Car time

I spend a lot of time in my car. That's partly because my girlfriend recently moved in with me, and her habit of buying delicate clothes sometimes strikes sparks with my 'natural selection' approach to doing the laundry (if clothing doesn't survive the default setting of the washing machine, it probably was rubbish anyway) . A car can be a good point of refuge at times like that. 

But luckily the greater part of time in my trusted four-wheeler is spent commuting to the office and driving to clients, who for some dark reason are often located on remote industrial areas that are virtually impossible to reach by public transport.  Within an acceptable time frame, that is.

While I find it rather relaxing to just let my mind go blank and focus on the driving, it often feels like a waste to spend 10-20 hours of an otherwise busy week on staring into nothingness. As I'm sure many of you feel the same, I'd like to share my Top Five of Useful Things To Do While Driving:

1. Preparing for a meeting
Especially when you're giving a training or presentation, there's no such thing as too much preparation. By rehearsing the most challenging parts or even the entire session on the way to the meeting, you can get that extra bit of confidence and practice necessary to deliver an outstanding performance. Moreover, you're focused and alert when you arrive, as opposed to half asleep (like you usually leave the car). Don't overdo it, though - make sure you save enough energy for the meeting itself.

2. Problem solving
If you work in a creative or consultancy profession, you're often confronted with challenges that don't have obvious solution. On the road, you have plenty of time to think. While in the office, I often deliberately schedule problems that require a lot of thinking to my time in the car, so I have more time to do stuff that requires me to touch a keyboard. It's even said that the best ideas are born when you're doing something monotonous (like driving or sitting on the toilet), because then the rational part of your brain largely shuts down and your real creativity emerges.

3. Making phone calls
It used to be considered bad form, but on the whole, calling from the car is become more and more standard practice in our industry. The big advantage is obviously that you have plenty of time to talk, as opposed to an office situation where there are loads of other things going on. Also, you're not bothering anyone else. So it's perfect for lengthy conversations or interviews. Do use a car kit, by the way. And don't do it in conference calls.

4. Studying
There are all kinds of courses on the market that are specially tailored to driving (business) people. Just slip a CD in your audio set and follow the instructions. You don't learn really fast since you also have pay attention to the road - which may mean repeating a particular section multiple times. But even this can be quite useful, for instance while learning (the pronunciation of) a new language. I'm doing Spanish myself. Cómo está usted?

5. Listening to the news
The most obvious one, and probably also the most popular. Tune in to a (business) news radio channel or podcast and get up to speed with the latest events in your market. It beats listening to the silly radio games that you get on most other channels. However, it's not a very efficient use of your time, considering that reading news from an online source or newspaper is a much faster way to gain much more information.   

So far for my Top Five. Any other takes on this subject? I'll be interested to learn more, because autumn is coming and with it lots of meetings and traffic jams.  Oh, and there's one other activity that doesn't really belong in the 'useful' category, but still deserves an honorary mention:

6. Singing
OK, I'll admit it: I still haven't given up dreams on winning Idols someday. In the car, you can wail along with the radio or CD as loud as you like, without bothering anyone. You can't get that anywhere else, unless you live alone in an isolated shack on the hill or have your own recording studio. My advice: just don't lower the volume of the radio to the point where you can actually hear your own voice. That's bad for your dreams.    

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[anon]

Can I recommend Audible.co.uk for downloading the latest biz books to your ipod? If you have no means of listening to ipod in your car, TomTom have launched a GPS with ipod connectivity - gadget heaven...