How I spend time commuting and some ideas

People in urban environments spend so much time going to work and returning from it. Once I figured out it takes about 10 hours per week for me, I panicked! I thought, I had to do something valuable or productive during this time. So, I thought it would be nice to do something that would improve some skill of mine, but still possible to do while in a train together with the rest of my city’s population, ha ha! Today I will tell you how I spend time commuting and some tips and ideas you mind find useful.

What I do

I had an idea: why not improve my listening skills in french? French is a language I had learnt as a teenager. It would be very interesting to see if I could still understand the words. So I started looking into french podcasts and I am going to share my two favourite french podcasts today: “La poudre” by Lauren Bastide and “Se sentir bien” by Esther Taillifet. I recommend them both if you know french. Not only have my listening skills improved, but I have also learnt so many interesting things on topics such as well-being, feminism, politics, history etc.

Moreover, why not do some reading during my subway ride? Reading books before is something I really enjoy and I like to read them either on my e-book reader. I enjoy reading Agatha Christie’s books and lately, self development books. Of course, you can also listen to audio-books on your phone, aside from the e-book reader and the classical physical books. We are so lucky that we have all this technological media that provides us with many ways to consume content. Smartphones, tablets, e-book readers and who else knows what. Here, I list some of my top tips and ideas for how to spend your time on commute.

My Top Tips

• Read or listen to content that you enjoy. You don’t have to be productive 24/7. If you can do something productive that you like during this time, fine, but do not force yourself. We are not machines. So, have fun!
• Do not forget the station where you get off. Perhaps setting an alarm a little before you arrive is a good idea?!
• Pre download the content when you are at your home’s WiFi, so that you won’t pay for extra data or you might not have a connection at all if you are in the tube.
• This is quite obvious, but if you are driving, do not read or listen to anything that distracts you! Safety is first, people!

Ideas

• You can work on a skill of yours, ex. foreign language listening, watch videos on how-to’s
• You can entertain yourself, ex. listen to music or watch a series or a movie in parts
• Learn something new, ex. watch online courses
• Educate yourself on your society’s problems, ex. listening to podcasts focused on politics or social problems.
• or…Νot use technology at all! It is nice sometimes to just let your mind drive you, look at people around you and be grateful for the diversity of this world…

xo, Helen