My Los Angeles commute is just about 8 miles long and takes me 45 minutes on a good day and an hour and a half on the worst ones. I’ve been driving this same commute for just over 4 years and I think I’ve finally figured out how to enjoy it. These are my top tips!

Catch up with friends and family

My family lives 3000 miles away but they are my favorite carpool buddy. I call my family a few times a week and it’s always my favorite way to pass the time.

Podcasts

I am sad to say that it took me way too long to get into podcasts. I followed the crowd and followed the incredible trend of bingeing Serial but for a long time, I didn’t really give podcasts much more of a chance. Now that I have, I just can’t stop listening. A few of my current favorites are Money Peach, The Tobolowsky Files, and Terrible, Thanks for Asking. Hop over to our “Things We Love” page to see the full list of what Laura and I love to listen to!

Listen to the Harry Potter Audio Books

Yes, this is super specific. But it’s so worth it! Whether you’ve read the books, seen the movies or you’re a total Harry Potter virgin (which, I’m embarrassed to say, my husband still is), you will love listening to Jim Roth reading the books on tape. After bingeing HP, I listened to Melissa Anelli’s book, Harry, A History. The book is all about the phenomenon of the books I grew up loving and I loved being transported back to that time and remember where I was when it all started happening. She talks about how Harry changed the NYT Bestseller List forever and gave an inside look into what really happened and how the books became so popular. I loved re-visiting again as an adult and the experience inspired me to get an audible membership and start listening to all kinds of stories old and new.

Exercise

I am always amazed by how much better I feel when I get out and take a few walks during the day. It makes the drive feel much better when you haven’t been sitting at your desk since you left the car that morning.

I also go to early morning yoga at the studio by my office. This cuts my commute time in half because I leave the house at 5:50 am instead of 7:30 am. My alarm goes off an hour earlier but I get in an hour of exercise and spend 30 minutes less in the car, plus I always get to work on time 🙂

To-do Lists

Do you constantly have a growing to-do list? Think about all those little things you always put off and what can be done in the car. I love using my time in the car to call my bank about a fee that I want to get reversed or call my dentist to schedule an appointment. I’ve also used car time to call a laundry list of places for quotes. Need a dozen cupcakes? Call a dozen places to see who can give you the best deal. Feeling productive in the car is so rewarding and you’ll barely notice the time go by!

For most of these things, you’ll need to connect your phone to your car. This is really easy if you have an aux port you can do it with an aux cord and for newer iPhones, you can even buy one that has a lightning cable on the end. If you have an older car, you can buy a Bluetooth transmitter so to connect your phone and make calls and such through your car speakers (thanks Emily for the recommendation!).

Does anyone else have super long commutes? What do you do in the car to make the time fly?