A Ford Mustang Ride

Tips for a productive commute

8.1 percent of U.S. workers have 60 minute or longer commutes to work according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For some of us, commuting to work is an hour long venture. Even in a Ford Mustang, the repetitive trip could get old. It is easy to develop negative feelings about commuting to work. It can feel like an invasion on our personal time and an energy sapper. By the time we arrive at our job, we feel like we’re already in to our work day, which can lower performance. Then again, it’s all in how we choose to frame it. According to Shakespeare, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”  At least we don’t use a bathroom stall to get to work like the wizards that work at the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter.

The reality is that if we set goals for our commuting to work time, just like other parts of our lives, it can be tremendously beneficial. If you’ve been struggling to stay awake during your commute or feeling like it is a waste of your time, think again. We’ve got some great tips to help you turn your commute time into a valued part of your day.

Tips for a Useful Commute:

1.      Mental Preparation-
The importance of positive thinking is often underestimated. Thinking about success and finding self-motivation are important aspects of productive living. Remember the law of attraction? Use your commute time to think good thoughts. You could even take that one step further and listen to an inspirational story, an inspirational quote, positive and inspirational psychology about goal setting, etc.  Research shows that if you start your day this way, you will lead your thoughts in to a more successful and enjoyable day. “The brain regions involved in "intention" are very connected to those regions involved in action. As a result, firing up those brain regions involved in intention will start to fire up your action centers” according to psychiatrist Srinivasan Pillay.

2.      Presentation Practice-
Using your commute to prepare yourself for work appearance sounds silly, but is quite effective. Sit up straight in your car to help your posture. Smile because not only will it benefit you to walk into work smiling, but it is proven to boost your mood.

3.      Energy Building-
You know that music you love to listen to when working out or cleaning house? Play that music during your commute to help boost your energy. Listening to the right music and singing along even, before work can really put your brain in a good state because “activations occur in the premotor and parietal cortex of the brain: regions that prepare the body for movement and attention” says Pillay.

4.      Winding Down-
On the opposite end of the spectrum, utilize “low key” tunes on the way home to help you unwind. It is important to let your mind calm down from exhaustion after work.

5.      Speech Training-
Remember all those silly people you’ve witnessed singing along to music in their car? Be one of them. Sing along to music in the car. This can help you practice annunciation as well as clear your throat.

6.      Think Business-

When we get busy in our lives, it becomes difficult to soak in inspiration and we get stuck in the comfort zone, which later translates to boredom and dissatisfaction. The easiest way to utilize your commute is to be observant. Take time to notice the word around you. Let nature inspire your artistic and innovative side. Acknowledge business advertising, and messages around you in general. Marketing is something we are bombarded with, but seldom learn from.  The messages could actually serve as trends and knowledge to draw on within your role at work. Further more tune in to news, technology and environmental changes which impact your life.

Effective performance can easily be heightened through a well-utilized commute; it’s just a matter of perspective. In fact, some people prefer to have a commute. After all, the majority of people are always wishing for more time to think, and a commute solves that need. If you're looking for a good new year resolution in 2014, then utilizing these ideas may be the resolution for you.

Fading Away like Black Friday

In The long good buy: Black Friday's importance is fading, Brian Sozzi, CEO and Chief Equities Strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, describes Black Friday as “a relic of years gone by.” Between Cyber Monday and earlier discounting due to the weak economic recovery, it seems Black Friday no longer holds its former glory. But Black Friday isn’t the only thing likely to fade during the holiday season.

When the holidays come around, motivation can easily spiral down. Though CNN cited one Accountemps survey which indicates 32% of senior managers actually believe their employees are more productive during the holidays, it’s not necessarily easy to stay motivated. Check out these tips to stay motivated, boost productivity and improve performance at work during the holiday season.

Self- Motivation Tips:

Smile!
Due to added obligations, such as shopping, magnified budgeting, heavier workload and more, the holidays can easily induce stress (Mayo Clinic). It seems silly to sit around and force a smile across your face when you don’t feel very happy, but smiling actually does improve your mood, which will help you tackle your responsibilities.

Focus
Certain tasks are not as appealing as others. If there are tasks that keep being put off, focus on the outcome rather than the process. This will help you finish the project.

Exercise
Don’t sacrifice fitness due to a busy schedule. Even if you can’t keep up with your usual yoga, dance, swimming, going to the gym or your favorite sport from childhood, walk up and down the stairs a few times on your lunch break. Exercise releases endorphins making it easier to think happy thoughts and boost motivation.

Plan
You likely already refer to a calendar, but keep it more visible during this time. With added holiday parties and time off approaching, it’s good to be aware of timeframes left to accomplish work goals. It is easier to stay on top of your time management skills, than to play catch up later.

