I take the bus every day and my commute takes me about 1h30 (45 min each way). I use the bus for three main reasons:
- At UBC, a bus pass is included with your tuition (you pay for it, but you can’t opt out). Therefore, commuting by bus is virtually free (no extra cost).
- I don’t own a car. I just find it cheaper to rent one every time I need it. Car sharing services like Zipcar are very convenient for those in my situation.
- My daily bus ride is a great time to be productive and get things done.
Indeed, there are many things you can get done while on the bus (or in the subway):
- Read: The most obvious and the one I do the most often. I try to bring on the bus reading material that isn’t to bulky, like magazines, academic papers, lecture notes or small books. My favorite bookmark is the post it note. With a sticky note, you can mark not only a page but also a line on the page. Since it is cheap and disposable, you can also use it to take notes or to keep a list of sections to read in a book.
- Listen to audiobooks: Some people don’t like to read on the bus, and that’s fine. Listening to audiobooks is one alternative to reading. There are a lot of books available for purchase from Audible and iTMS or you can make your own using text to speech software (some have a text to mp3 function). One of my favorite magazine, The Economist, offers an audio version for free to its subscribers.
- Clear your inbox: If you’re lucky enough to have a Blackberry or an iPhone (not yet available in Canda… one day maybe), your commute can be a good time to clear your inbox and respond to all your emails/facebook mails/other forms of electronic communications.
- Brainstorm: Let’s be realistic, you won’t get any real work done like writing a paper on the bus. However, with a pen and a small piece of paper, it can be a good place to start brainstorming or organizing your ideas.
One thing I consider a must-have if you want to do anything productive in public transportation are headphones (preferrably attached to something like an iPod). I personnaly use some cheap “noise cancelling” earbuds from Skullcandy, but with a bigger budget I would definitely go for the Bose ones.
April 5, 2008 at 6:25 am
This is definitely true. I used to go by car, but this can be quite frustrating. When you’re stuck in traffic you can’t really take a book and read a chapter, but when the bus or train is delayed, you can!
May 30, 2008 at 3:04 am
When I commuted, I could also get some grading done, as long as the subway wasn’t too crowded and I could get a seat.
October 25, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I have included your blog as my must read!
Devin Willis
October 30, 2008 at 5:29 am
My commute involves a long drive, but I still find it a very productive part of my day. I’m able to get my daily dose of news via NPR on the radio, I enjoy listening to audio books (that I wouldn’t have time to read otherwise) and I find that SO many ideas surface during my quiet drive. I used to use JOTT to keep track of them (www.jott.com) but now I just keep a mini notebook in my purse. Great tips!
October 31, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Glad you brought this up! Podcasts are a godsend if you’re learning languages I must say!
I have a commute of about 40 mins to college and I only recently realised I could use the time more wisely rather than just staring into space, scrolling through over-played playlists on my ipod! Now I upload 2 fresh podcasts onto my ipod every morning (or enough to last 80 mins of travelling) – one in Spanish and another in French, the subjects I’m studying. I find this great as they’re up-to-date and topical which keeps things interesting and relevant and gives an insight into what’s going on there. It’s interesting to get an idea of the kind of media they receive on a daily basis.
Here are the links if anyone’s interested:
French: http://podemus.com/
Spanish: http://www.rtve.es/podcast/listado.shtml (nb. it’s easier to navigate using the ‘cadenas’ & ‘temas’ tabs)
January 13, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Commuting time is the most under used or wasted time, great piece!