You close the door, buckle your seatbelt, then turn the key.
What next?
Today I want to talk to you about how you use your time in the car. I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past few years on how people use time. Mainly…in the car…
You see, at my worst, I drove about an hour and a half each way to work, 5 days a week. I couldn’t help doing the math…every…day…
(1.25 hr * 2 drives) / day = 12.5 hours commuting per week.
Have any of you done this math? It made me angry every time I thought of it.
If you consider a regular eight hour workshift, I was tacking on an entire one and a half days to my week associated with coming from and going to work.
Disgusting.
My philosophy on where you work can be distilled down to this:
Try to live 30 minutes or less from where you work.
To summarize the reasons why, it is your happiness and your pocketbook.
Ok, but let’s suppose you can’t avoid it. In that case, use your time as wisely as possible.
In true Maslow’s or food pyramid style, I’ve drawn out my hierarchy with 5 levels.
FM Radio – Noise:
Level 5 (Least value)
Perhaps interesting due to my past with radio, this falls at the bottom. Besides blowing off some steam, all you get for your trouble is some catchy tunes.
Talk Radio – Informative:
Level 4 (Less value)
I admit, I find myself sometimes listening to this but talk radio is usually a time waster. Sure you get the news or the latest gossip, but isn’t it more efficient to not the be first and let others propagate important things to the surface (read about the skew in the news)?
Educational Material:
Level 3 (Some value)
If you are going to be a life-long learner, you’ve got to keep growing. Keep educating yourself in various categories. What works for me is to listen to book tapes about 3 loose categories (learning more about my hobbies, learning more about my business and learning more about how to be a better person) If you want an example, right now I’m listening to Organize Tomorrow Today and improving my business by experimenting with techniques to better sort and prioritize my work.
Inspiring Material:
Level 2 (More value)
For some, this could be music. For others, biographies of great men and women. For me, I do anything that can pump me up intellectually or emotionally. Sometimes I soak in a courage business decision. There is no reason why I can’t do that! Sometimes I fill the car with a song I know will make me exclaim “YEAH!” and smile as I arrive to work.
Silence:
Level 1 (Most Value)
We need silence. As Earl Nightingale suggests in The Strangest Secret, silence permits your mind “to soar as it was divinely designed to.” Earl also might comment on silence as he discusses the strength of thought to accomplish your goals.
[You may have] a realization that your limitations are self-imposed – and that the opportunities today are enormous beyond belief
He goes on to say that we need to let our minds imagine many possible angles and solutions to problems.
Some call it day-dreaming, but locked inside these dreams you can find the greatest ‘aha’ moments.
You know those great thoughts you have in the shower? This is the same idea, in new surroundings.
For some people, you might also consider prayer or meditation (without falling asleep please). This is a great opportunity to be thankful and lower your heart rate.
I’m super curious to hear what you think. When I shared this with one of my mentors, he suggested his was different and that perhaps everyone needs to find their own.
So what works for you?