Self-Talk
Watch and listen to your internal dialogue.  The most important conversations that influence your life are the ones you have with yourself.  Approach every situation, coming from a place of positivity.

This holiday season, help make your supervisor one of the 32% that noticed improved productivity, and avoid sacrificing work life balance in the process. Don’t let your motivation slip away, like Black Friday. These pointers will get you through the holiday season and the return-to-work funk that follows. 

The Modern Emotion

Although boredom is a modern luxury, it is a universal experience and one of emotional states of being.  According to the research by James Danckert (Experimental Brain Research, 2013) the word “boring” was not even being used until the industrial revolution. 

So what exactly is boredom and why does it have significance?  Boredom is best described in terms of attention.  A bored person doesn’t just have anything to do.  He/she wants to be stimulated, but is not able to because there is no emotional/cognitive connection to his/her environment for that to happen. 

Most often we have heard that boredom in the workplace and otherwise could have negative effects such as lack of productivity, disengagement, and participation in destructive behaviors.  When people are bored, they are more likely to make performance errors and that could be a big deal for many positions, especially those that directly impact lives.  However did you know that when people are bored, they are disengaged from satisfying activity and more likely to become internally focused, putting them at a higher risk for depression?  Furthermore, in a study in 1985 which was part of the longitudinal Whitehall study, it was found after studying death records that people who had reported experiencing a great deal of boredom were more likely to die young than those who were engaged (International Journal of Epidemiology, 2010).  

So although in today’s electronic word, it is rare to be stuck with absolutely nothing to do, all the diversions in the world can alleviate society’s collective boredom.  A place to start could be learning more about the phenomenon.  For example, the common misperception is low arousal is the only leading cause of boredom.  In fact this cannot be farther from the truth.  Boredom can be associated with both high and low arousal states.  For example, there are certain personality types that are more prone to boredom; people with high sensitivity to rewards and we don’t just mean financial rewards.  These are people whom in general feel the world moves too slowly.  On the other hand, highly sensitive individuals with high anxiety are more likely to withdraw from the world, in the hopes of avoiding a painful situation.  Furthermore, people with a low level of EI including the inability to identify and describe one’s own emotions are more prone to boredom (Personality and Individual Difference, 2007).

Overall boredom is a sign that what you’re doing right now seems to lack purpose.  What you do with it at that point is the determinant of how it will rule your life.  In this case, boredom can be a great resource and clue to move out of tedious routines and shed some innovation to tasks and processes.  People who have the patience to stay with the feeling, and use imagination and confidence in trying new concepts and directions are likely to strike a rainbow amidst the rain. 

Recommended Reads:

Management Tips for Motivating Employees

The Silent Company of Lee Thompson Young

Genius, Dirty Albert

I once read somewhere that Albert Einstein would be so deep in thought in the theory or formula he was working on, that he would not come out of his room for days.  In fact, there is a story mentioning that when his little boy came to his room, for a few minutes, he didn't recognize him.  My thoughts after reading this story were, how unorganized and messy his environment must have been if he didn't take the time to come out or clean up every once in a while.  There are many other examples of highly innovative, groundbreaking artists, inventors and leaders out there that lagged behind when it came to the cleanup department.  How did they do it?

You know all those times you heard that if your space and desk are not organized you can’t “think straight.” Well my friends, I am here to tell you, for those of you visionary kinds out there, a messy desk may in fact be what the doctor ordered. 

In a study in the September issue of Psychological Science, it was quoted that “working in a tidy room encourages people to do socially responsible, normatively good things like eating healthy and giving to charity.”  However, here is what was also found, working in a messy room was found to help with trying new things and to come up with creative ideas.

The researchers asked 48 participants to come up with novel uses for a ping-pong ball.  Half the participants worked in a neat room, and half worked in a messy room.  Although the number of ideas were the same, the panel of experts found the messy –room participants ideas as significantly more creative.  In a similar study, when having participants pick ingredients for a boost to be put in a smoothie, the people in the messy room were more likely to choose the health boost called “new” rather than the option called “classic” which was picked by the neat room participants.

This is huge! Why? 

For years, you have been told tidiness is the way to go if you want to be productive.  Now there are two bodies of research that have found that being neat is not the way all the time.  First, we found that the most novel and creative ideas come to us when we are in a relaxed environment, such as that out of the office, may be having a cup of coffee or even in bed.  Now we are also learning that not only a relaxed personal way of being is conducive to creativity, a relaxed physical space is also. 

Although, I am not necessarily suggesting for you to let your fridge mold with old take-out and your office to be lost under a pile of papers, I am advocating that if you have been hard on yourself about constantly cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing, you can now plan around it.

My exact thoughts:  designate a day of the week for creativity, and organize and de-clutter after you have given time for the creativity process to flow.  Thanks Albert, you knew so much.