Free Essay

Commuting to Work

In: English and Literature

Submitted By rpss
Words 645
Pages 3
Making the Most of Your Commute
By Alexandra Janvey

The current economic climate has made it necessary to travel further for a good job. Longer commutes have become a way of life for many and it isn’t always a routine well welcomed. After all, this means getting up earlier and getting home later. With so much to accomplish daily, long commutes can be tough, initially feeling like an imposition and a waste of time. This is certainly how I felt when getting to work started requiring a train ride plus a subway trip. However, once I changed my outlook and habits, the long commute became a productive use of time. It even grew to be a part of my day. The following are just several ways to make the most out of a daily commute, whether that involves driving, a train ride, or other mode of transportation.

Get Comfortable
There’s no reason you can’t travel to work comfortably and with a little preparation, this is easy to accomplish. Make sure that you charge your electronic devices the night before so that you will be able to fully utilize them during the day. If the initial battery power for your devices is not enough, consider purchasing an external battery pack that can be plugged in when needed. Some commuters prefer to travel to work in sneakers (especially if a large amount of walking is required) and then bring a nice pair of work shoes to change into once they get into the office. Other items that could be useful to pack include snacks in case you get hungry, water, a comb, tissues, and Advil. You never know when these items will come in handy, either to fix your hair, clean up spill, for a runny nose, or to take care of a sudden headache. One of the downsides of commuting far from home is that when the unexpected happens, you may not have easy access to things you need. And while it’s true that many of these items can be bought at local stores, having them handy is more convenient and can make traveling easier.

Relax
The commute also presents a rare opportunity for many. An example would be the opportunity to spend some quality time alone. People lead busy lives, so full of constant interruptions that it can be difficult to even find a moment to listen to your inner self. Enjoy the peaceful and quiet moments of the daily commute, away from the worries and concerns of both home and work life. Use this time to unwind, reflect, and prepare mentally for the day ahead. This may involve resting your eyes, zoning out, listening to music or the radio. Whatever your preferred way to relax may be, utilize the commute as a built-in period to decompress and relieve stress between work and home.
Read
How many times have you promised to read the latest intriguing bestseller only for it to remain untouched months later? Now, there is time each day to catch up on all the reading you’ve been meaning to do. Whatever genre of book you prefer, load it onto your iPad or bring the printed version to read on your way to work. For those commuters who drive or can’t read while traveling, audiobooks are a great alternative way to catch up on reading and make progress on that never ending to read list. There are numerous apps such as audible that makes it easy to download and listen to audiobooks. You are also now able to borrow audiobooks from most libraries. When using the commute to read, don’t limit yourself to just books either. Spend some time reading newspapers and magazines to keep up with current events and learn what’s happening in the world. Another good choice for reading material is blog posts from other professionals in the field.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Commuting vs Dorming

...Chelsea Clough Professor Dingle English 13 December 2012 Commuting vs. Dorming The hardest decision a student has to make during their senior year of high school is which school to attend and whether to live on campus or commute. There are both advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios. The entire college experience is a learning trip and it is oftentimes a young adults first step towards independence. Living on campus is an adjustment and is a huge eye-opener to the real world. The college dorm life is considered to be part of the "full college experience," but the costs of living in a residence hall can persuade students to remain home while they are in college in order to avoid housing fees. The biggest advantage of living on campus is that it gives you a chance to gain independence. Some students know they want to move out of the house but aren't quite sure they're ready to have their own apartments. Living on campus can provide an in-between step (Lyons 1). Students will still be living on their own and responsible for taking care of their living space, it just wont be as overwhelming as paying rent and everything else that comes with owning an apartment. Another great thing about living on campus is you are much closer to your classes so it will take much less time to get there. Being able to get to and from classes more quickly means students living on campus will also have more time to devote to getting their coursework done (Lyons 1). One main advantage...

Words: 2436 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Pros and Cons of Railways

...that can make you go to work late. Have you left for work on time only to arrive very late because of traffic jam? This has happened to many people who are commuting through car. To avoid such ugly experience, many people are commuting through train. Commuter trains do not share the same route with vehicles. They move on their rails. The rails are never congested. Once a commuter train takes off, nothing will disrupt the movement until it gets to its destination. Also you get to do a bit of exercise as when you get off the train so you have to walk a little bit to get to your destination. Health benefits Research carried out from March through August 2005 in Brooklyn Polytechnic University showed that train commuters do more walking than people who commute with cars. This is probably because the commuter trains can only stop at designated places. From there the people can walk down to their offices or homes. This can serve as a means of exercise. Indeed, many people do not have time to exercise themselves because their life is just a streamline movement – from their homes to their office. Early in the morning they will drive to work and come back in the evening. But commuting through trains offers people the opportunity to walk a little bit. The research shows that greater percentage of car commuters suffer from stress and bad moods and also it can pollute the air and make the trees die and everybody will be sick. Environmental benefits Commuting with train is also very...

