Commuting daily by train can be tough, especially if the travel time is long. Whilst travelling by public transport can be more relaxing than travelling a long distance by car because you aren’t focused on driving, it still can be draining. The easiest thing is to ‘doom scroll’ on social media or binge-watch videos on Instagram or TikTok. But, from experience, you can do productive activities while commuting by train.
If you are looking at methods to soften the blow of a long commute, be it for work or pleasure be sure to try some of these.
Reading
Kindle or an old-fashioned paper book, or perhaps a magazine or paper; reading is a great way to make a commute bearable by helping transform you into another world.
In this fast-paced world, we live in, we can sometimes neglect the time to sit down and read.
Commuting is a perfect opportunity to catch up with reading. It could be anything you fancy, business, self-improvement, fiction or a magazine.
But, for those that aren’t keen on reading, you can always…
Listen to an audiobook
Audible, Google Play Books and also Spotify are great apps to listen to audiobooks. I tend to listen to self-improvement and business books and read fiction books. This isn’t a set rule and if you take a look at my physical bookshelf you will see that I also read those books too.
But, I do find it easier to listen to non-fiction material rather than read it, and in the process take notes.
As well as listening to audiobooks other productive activities while commuting by train include…
Listening to podcasts
Similar to audiobooks, but with content that is split into smaller chunks. There are podcasts on nearly every subject: murder mysteries, how things work, science, sport, productivity, technology, music and so on.
For me, one of my favourite productive activities while commuting by train is catching up with podcasts and listening to people’s thoughts, and opinions, learning more about product and project management.
Learning
Learning can be in the form of audiobooks, podcasts and reading, but also watching courses online with platforms such as Udemy, LinkedIn Learning and Coursera.
Using your committing time is a fantastic way to increase your knowledge for your job, and interview or a side hustle/business. We are very blessed to be living in a time where we can learn pretty much anything online. Some courses even have a certificate when you complete that you can share on social media including LinkedIn.
Try and set a goal to learn x amount each week or a course a month.
Journal
Journal writing is a great way to great to expand your ideas by writing down your thoughts, both good and bad.
I like to create my weekly and daily to-do lists and schedule the days on which to complete the tasks.
For me, journaling is a good way to reduce anxiety by writing down any worries that I have to prioritise what I need to do and by when.
I will write down my thoughts on how a day went, as well as my goals to accomplish within 3 months and 2 years.
Creating time to write what you are grateful for will help change your mindset, and make you more appreciative of what you already have.
Plan your week
You don’t necessarily have to use a journal to plan your week. There are great apps such as TodoIst that can help you. Alternatively, write things in your calendar.
However you plan your week, your commuting time is a perfect time to plan how to spend the rest of your free time.
Catch-up with work
Not finished that report?
Need to finish researching that new tool?
Forgot to send those emails to your team?
Whatever it is, now is a good time (if you can’t get a table or a seat) to finish off tasks or to complete any objectives. That is a bonus of having a work laptop, your commute can be time to catch up on emails and prepare for the next day.
Catch-up on sleep
This is both productive and non-productive. If you are tired whilst commuting, it probably means that you aren’t getting enough quality sleep at night.
Depending on the number of hours you get can affect your body throughout the day. The more sleep you get, the less likely you are to become sick and the more productive you can be. A long commute can result in less time for sleep and physical activities. So, getting some sleep on the train can be good to catch up with hours lost during the night. Not only that but you aren’t letting your eyes come into contact with another screen – which is what you will be doing all day at work; which is a good thing.
Networking
Strike up a conversation with the person next to you, who knows what they do and where they work?
Whilst commonly people keep themselves to themselves, why not ask the person next to you what they do? They might have similar interests, their company might be looking for a new employee and you could be a good fit, or they might want to join your company.
You can also use the time to network online, on social media and on apps such as Meetup.com. Now can be the best time to find new groups to join to help you learn and expand your knowledge.
Listen to music
Is listening to music a productive task?
Depends, are you a musician? Then listening to music can give you inspiration to create new ideas or to cover a new song.
I totally agree with The Harvard Business Review that listening to music can help block distracting noises and that listening to music with lyrics is more beneficial for your productivity. Personally, I like to listen to soundtracks, chilled indie music and classical music whilst working, writing and reading. When I listen to songs with lyrics I do find it distracting because my mind is trying to focus on two sets of dialogue.
