What successful people do on their morning commute

Whether you’re a newbie at a startup or a senior partner in a Magic Circle firm, the world of work is one of chaos and flux. And if you want to get some control over your work day while also skyrocketing your output, perhaps you should try maximising your time on the way into the office. Why? Because according to reports, the length of the average commute in the UK is just under an hour – a period which can be used to either strategise your day ahead or simply increase your personal satisfaction.

Here are five practical things you could be doing before logging into the daily grind…

Almost everyone checks their emails as soon as they get into work – so why not save yourself the pain and effort by clearing your messages on your way to your office?

Doing so won’t only save you approximately 30 minutes of your precious working time, but it’ll also let you arrive at your desk with a clean inbox and, in effect, a clearer mind.

And, if reading your emails is too arduous of a task, ask your smart assistant, whether it’s Siri or Google Assistant, to read them to you.

Structure and focus are key foundations for success, whereas disarray and disorganisation can hinder it. So, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to keep on top of things in your attempt to achieve your goals, then why not start by writing down a to-do list every morning?

Have some ideas of what you want to achieve that day and jot them down in bullet point form. When doing so, be realistic (aiming to complete around three key tasks during your nine-to-five will keep your mind focused and will also help you prioritise certain tasks over others) and make the notes short and brief (this way you can constantly refer to them with ease). By giving yourself a mental guideline to work with, you’ll arrive in the office with a plan of action, and soon enough your output will be more streamlined and effective.

Moreover, this will help alleviate some out-of-hours stress, as knowing that you’ll have the chance to ruminate about work problems or challenges during the morning will reduce the likelihood that you’ll be doing so the night before.

Although it may not make your commute any shorter, burning calories by cycling or walking to work will keep your mind sharper and your body fitter.

According to one study by Archives of Internal Medicine, 16 percent of commuters who walked or cycled to work were less likely to be overweight and had healthier levels of blood pressure, triglycerides and insulin. Moreover, your performance can also improve too: in one British study, employees reported being more productive on days they exercised compared to days they didn’t.

For those that shuttle in via public transport or car, get off a few stops early or park further away from the office for a bonus 15-minute stroll.

If you work in media, you’re in the rare position where you can browse your social channels throughout the day without colleagues judging you. But for those who aren’t so lucky, then get your social media fix out of the way when you’re in a car, tube or bus in the morning, as doing so will will help you resist the urge to check your news feeds and notifications whenever you feel like avoiding those pressing deadlines.

For the former, we’d recommend TED Talks, Marketplace With Kai Ryssdal and our very own podcast series. In terms of books, make sure to invest in a Kindle (this will save you from carrying any extra baggage, and it can also slip seamlessly into your bag) and choose a novel or a piece of non-fiction that suits your own personal taste (after all, you’ve probably got a long list of titles you desperately want to read, so why not tackle it now?).

However, if your time is just too pressing, make it a priority to try out Blinkist, as this app will condense all nonfiction books into a 15-minute read. Finally, for daily digests, try out the Feedly app – this RSS reader will let you subscribe to your favourite publishers and have their posts and news stories organised into a clean and easy-to-read format.

Want an even more organised morning routine? Here’s what the most successful people do before breakfast

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