Words: 381 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Commuting, Transportation and Urban Sprawl

...Commuting, Transportation Spending and Urban Sprawl Roy L. Coxon April 29, 2015 Dr. Hatten My overall topic for my research project is Commuting, Transportation Spending and Urban Sprawl. The purpose of this project is to design a research study to determine and clarify what effect urban sprawl has on private-vehicle commuting costs and household expenditures. Let us first look at the definition of sprawl. There is no universally accepted definition although there have numerous attempts to institute a unified definition of this multifaceted concept. Sprawl is defined as low-density development with residential, shopping and office areas that are isolated, a lack of thriving centers and limited choices in travel routes (Ewing, 2002). Sprawl is ever-present and its effects are impacting the quality of life in every region of America, in our large cities and small towns. The contextual factors (historical) of sprawl go back to 1937 when Earle Draper first created the term “sprawl” in 1937 (Nechyba, 2004). To document the presence of urban sprawl and urban population levels is to look within urban areas at the evolving relationship between suburbs and central cities. The conversion of a primarily rural population in 1790 became increasingly centered in cities over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only about 5 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1790 as that figure tripled by 1850 and surpassed 50 percent by 1920. The 2000 Census...

Words: 2497 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Case 1: Segmenting and Targeting the Electric Car Market

...The eCar has to get a lot better before it is viable. That is the conventional wisdom. It is wisdom not built on 3D segmentation. It reveals that the eCar makers’ innovation is not matched by their capability to think cleverly about segmenting the market on benefits sought and about how to win the diffusion of innovation race. Cars are used for many different purposes. Is there a profitable usage segment out there that would be happy with the current performance limits of today’s electric car? To think about this let us think about short-distance commuting. People commute downtown and back but public transportation is and will be a serious competitor to urban eCar commuting. People also commute to major suburban business campuses where several thousand employees from the same company work together. The majority are likely to live within 20 miles of their work. They want an electric car that can be taken on a street route to work and for short distances on highways and then used to go shopping or pick kids up, a second car that only needs a daily range of 80 miles. People also commute to Universities. The great majority of students live within 20 miles of a campus. Many campuses have large car parks and...

Words: 972 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Public Transit

...Implications of Spatial Development and Their Impact on Commuting: Evidence from Suburban Beijing and Philadelphia Xinyi Huang Comparative Urbanism, 1st Draft Prof. McDonogh 4-11-2016 Table of Contents Introduction i. In general ii. Study Areas iii. Literature Review: Transport and Suburbia Spatial Development I. Context of Beijing i. Urban Form ii. Work-House Relocation iii. Commuting Patterns and Transport Development II. Context of Philadelphia i. Urban Form ii. Work-House Relocation iii. Commuting Patterns and Transport Development Public Transportation Strategies I. Beijing Subway i. Historical Background ii. Governance and Investment II. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Regional Rail i. Historical Background ii. Governance and Investment Transit and Commuting i. Yanjiao: Excess commute ii. King of Prussia: Reverse Commute Discussion and Conclusion Appendix: Images Bibliography Introduction In recent decades, one of the main arguments in relation to increasing transport demand and changing commuting pattern has focused on urban growth. Many existing studies have found strong evidence between land development and travel behaviors. Global urban sprawl has been accompanied by changes in individuals’ housing and employment locations, which in turn brings changes in commuting time, distance and destination. However, there are relatively...

Words: 7251 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Essay On Waymarsh Traffic Survey

...levels have dropped and people from Garville have reported lower commuting times. By citing these facts, the author believes that Garville’s carpooling reward policy should work well for reducing traffic and pollution in Waymarsh. Closing scrutiny of each of these facts, however, reals that it leads little credible support to their recommendations, as discussed below. The premise upon which this whole fallacious argument rests is the claim that commute times have risen in Waymarsh specifically. However, the only evidence the author submits regarding past commute times in Waymarsh is a state traffic survey. However, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that this three-year-old survey actually contains an evaluation of Waymarsh, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the survey actually contains an evaluation of the state in general to a large extent. And...

