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5 Things to do during your Atlanta commute

August 11, 2012 | Filed under: Atlanta, GA,Lifestyle | Posted by: Eiskaffe

We spend plenty of time complaining about Atlanta traffic. Why not put that time to good use?

On average, Atlanta residents spend 30.3 minutes each day in our cars plowing our way to work or itching to get home. That adds up to about 260 hours per year! How else can I say it? That’s a long ass time to be sitting in a car getting nothing done.

So, let’s change that. The TSPLOST didn’t make the waves many expected on July 31^st (some say it has something to do with an unnecessary football stadium…) so we won’t be changing the commute times but we can at least change our productivity levels.

Here are a few fun and productive ways to spend your time in gridlock. (Who am I kidding? Atlanta isn’t on any sort of grid. But you get my point.)

Take public transit and finish your work on the road. Leave work early, beat the 5pm rush, and still get your work done by taking the train or bus. The best feature is that someone else is driving, giving you the opportunity to work from your tablet, laptop, or phone without risk.
Catch up on reading with audio books. When gridlock gets you down, audiobooks prove to be an excellent way to stay current on the latest literature (and film inspirations) without hauling around loads of books. Since all you have to do is listen, you can drive with both hands without missing a word.
Catch up with family and friends via Bluetooth. “I’ve been so busy” should never be an excuse to let distance grow between friends and family. While you’re stuck in traffic, turned down the radio and turn on your hands-free device to make a few calls.
Mount your tablet and play games with friends. Mounted phones aren’t easy to work with. The larger screens found on tablets make them perfect for playing games on apps with friends while waiting for traffic to move.
Increase your cultural understanding. Listen to NPR or BBC podcasts. WAIT! Before you scoff, consider how often you’ve had to admit to yourself that you don’t know as much as you could about what’s going on in the world. See. If you just spent a bit of time catching up on the news, you’d be much more knowledgeable. I recommend BBC because it’s fairly unbiased towards American issues. NPR has hyperlocal shows that can be quite intriguing. You’ll get the best of both worlds and come out smarter.