Time Management Week: Day 1

Alright, last week I told you I was going to work on maximizing what I got out of each hour of every single day.  It's a little test for me, and I am inviting you all on my journey. 

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, check out my rant here. 

I'm not focusing on a 7 day plan because I don't believe in micro managing myself or others.  Weekends are supposed to be fun and if I'm trying to cram a bunch of stuff into them, well I just don't like it.  So here's how this is going to go.  Each day I'm going to pick something that I have to do.  Then, I'm going to try to optimize it or improve it somehow. 

First step: Commute. 

When I first started working for my company, I was living with my parents and saving up money to buy a house.  The lab was 4 miles from their house and it took me about 8 minutes to get to work.  If I was going to be at work at 8 o'clock, I left 10 minutes before that.  Now, since I've bought my house and my commute is closer to 25 miles, I've had to do a little adjusting. 

I don't mind my drive to work, but I need to improve it.  My father commuted from Los Angeles county to Orange county for many, many years.  I've taken a page out of his book and I'm going to optimize my drive.  I'm not going to make it any shorter or change my route.  I've already found my best route and I leave at the perfect time to dodge most of the traffic.  By leaving after most kids have been dropped off at school, I can hop on the freeway and scoot accross several towns in about 45 minutes.  It's not great, but it's not bad. 

So now you want to know what I am going to do? 

Well I hate the radio.  Ryan Seacrest bugs me.  Literally bugs me.  Bugs me means: Creepy crawly feelings. 

I have an iPod and I usually crank it up and dance down the road to my favorite "up 'n at 'em" tunes. 

But now, since I need to do this anyway, I've stacked myself up with several books on CD. 

That's right, I'm going to read a book on my way to work. 

Uhm, I mean have a book read to me on the way to work. 

It's great!  Many moons ago, I started reading the Harry Potter books by buying them from iTunes and listening to them on my iPod.  I don't know why, but I stopped doing this.  I forgot how much joy it brought me. 

So now I'm reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I've already got Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lined up and ready to go.  I borrowed the CD's from my father (he's got quite the CD library) but if I couldn't have borrowed them from him, I was going to stop by my local library. 

In Rancho Cucamonga, I've found that we can check out books on CD for $1.  The duration is 2 weeks and it seems to be just the right amount of time for me to make it through a book.  It's how I read Eat, Pray, Love as well as several other books. 

This means that when I arrive at work, my mind has been fully awake and I haven't been so sleepy or groggy.  It also means that when I come home from work, I'm not worrying about finishing up the cleaning or the cooking so that I can sneak in  a few minutes of reading before bed time.  I've satisfied my literary craving for the day already! 

Fantastic! 

What do you do to make your commute easier to swallow? 

Drive happy! 

Kipp