Traffic Skool

I live in Los Angeles and I estimate that people in LA probably spend about 20% of their time stuck in traffic. When I was younger and lived in Silicon Valley, I used to get stuck in traffic every single day on the way home from work. I literally wanted to yell, and sometimes I even did, not realizing that I was probably going to give myself a heart attack.

However, by the first year of business school, I came to the realization that my time in traffic could be one of the most effectively utilized parts of my day. After getting accepted to a study abroad program in Brazil, I had to learn Portuguese. Classes were not an option because they were too expensive, and I didn’t have time. But, I knew there were language courses on the ipod. So, I got myself a Pimsleur language course and during my commute to school I started learning Portuguese. I was spending at least one hour a day in traffic, which meant one our a day of studying Portuguese. It  was after that experience I realized that when you are stuck in traffic you can actually accomplish quite a bit.  So, if you are stuck in traffic, here’s a few things you can do get more out of the experience:

1. Learn a Language: That should be obvious based on my first post. With the amount of time we spend in traffic in LA we could all be fluent in 10 different languages. I might be exaggerating a bit, but there’s ALWAYS traffic in LA.

2. Visualize: I’m not saying close your eyes (obviously), but there’s no reason you can’t give a little attention to the things you want to attract into your life, or just spend some time thinking about them.

3. Listen to a tape set: Brian Tracy mentioned that many successful people always listen to tape sets in their cars. I think listening to a tape set when your stuck in traffic is another great way to get the most out of a personal development program.

4. Books on Tape: I’ve gotten into the habit of getting through books mainly because I’m in traffic. I’ve found that books make long car rides go by much faster than music. The problem with music on a long car ride is that each song is 2-3 minutes, and books on tape can captivate your attention for up to 3 hours. I usually will listen to a book for an hour and then take a break for some music and then get back to the book.

On the assumption that average person spends 1 hour a day in traffic and commutes 5 days a week, approximately 49 weeks a year, that’s over 200 hours of time you can commit to personal development. Maybe being stuck in traffic isn’t as bad as it seems