Is it just me or is commuting getting more and more painful? As we head into colder and slushier road conditions, I shudder to think of spending any more time on the road.

My family and I live in the suburbs – along with the other jumbo families who drive Business Woman - Thumbs Upminivans. While we love the elbow room, this suburban lifestyle leads to a fair bit of time commuting for work. As a committed “no time to waste” kind of gal, I take my commuting seriously. The last thing I want to do is squander time on the road when there are a host of other things I’d rather be doing.

I’m often asked how to best use one’s time while commuting and here are my top tips. I’ll begin by saying that texting and emailing are big no-no’s while driving. All of the following tips are based on keeping your safety (and precious time) top of mind.

9 Tips to Make Your Commute Less Painful

  1. Take public transit

Confession: I used to be reluctant to take public transit. I never felt like the schedule fit, it doesn’t offer me the exact door-to-door service that driving enables and at times, it is hard to carry everything one needs. For these poor excuses, I battled gridlock for far too many years. Then I finally calculated the amount of time lost while stuck in traffic and realized that public transit was a far better option. I scaled back on the things I carried, adjusted my schedule to fit the transit schedule and voilà – this led to a transformative commuting experience.

  1. Car-pool

My colleagues and I will often accommodate an each other’s schedule to take advantage of car-pooling opportunities. We use the time to chat about work – or even just to catch up. (It helps that we work with people we enjoy talking to.) And if car-pooling means we end up showing up early, we can always entertain ourselves with reading or our laptops.

  1. Listen, listen and listen some more

There are a whole host of amazing things we can listen to through our smartphone. I’m a fan of audio books, but will absolutely sprinkle in some podcast and Tedx Talk flavour. The key is to set up your library before your commute. I have a subscription to Audible, but there are also some free services offered by libraries, etc. Podcasts are readily available using a host of different apps and links to Tedx Talks can easily be book-marked.

  1. Make a call

During less intense driving periods (i.e., long stretches of clear highways or grid-locked traffic), hands-free conversations can be a sanity-saver. Disclaimer: While hands-free phone calls are not illegal in Canada, they are apparently still a significant distraction. Some would argue that they are no different than talking to people who are fellow passengers. However, there is a difference. When people are in the car with you, they can gauge when your full attention needs to be on the driving and they scale back on the conversation. People on the phone don’t have this perspective. Bottom line: intense calls should only happen when we can exclusively focus on them.

  1. Power up

There is nothing worse than having time on your hands and no battery power left. Carry a mini charger with you to avoid being in a powerless situation. Consider getting an extra charge to keep in your car or your briefcase at all times.

  1. Travel during non-peak hours

Where possible, I try to book my meetings to avoid rush hour. I’m also doing my best to take inspiration from the early-birds. I’m realizing that it absolutely pays off to get on the road sooner rather than later. I figure I shave 15 minutes off my commute for every 5 minutes earlier that I leave my house. This adds up to a ton or time – time that I’d rather spend doing other things than sitting in traffic.

  1. Be silent

After a full day, I find it so relaxing to just sit and let my mind go still. I can’t claim to have mastered meditation, but I do value stillness and quiet periodically. I often find myself turning the radio off when I get in the car. Ironically, this silence often rejuvenates me with fresh ideas and energy.

  1. Walk

While I can’t quite walk to work, I can absolutely use my trusty leg-power to get me from one client to the next. I proudly sport a Fitbit and actually look forward to a hefty walk that allows me to chalk up more steps. Many other people walk into work, despite having other transit options available. My hubby used to hike a solid 20 minutes into work way-back-when he was a bachelor living downtown. Yes, sometimes it was cold and other times it was wet. Although he said one of the best feelings was powering by jam-packed streetcars.

  1. Work from home

Sometimes it helps to say no to the commute all together. Choose to work from home once in a while. Avoid the distractions at the office and power through a bunch of focused work. Call into your meetings or leverage some of the great video conferencing options available like Google Circles or GoToMeeting.

Related article: 6 Tips to Make Telecommuting Work

This sums up my list. What are you doing to make your commute less painful? Please share. Let’s work together to spend less time on the road and more time doing the things we love.