This is a guest post
from Very Marie. Jodie is enjoying a well deserved break in the US.
I am a commuter. I
spend close to four hours a day travelling to and from work by car and train.
This is a choice. For
a whole range of reasons - family, friends, comfort, location - my husband and
I have decided to live in our beachside hometown and travel to the city for
work.
I need to remember
it's a choice, because some days, it is so hard.
Like in winter when
for months I leave in darkness and come home in darkness. When public transport
and long hours drain my immune system and I regularly feel germy and fluey.
When my routine of having to go to bed early to wake up at dawn means the
concept of exercise, hobbies and a Monday to Friday social life is non
existent. When the travel and long hours mean I am often left feeling
completely, don't know how I can keep going, want to curl up and sleep, will
burst into tears in any moment, exhaustion.
A lot people ask me
how I can commute and I know I'm not the only one who does it, so I wanted to share
some of the little coping mechanisms I have discovered to get me through each
week.
1) Routine. As boring
as that word is to even write, it is the key to effective commuting. You need a
routine for bedtime, for waking up, for breakfast, for what time to drink your
morning coffee and when you'll brush your teeth. You need a routine for
groceries and cooking and packing your lunch. Because I warn you, any deviation
from this weekday schedule can leave you feeling immensely a) tired,
b) hungry c) unhealthy d) all of the above.
2) A relatively
flexible job. Thankfully I can usually leave work between 530 and 6pm, working
the rest of the afternoon on my blackberry. The flexibility means I am getting
home in time to eat and sleep at a reasonable hour. I am also entitled to a
flex day (or mental health day as I fondly call them) once every six weeks or
so, which is crucial for me and allows me to do weekday chores, sleep, and take
some time out.
3) The strength to
say no. I am not very good at this, but when so much of your week is consumed
with work and travel, you need to find the inner strength to say no. No I can't
come to that afternoon meeting, I need to catch the train. No I can't come to dinner
tonight, I'm exhausted. No I can't come to after-work drinks because if I
get home late on a school night I may not be able to keep going this week. I am
still working on the 'no' but it truly is essential to surviving the commute.
4) Finding the little
things that get you through. For me it's reading blogs and articles on the train to
keep me inspired, leaving work early one day a week to go to yoga to keep me
sane, listening to my favourite cd on the way home from work to keep me
awake... writing on my way to work, listening to breathing exercises on my
iPhone... Whatever it is, you need a list of things to do during the week that
keep you energised, inspired and positive.
5) Weekends. When it
all feels worth it. These two precious days by the beach when I can sleep in,
wander down the road for breakfast, leave the house in ugg boots, visit family
and friends. Forget work, forget the city and enjoy the
stillness, the familiarity and the quiet.
And when Monday rolls
around again, and the thought of travelling all that way to work in the cold
and the dark feels so overwhelming, I need to remind myself that
the weekends make it worth it. That it's a choice.
What choices do you
struggle with?
(Image via pinterest)
