At some point after closing the car door and before officially starting your day, there will be a brief, perhaps 5-10 second window of time during which you are completely by yourself. Your bag is on the passenger side, your coffee is too hot to drink, the neighbourhood is awakening in haphazard spurts, a trash truck rumbles somewhere in the distance, and someone backs out of a nearby driveway too quickly. Then, almost immediately, you are no longer alone. For many people, the daily commute is simply ‘dead’ time. A period of time we go through so we can arrive at our destination. However, the morning commute could potentially be one of the only truly quiet periods of solitude in what often seems like a chaotic day filled with family obligations, responsibilities at work and constant interruptions from our phones. Here’s how to redefine your morning commute as a restorative ritual.
By Team Savant
Giving The Drive A Moment To Remain Silent
We don’t always need to begin our drives with noise. Pulling away quietly, even for a couple of traffic light cycles, before adding music, podcasts, or other distracting media can give us time to process our thoughts before they are interrupted.
This may be more important than it initially appears. For many people, we go directly from bed to email inbox with very little, if any, time between. A short stretch of silent time in this sequence can help provide a buffer zone for our nervous systems. This small amount of silence can make a big difference for both individuals who lead busy lives and those who lead somewhat quieter lives. Even a 20 Minute school run or a daily trip to the office can serve as a momentary reset if we choose to treat them as such.
Adding Sound To The Experience
When we decide to add sound to our experience while driving, choosing to do so in a thoughtful way can greatly enhance the quality of that experience. Many sources of entertainment that enter our cars each morning (tense news recaps, loud talk shows or aggressive playlists) can alter our entire mood long before we have even arrived at our destinations.
Therefore, treating car audio as part of the overall experience and not simply as background music is vital to making the most of the quiet moments provided by the commute. Listening to clear and balanced audio creates a different listening experience than listening to muddled or distorted audio. Listening to a familiar album provides a sense of warmth. Listening to a quiet interview allows the listener to focus better on the conversation. Low-volume jazz or ambient music can reduce the stress created by a hurried morning without requiring as much from the listener.
Creating Routine Through Repetition
Although travelling along the same route each day can be monotonous, repetition also provides its own type of comfort. Passing the same gas stations, stopping at the same atm, seeing the jacaranda tree leaning over one corner of the intersection each year in October, these are all examples of creating routine.
Small routines are also effective when combined with repetition. One example would be using the Drive home as a means of releasing tension before entering a noisy household. Another example would be having one specific playlist for rainy mornings. The goal is not necessarily to optimise the commute; it is to reclaim it.
That short stretch of road can become a transitional phase instead of a burden. And on days when we feel overwhelmed, that idea may be far more valuable than we realise.