Time Management Tips in Your Car

"Multitaskers, We Commute You!" proclaimed the ad in the Metrobus yesterday, as I travelled downtown to root on a friend walking in the Los Angeles Marathon.

It was a clever ad, replete with a woman with seven arms, each holding a different object, including a book, laptop, Blackberry and make-up. The ad asserted the time management benefits of delegating your driving to public transit.

While public transit may not work for you, how do you use your commute time? Here are a few ideas:

• listen to books on CD
• practice upcoming presentations or an initial phone call to a prospective client
• practice how you will introduce yourself at your next networking event
• return phone calls (if you can do so hands-free and won't need to take notes)

I get most of my work-related reading done on weekends when I am a passenger in the car and my husband is driving. Since we often are driving to a hiking trailhead, this is found time for me. Our vacations are often road trips (usually to some obscure state highpoint we want to climb), and that's when I read and complete the CE (continuing education) tests that I collect for the year. Yes, we switch off driving, but there is still plenty of time for reading. And, given a choice on a longer drive, I drive after dark, so I can use the daylight for reading.

Does this mean we never speak in the car? Not at all, we have some wonderful conversations. Even so, we are both introverts who are comfortable with silence and our own thoughts, which re-energizes us. I don't feel as free with others in the car. [One of my fantasies is to have a chauffeur, so I can use my commute time to its max.]

One final note - some people look forward to commute time, as it may be their only alone time in the day, or it allows them to decompress after a stressful day. There is no imperative compelling you to "work" during your commute. Perhaps your most effective use of the time is just noticing and appreciating the beautiful day.