How to Beat a Stressful Morning Commute

Commuting can be stressful. Anyone who travels going to work knows how frustrating it can be whether you go for public transportation or private ones. With the rise of various transports, communities and population traffic levels have increased and commuting has turned into a stressful journey most of the time. In some countries, trains or MRT seems to be the most efficient means to get from point A to point B. Sometimes, this alone may not be the problem, getting to one station from another normally cause the frustrating part of the commute for Singaporeans, for example. Although connectivity issue has been acknowledged, many of them are still using bus services going to stations—lucky, if there’s no long waiting time or not too full.

If the commutes seem to be unbearable, it might be a good idea to learn some stress-fighting techniques for a wrinkle-free journey:

Have a planned morning

Nothing is more inconvenient and annoying than running around the house trying to get everything ready. Make the start of your day more relaxing by doing a bit of thought and preparation the night before. Driving your way or waiting in a public transportation to work can be stress-free knowing you checked off important things to your morning-to-do list.

Turn up the music

Listening to your happy songs can lift your mood and create positive influence all throughout the day. According to a study led by Yuna Ferguson, happiness from listening to good music goes beyond making you feel better, the positive emotion you draw out from it is also linked to higher income, better social relationships and of course, physical well-being.

Surprisingly, even sad songs make similar effects too! In a study published in PLOS ONE, a survey involving more than 2,400 respondents focused on the feelings and unforgettable experiences associated to listening to sad music. Results show that majority of the participants had positive answers. It goes to show that regardless whether you listen to a happy or sad song and no matter what situation and reasons you have for listening, music serve as a therapy and rehabilitation that taps in your need for comfort—which is a must in every commute.

Educate yourself

The hustle and bustle of city life partnered with ever increasing work and personal demands make it difficult to spare time in learning new things. Take every idle chance you get to educate yourself from time to time—and being stuck on the traffic or just simply traveling your way to work is a great start. Audiobooks are a great option to kill the time while gaining knowledge from it. All you have to do is choose the application that best works for you.

Avoid opening stuff about work

Save the work-related emails and messages for later, you will have the rest of eight hours to work on them. Whether we admit it or not, we don’t normally get a bunch of good news from reading our emails and this might just be a stress warm-up to your day. If you are anxious about a presentation or report you have to make, the more you have to set yourself in a calmer mood—preparing ahead is way more helpful too!