{"id":375877,"date":"2025-12-29T21:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/375877\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T21:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:11:09","slug":"the-perfect-commute-how-to-turn-a-frustrating-chore-into-fun-and-better-fitness-commuting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/375877\/","title":{"rendered":"The perfect commute: how to turn a frustrating chore into fun \u2013 and better fitness | Commuting"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many of us, the idea of \u201cthe perfect\u201d commute might sound laughable. If we travel to an office, it\u2019s likely to involve either peak-time public transport or stressful traffic. You might not expect that either of those offers much scope for joy, but there are things we can do to make them more enjoyable, productive and healthier. It\u2019s worth putting some thought into this, because commuting can increase stress<\/a>, reduce capacity for exercise and encourage us to consume extra calories in on-the-go snacks.<\/p>\n

The former lawyer turned time management coach Kelly Nolan<\/a> suggests starting with a commute audit to assess its true impact. \u201cBegin by blocking it out on a calendar. Creating a visual representation of how much commuting takes out of your day gives an accurate picture. It\u2019s not just about how much free time you have left, it\u2019s about seeing how commuting affects other activities in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re stuck on a bus, rather than scrolling, you could use the time to brainstorm a specific idea<\/p>\n

The point is not to descend into a spiral of doom but to get creative about how to maximise your available time. One strategy is to build habit stacking<\/a> into your commute to get other things done. Because going to work is something that you already do every day, piggybacking another activity to the routine makes it more likely that it will happen. That might mean building fitness into journeys by cycling, or walking part of the way, or running home. But it might also mean learning a language, meditating, doing admin or catching up with friends. The average UK commute is 27 minutes<\/a>, rising to 38 minutes in London<\/a>. That adds up to about five hours a week that people who commute every day have to themselves.<\/p>\n

Nolan says commuting has the clear benefit of offering a structured, regular window to focus on an idea or project. She references Cal Newport\u2019s bestseller Deep Work<\/a>, in which he suggests we can use chunks of time to focus deeply on one topic. \u201cSo if you\u2019re stuck on a bus, rather than scrolling, you could use the time to brainstorm a specific idea, either for work or a personal project,\u201d says Nolan. \u201cOne reason ideas often come to us in the shower is because we\u2019re so rarely quiet and still so ideas don\u2019t have the opportunities to come to mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piggybacking another activity to the routine makes it more likely that it will happen. Photograph: Posed by model; ljubaphoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

This does sound appealing. What if, instead of gritting my teeth as I enter Dante\u2019s Seventh Circle (line) of hell, I could reframe it as two daily creative brainstorming sessions? In fact, I know this is possible. I have a friend who wrote a novel on his daily commute from Brighton to London and another who uses the time to work on her new business idea.<\/p>\n

But how do we maintain positivity in the face of transport delays, or not getting a seat and standing trapped between a rucksack and someone\u2019s sweaty armpit? The solution, says Gordon McCrorie<\/a>, a Glasgow-based life coach, lies in the concept of acceptance. \u201cA lot of life\u2019s emotional friction comes when what we would like life to be is not matched by reality. If we can bridge that gap, we are going to remove a lot of unnecessary suffering. Ask yourself: \u2018What is within my control? Have I tried to alter that? What is out of my control? What stories am I telling myself?\u2019\u201d Avoiding exaggerated language is one of his tips. Is the journey really a nightmare or is it just a bit frustrating? \u201cThink data, not drama,\u201d he says. \u201cThis train is running 15 minutes late. Is there anything I can do about that? No. OK. In which case, settle down and enjoy the extra free time. You were planning on listening to a podcast? Well, now it\u2019s going to be a podcast and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the journey home, it can be helpful to establish rituals that signal to your brain that you are leaving work behind. \u201cI love listening to fun audiobooks,\u201d says Nolan. \u201cAnything that will take us out of work mode \u2013 a comedy podcast, listening to a playlist \u2013 will work. Or you could use the time to send an urgent email so you don\u2019t need to do it later. A lot of people really struggle with the delineations between work and home.\u201d<\/p>\n

A post-work walk can help reduce stress. Photograph: Westend61\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the dilemma facing many people who work from home or do hybrid working. Should we invent a faux commute to ease the transition? For McCrorie, when he is working from home, his day is bookended with dog walks. He suggests that even if you don\u2019t have a canine friend, it\u2019s a good idea to get outdoors or at least get moving. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, that stagnant stiffness is going to linger as you go into your working day. Movement is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress. Even something as simple as stretching for a few minutes can regulate the nervous system.\u201d<\/p>\n

So conveniently rolling out of bed five minutes before the first Zoom meeting isn\u2019t to be encouraged? \u201cIf you don\u2019t create a buffer between waking up and work, what is your experience going to be like? If you did take the time, the impact that work has on you would be less by the end of the day, because percentage-wise less of your waking hours would be dominated by it,\u201d McCrorie says.<\/p>\n

Not that everyone who works at home needs a pretend commute. Nolan lives in Minnesota, where the climate can make going outdoors more of an expedition than a stroll. \u201cSome people actually have really great boundaries between home and work,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely easier if you have a separate office so you can open and close the door to signify the beginning and end of work. But I know someone who has a special pair of work slippers to get into and out of work mode. For them, that\u2019s enough of a boundary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many of us, the idea of \u201cthe perfect\u201d commute might sound laughable. If we travel to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-375877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}