Words: 519 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Scams

...not travel qualifies for relief 2.5 2.7 2.9 2.10 2.11 Travel in the performance of the employee’s duties Travel to a place where attendance is in the performance of duties Travel between employments Travel between separate employers within a group Joint projects Chapter 3 – Ordinary commuting and private travel 3.2 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.23 3.25 3.28 3.31 3.33 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.42 What is ordinary commuting? Permanent workplace Regular attendance at a workplace Limited duration – the 24-month rule Breaks in attendance No requirement to return to a permanent workplace Fixed-term appointments Agency workers People with more than one workplace at the same time Attendance for a temporary purpose Depots and similar bases Employees who work at home Private travel Duties defined by reference to a particular area When a workplace ceases to be a permanent workplace Passing work on the way to somewhere else Emergency call-out expenses Employee on stand-by Temporary workplace – attendance for a limited duration or temporary purpose 12 Chapter 4 – Safeguards against abuse 4.3 4.6 4.10 The ‘necessary’ attendance rule Changes to a workplace Journeys treated as ordinary commuting or private travel Chapter 5 – The amount of relief 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.6 5.11...

Words: 27663 - Pages: 111

Free Essay

Issues on Social Reproduction

...adult that has not undergone “biological reproduction” or conceived. Upon recording my day-to-day activities, I have conjured up “broad range of activities, in an array of locations, which combine to ensure the daily and generational reproduction of the popluaton”(Bezanson, 24). In such, they are unpaid and my individual way of living and social contributions to the westernized population. This definition is governed and portrayed in my time use by cognitive activities, domestic activities (household chores), eating, passive leisure (resting, watching TV), personal care (shower, brushing teeth), educational activities (hours at school), sleeping, social leisure(socializing, cellular mobile usage, instant messaging), commuting (traveling to school and work), and shopping. Along with activities, these are also “tasks” that...

Words: 711 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Taxation

...Employee is a person who works under a contract of service whereas self-employed is a person who works under a contract for services (Melville, A. 2011 p.84). As a self-employed person, they enjoy a wider range of tax benefits and deductible expenses when compared to employees. Self-employed are allowed to pay tax by installment and pay tax much later than employees, who normally pay income tax under PAYE system. The main criteria to distinguish two types of contracts of services or for services will be as follows: 1. Control. Self-employed people have control over their work than employee who is unable to choose whether or not to do certain work. 2. Remuneration and financial risk. The Employees will still continue to receive monthly salary or wages regardless if their employer is making profit or loss in the business, and the employees do not risk their own capital in the business. In contrast, self-employed people are being paid a separate fee for each of the jobs being carried out. They may make profit or loss or even lose their capital if they fail in their business. 3. Equipment. Self-employed do provide their own equipment but employees do not. 4. Work performance and correction. The client does not need to pay extra in order get the job satisfactory by self-employed. Whereas the employees get paid for the original work and the corrections towards the mistake done. 5. Holidays and sickness. Self-employed people do not get paid when on holiday or ill, they only get...

Words: 1894 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Notes

...a car and taking the bus when commuting to work. For a random sample of N = 21 workers who commute to work the mode of transport is coded as the dummy variable: 1  yi =  0  individual i drives a car to work individual i takes the bus to work The choice of transportation may be influenced by a variety of factors. A key variable is: xi the extra time in minutes needed for a bus journey compared to travel by car (this may be negative to indicate that a bus journey is faster than using a car), for i = 1, . . . , N. 1 Econ 326 - Chapter 16 The linear probability model explains the choice variable by the linear regression equation: y i = β1 + β 2 x i + e i for i = 1, 2, . . . , N Estimation by the least squares principle (OLS) gives parameter estimates of β1 and β 2 as b1 and b2 . For some value of interest x 0 a prediction is calculated as: y 0 = b1 + b 2 x 0 ˆ ˆ The predicted value y 0 has the interpretation as the probability that the event will occur ( y = 1 ) given the value x 0 . For the transportation to work example, y 0 is the probability that an ˆ individual will drive a car to work given a difference in travel time for a bus journey compared to a car trip. 2 Econ 326 - Chapter 16 For the data set with transportation travel times least squares (OLS) estimation of the linear probability model is: y i = 0.48 + 0.007 x i ˆ R 2 = 0.61 The intercept estimate gives the probability that a worker chooses to drive a car to work when there is no difference in...

