Commuting to work in South Africa can be a time-consuming, daily challenge. South African cities have some of the most congested traffic in the world.1 However, we need to get to work every day to pay our bills and look after our families. So, what can we do to alleviate stress and make our daily commute to work more pleasant?
Tips for your daily commute to work
There are many things you can do to reduce your stress on your daily commute to work.
- The company you work at wants you to be happy and productive. Don’t be scared to ask your boss for ‘flexi-time’. This means your daily work ‘window’ shifts either forward or backwards so that you can beat the traffic going to and from work. In most cases, you would arrive extra early for work and leave earlier than everybody else.
- Don’t dread your commute. This could magnify the negative aspects of your driving experience. Decide to be positive and not focus so much on the commute but rather on something that makes you happy instead.
- Make sure your car is well-maintained. This would reduce any anxiety you may have regarding your car happening to be potentially unreliable. For example, worrying that your car will overheat in highly-congested traffic doesn’t help your mood.
- Listen to your favourite music or radio station while you drive. You could play music off your cellphone if your car doesn’t have a sound system. Music could help you drown out the noises associated with traffic and keep you in good spirits. Music can indeed affect your mood and alter the way you perceive the world around you, according to research done by the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. 2
- Always use a GPS, or mobile device navigation-type apps such as Google Maps or Waze for your commute to and from work even though you know how to get there. For example, Google Maps can alert you in time to bad congestion, and divert your route to avoid sitting in bad traffic in some cases.
- Don’t text and play on your phone even in slow-moving traffic. It is dangerous to not have your eyes on the road at all times. Car accidents are not only potentially life-threatening, but even minor accidents can be extremely stressful.
- Drive the most comfortable car you can afford that has great fuel economy and safety features too. For example, air conditioning can make your journey much more pleasant on a hot summer’s day. Knowing that you drive a safe car, that protects you from dangers on the road, and that you are saving much-needed money at the petrol pump is a great potential mood lifter too.
- Getting stressed out and full of road rage won’t stop people from driving the way they do. Instead, accept that people will drive the way they do regardless of how you feel. Focus on defensive driving techniques you learnt when you got your driver’s licence. This will help you stay safer on the road and more relaxed too.
- Another way to potentially have additional peace of mind is through having affordable and dependable car insurance cover. Affordable car insurance with unique benefits is available with PMD.
Now you know about many tips that can help you ease the burden of your daily commute. Whatever you decide to do, please obey the rules of the road and try and have a pleasant journey to work too.
Disclaimer:
This article was prepared by Eric Sandmann in his personal capacity. The views and opinions in the article should not be attributed to anyone but the author unless expressly stated. Nothing in this article should be relied upon as advice, this publication is presented for informational purposes only. No person should act or refrain from acting in reliance on any information found in this article, without first obtaining proper financial advice from the appropriate professional. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, or completeness, of any information linked from, referred to, or contained in this article. The author reserves the right, to edit and change the content of this article.
Sources:
2https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110427101606.htm
Please note: Part of this article is written, based on personal experience as a consumer.
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