For the last few weeks, I’ve been freelancing full time for a client in London. As I live in Bracknell, this means I have an hour or so commute on the train each way to and from work. I’m seemingly incapable of just relaxing and doing nothing, so I’ve been trying to be as efficient with my time as possible.
Here are just a few of the ways I get the most out of my commute – but I’d love to hear your tips too! Leave me a comment with how you get the most out of your commute.
Get H-appy
Apps are your friends, people. At this very moment, I’m typing up this post on the WordPress app. Before that, I caught up on my favourite blogs through BlogLovin, read through my social media feeds on Flipboard, checked my mailing list subscribers in MailChimp and checked my emails. I also save posts and articles to Pocket to read through when I’m offline/on the train. The more labour-heavy tasks wait until I’m at my desk, but this gets me started.
Brain dump
Train or bus commutes are a great chance to brain dump all my thoughts and organise them. I use the Wunderlist app to note down everything I have on my mind. For the tasks that require action, I add a sub-task. For those that I can do bugger all about, I leave it or tick off. The result is that I arrive at work knowing exactly where I can start, and less like my head is a beehive of ideas and worries.
Meditate
Do you struggle to find time to meditate? Or fancy giving it a try? If you’re lucky enough to get a seat on your commute, now is the time to plug your earphones in. Try the Calm.com app, which gives you 2 min/5 min/10 min etc options. Don’t worry, no one will notice (unless you start throwing some ‘oooohms’ out there).
(Pod)Cast your worries aside!
I suffer from quite a bit of social anxiety when travelling. Plugging into my podcast collection really helps take my mind off it and de-stress. Old Desert Island Disc ones work well for this, but I have a LOT of podcasts on my iPhone, ready for me to listen.
Organise a catch up chat
I have to get up quite early to head into my current client contract – often leaving the house before 6:30am. If you work with any other early birds, why not utilise the time by organising a 7:30am chat with them over the Skype app or G+ app? Text-based conversations mean it’s not the end of the world if your signal drops out for a minute.
Plan your escape!
If you’re employed by someone else, but pining for the freelance life, why not use this time to fully research your options, put together a plan, and start making some contacts!
One point to emphasize re podcasts is that they can be *educational*, and help you stay current as technology changes your job. That’s especially important for freelance software developers like me, but for example freelance writers need to stay on top of what customers want written about, what platforms to put their writings on (and how to use them), etc.