Words: 924 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Benefits of Biking

...Benefit of biking 1. reduces the cholesterol levels in the blood 2. increases the high density lipo-protein/cholesterol ratio in the blood as well 3. reduces the chances of strokes and heart attacks caused by clotting 4. reduces the chances of illnesses caused by high blood pressure 5. reduces high blood pressure 6. helps reduce the chances of diabetes 7. offers more energy 8. better sleep 9. strengthens bones 10. reduces the risk of cancer 11. lowers resting heart rate 12. reduces body fat 13. reduces stress 14. increases mental well being 15. lengthens your life span 16. if done regularly - will get you down to your ideal body weight Other Benefits • A complete leisure activity, cycling gives you the opportunity to spend time with friends. • A chance to meet new people and discover new places cannot be ruled out as well. • Cycling is a complete environmental friendly activity. Unlike other means of transport, it lets out no harmful chemicals in the air. • Cycling can prove to be the best mode to move around your local area without any difficulty The Committee has two sub-committees, The Communications Sub-committee and the Technical and Network Sub-committee, whose members are part of the overall committee. The Committee believes that Mississauga will benefit in many ways from a more extensive cycling system in that it will help promote: • Greater sense of community and personal contact ...

Words: 993 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Traditional School vs Online School

...Cristina Batista COM/1455 University studies and Communication I Sheri Lindquist Traditional School VS. Online School The difference between going to school online and traditional school can vary; they are either good or bad differences. From socialization, commute, convenience and family, it can have an impact on a person; the impact can be good or bad. Socialization plays a huge role in a persons’ life especially while attending school. While going to traditional school, a person is more likely to get the benefit of having friends. Online school can prevent a person from having a social life, because all classmates can be in any part of the world. I believe that depression plays a huge part on people that do not have daily contact with others. The more contact with people the more a person evolves to be a better “people” person. In class a student would have the ability to get thorough help by teacher, and online the only thing a student can do is e-mail or call. As for myself, I have to look at someone, in order to understand what I am having trouble understanding. Many people who go online and do not understand many people who do not understand might go silent and fail. No matter the communication, student must always speak up. The thought about success, helps me push a lot, even when I feel like quitting. Fellow class mates can be a help because they are experiencing the same thing, specially if the students are local. The trust between students that we know can...

Words: 1074 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ensure Academic Success

...What will you do to ensure your academic success each term? Well at Concorde Career College there are not really any terms, but set education plans. You take classes that equal three credits each in a four-week time frame. There are six courses and only one is eight weeks instead of four. In all, it is a grand total of eight months. Each week there will be a total twenty hours in class, fifty hours of homework, and about a ten hours commuting to and from school. Knowing that, I just bought myself a laptop that I can use to homework while I am going to and from school. I plan on doing homework for at least five to seven hours a day. If I can, I plan to get as much done as possible while at school. I plan on taking as many notes as possible,...

Words: 383 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

What Do You Understand by the Term ‘Counter-Urbanisation’, and What Kinds of Implications Can This Have for Rural Communities?

...the crime of urban environments. Another attraction of moving to a rural environment is that employers have also started to move to rural areas, adding to the cause of counter- Between 1981 and 1996 rural areas gained more than 1 million jobs. The use of high speed internet connections has allowed people to work at home, even establishing their own internet businesses this has allowed them to move away from the towns and cities. One of the major effects of counter- urbanisation is that the majority of the services in the area are forced to close. This is because the majority of people moving into the areas commute to work every day so instead of using the small village shops for their goods they use the large supermarkets in the urban areas in which they work. Businesses in rural areas then have to close because they aren’t getting enough trade. Other services that have disappeared in many rural areas are schools, post offices, churches and bus services because the new majority of residents in rural areas still use ones from urban areas as they tend to move to rural areas that are close to their previous urban area so that they can possibly commute to their old place of work another...

Words: 593 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Hr Management

...Institute also revealed that 48 percent of people said commuting has a significant impact on their job satisfaction. (HERSHORN, 2011) Employees that save time traveling and commenting have more personal time, increasing job satisfaction. On the other side of the coin some employees will feel uncomfortable with the new technology lowering their job satisfaction. The resistance to change and new technology is not a new concept in the human resource industry. Employees may feel that the technology acts as a “big brother” and that they are being micromanaged. The people that would benefit most from this technology are the ones that travel 50% or more globally for their position. The robots would limit the amount of traveling for the key decision makers. Tasks such as brainstorming or planning events could easily be handled by Robots. Competing through Sustainability In 2012 new CEO Marissa Mayer announced that she was terminating the flextime policy at Yahoo. Mayer felt that people were more creative in groups and flextime was not conducive to creativity in the long run. Having to compete with the Facebook and Google she needed to make changes. Employees that are able to manage workloads without the traditional manager standing over them are the candidates that make flextime successful. Also, certain industries make utilizing flextime more effective. Accountants have a busy season and a slow season. Being able to work long hours during the tax seasons and...

Words: 894 - Pages: 4