If the pandemic and the pivot to remote working taught us all anything it’s that we absolutely loathed the daily commute. Returning to the office has been welcomed by most people but getting to and from work after working from the comfort of our own homes for so long has been far from easy for so many of us.
With that in mind, here we’d put together a few ideas to help make that daily struggle just a little more bearable.
1. Avoid rush hour!
Particularly if you live in or near a large city and work in the city centre, try to schedule your commute around the most populated hours. Maybe drive to work earlier and go to the gym, enjoy a nice relaxed walk or visit a coffee shop. Or consider asking your employer for flexible working hours so you can spend a couple of days a week at home.
2. Create playlists of your favourite music
Music makes everything in life feel more palatable. Create playlists of the music that relaxes you, gets you fired up and makes you feel good about yourself. You’re probably going to need it, especially on a Monday morning!
3. Take public transport if possible
While having your own car can be beneficial in some situations when it comes to commuting, public transportation such as trains/buses and walking is going to be better nine times out of ten. A train from Dorking to London Bridge, for example, is going to take significantly less time than driving and you can get stuff done on the commute rather than honking your horn and quietly seething with rage behind the wheel.
4. Take plenty of snacks
If you get ‘hangry’ easily, pack lots of snacks for your journey. Nothing can defuse frustration quicker than a tactical granola bar or a bag of crisps!
5. Keep a charger handy
There’s nothing quite as quietly frustrating as running out of charge on your phone in the middle of a busy commute. We rely on our phones for our podcasts, our playlists and our audiobooks to help our journeys to and from work seem less grim. So also have an extra charger on hand and a spare battery pack just in case.
6. Leave earlier
Of course, you’ll have to sort this out with your employer but one surefire way of avoiding the traffic and subsequent chaos of rush hour is to try to leave half an hour earlier than everyone else. Maybe you should find a good balance and ask to come into the office a half hour earlier to make up for it? Or perhaps work for an hour at the weekend to offset the time? Be transparent with your employer and don’t be afraid to mention your mental health if you think it will help your cause.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
