Commuting to work can be one of the most frustrating things. Especially if you have to travel a long way to get into the office. We’ve all been there, stuck in traffic, or standing on a busy train.
Whether driving or on the train, commuting to work can be a frustrating and stressful journey, inevitably leading to a tough day at work and poor productivity.
Many of us wish we could simply skip that part of the day and teleport ourselves straight to our desks, or bring our workspace closer to home, more on that later.
You might be thinking, how can you make your commute better? Well, we’ve come up with 7 ways we think you can make your commute more bearable.
Let’s check them out.
1. Carpool
First up, for you drivers out there, you could try to organise a carpool.
If you have some great workmates and you live near enough to each other for this to make sense, carpooling can be a superb way to relieve stress in the morning.
Sitting in traffic is so much worse when you’re on your own. With other people in the car, the time will pass much quicker. Similarly, you’ll be able to share the driving between the members of the pool.
Carpooling is great for the environment as there are less total trips. So not only is it more enjoyable, but you’re also reducing your carbon footprint and doing your bit for the planet.
Finally, with carpooling, you will be able to save money on your trip to work. The fuel cost of driving to and from work every day can really pile up, so sharing it between two or more people is simply a no brainer!
2. Public transport
Our second way to make your commute better is another one for you drivers out there. Try public transport.
Of course, you might not be able to if there’s no bus or train that will take you the majority of the way to your workplace. But for those of you who do have the option, you should definitely try it.
Public transport is great because you don’t have to drive. This means you can spend your time doing something productive, whether that’s getting prepped for work by checking your emails, or just relaxing and watching the next episode of your favourite programme.
There’s a high probability that public transport could work out cheaper in the long run than driving to work. Couple the fuel cost with not having to pay for parking at work (if you do) and voila, a season ticket on a train or bus may be the cheaper option.
Public transport is also great for the environment. Without putting in the miles in your car burning fuel, you’re reducing your carbon footprint.
3. Exercise
Another way to make your commute better is to do the route by some form of exercise. For those of you with commutes over short distances (that can still take ages), cycling or jogging your commute can be a great option and take a similar amount of time.
One thing to check is that your workplace has showers. You don’t want to jog into work, only to realise you’ve got to spend the entire day stinking out the office!
The benefits of exchanging your normal commute with exercising are countless. Exercise is great for your health, giving you the best start to the day. Exercising is great for clearing your head of the day before, it can be helpful if you like to take each day as it comes.
It will give you a great sense of fulfilment, knowing that you’re getting out and getting active is a really great feeling and a one-up on your colleagues.
For fairly short commutes jogging is a good option, and for medium length commutes, cycling will get you there quickly. You don’t even have to do it every day, changing it up and jogging to work one or two days a week is great!
If you haven’t got a bike then check out some of the options here, they’re not too expensive and are a great investment, don’t forget a helmet.
4. Audiobooks – Pods (if on train or bus or driving or cycling/running)
For those of us who take public transport to work, we all know how difficult getting a book out can be. With how busy trains and buses are these days there’s no guarantee you’ll get a seat.
Reading a book while standing on public transport, we’ve all tried it, it’s tough. We have a better idea.
Enter audiobooks and podcasts. There’s so much great content out there these days, whether you’re looking for something funny, informative or educational, you can be sure there’s something for you.
The great thing is you can listen to audiobooks or podcasts if you drive, cycle or jog to work too. It’s a great way to keep you in a good mood and spend your time productively.
You can check out Barrack Obamas bestselling book ‘A Promised Land’ in audio format, it’s extremely popular right now!
5. Try flexible working
Now for our final tip to make commuting better. Bring the workspace closer to home and try flexible working!
You might be thinking, well I can’t just change how I work, my employer won’t let me. In reality, they’re more likely to than you think. As the global health crisis comes to an end, we can really see that flexible working is on the rise.
Of course, during the crisis itself, the majority of workers have had to try flexible working and estimates suggest that as we come out the other side, employers will be more likely than ever to allow employees to continue working at home.
I’m sure over the last year you’ve thought at some point, wouldn’t it be great to never have to go back into the office. While there are some drawbacks to flexible working, the benefits are far greater.
Now, back to the main point of this article. If you work from home then you literally have no commute. It’s the best result, you can wake up later and get a better nights sleep in.
If you have been working at home during the pandemic and haven’t enjoyed it then there’s one last suggestion. You can try coworking!
If you don’t know what coworking is then check out our what is coworking article. With coworking you are able to choose where you work, so if you hate long commutes, you can choose a coworking space that is close to home.
Coworking is a great option if you haven’t enjoyed working at home because of the lack of social interaction. Having no one else around is one of the worst things about working at home. Coworking fixes this problem as you’ll find out.
How to make a commute better
We know a long, boring, tedious commute is one of the worst things. We hope that one of these top 5 ideas has provided you with some inspiration to try something new to make your commute better.
Even just changing it up and doing something different each day is a great idea. Then you can’t get bored of doing the same thing over and over.
Mixing and matching is also a great idea, for example, jogging to work in the morning, then getting a lift home with one of your colleagues, or taking the bus home.
Enjoy making your commute more bearable.