Ways to Manage Your Commute

1. Keep your car in top shape. Take it in for servicing if you even suspect something is askew.
2. Join an automotive club. They pay for themselves after one tow.
3. Wean yourself of flicking on the radio the moment you step into the car, or of listening to shock talkers who offer little to your life. Instead...
4. Install a tape or CD player to control your environment to and from work. Patronize your local library for lectures, plays, books, and music on cassettes.
5. Ride with the windows closed and the A/C on. You'll get the same MPG as otherwise, the ride will to be quieter, and you'll have more control of your immediate environment.
6. Keep spare car keys in your house and spare house keys hidden in a faithful "Hide-a-Key" compartment which magnetically attaches under the bumper.
7. Hide several quarters, key phone numbers, a pad, a pen, stamps, and envelopes in your car.
8. During your ride, reflect on what you'd like to complete or how you'd like your day to go.

Maintaining Control

A reader asks: Many days I am in control for most of the morning and part of the afternoon, but then all of the sudden, like a train derailment, everything seems scattered and out of control.

I suggest that you take mental pauses throughout the day, particularly as new developments occur. The best laid plans often go astray and those people who are able to maintain control know when to let go of one activity and redirect their focus towards another.

Remember as well that being in control is more related to how you feel about the situation than the presence of evidence. Keep reminding yourself that you are, in fact, in control. Ten minutes before the end of the day if your boss springs a one-hour assignment on you that must be done immediately, you can regard this as a major intrusion in your day or you can see it as a professional challenge or an opportunity to demonstrate your overall value to your company. Make a note of the times you have taken on such challenges and bring them up particularly at raise times.

Before, during, and after handling the late assignment thrown on your lap, keep considering the many benefits of completing it. These include learning something new, practicing maintaining grace under fire, and serving as a reminder for you to discuss this type of situation with your boss so that it doesn't happen too frequently.

What we Cannot Control

A reader comments; “I could be more responsible regarding use of my time but certainly there are some things that are out of my control...”

Yes, for one thing your productive work life is finite. You will only be able to work for so many years at such and such a pace. One day that will no longer be possible. The big absolute, of course, is that life is finite and death is guaranteed, so far. If you are in your thirties, you have about 12,000 to 14,000 days and that's it.

Day to day, change is out of your control – it is guaranteed that how you used to do it or what worked yesterday will have less and less value with each passing day. You certainly want some stability in your life particularly in the areas of values and relationships, but don't fear change or close yourself off to it.

Feeling in Control

A Reader Asks: In your books you write that we are control and responsible for how our time is used each day, but I don't feel that way. How do I increase my feeling of control and sense of responsibility for how my time is consumed?

Begin to recognize your routine, time-guzzling behaviors such as ceremoniously arranging the items on your desk, over-reading the newspaper, or scouring the web. Next avoid playing the victim. Stop believing that external circumstances cause you to be time-pressed while not acknowledging your participation and willingness to be a victim. Finally take ownership; that is, lay claim and accept responsibility for what occurs in your life. "Own" your time.

Spinning out of Control

Early warning signs when you’re heading for an "out of control" situation: Control is always based on your perception; still any time you start stacking horizontal piles on your desk you are operating in a malfunctioning mode.

If you find yourself perpetually 5 to 10 minutes late for meetings and always handling activities up to the last minute before turning your attention to what is next, you are leaving yourself wide open for some anxious moments. Also if you don't give yourself enough physical space to handle a task you are also likely to feel out of control.

From Breakdown back to Control

Do you find yourself in control for most of the morning and part of the afternoon, but then all of the sudden, like a train derailment, everything seems scattered and out of control?

Take mental pauses throughout the day, particularly as new developments occur. The best laid plans often go astray and those people who are able to maintain control know when to let go of one activity and redirect their focus towards another.

Remember that being in control is more related to how you feel about the situation than the presence of evidence. Keep reminding yourself that you are, in fact, in control. Ten minutes before the end of the day if your boss springs a one-hour assignment on you that must be done immediately, you can regard this as a major intrusion in your day or you can see it as a
professional challenge or an opportunity to demonstrate your overall value to your company. Make a note of the times you have taken on such challenges and bring them up particularly at raise times.

Also before, during, and after handling the late assignment thrown on your lap, keep considering the many benefits of completing it. These include learning something new, practicing maintaining grace under fire, and serving as a reminder for you to discuss this type of situation with your boss so that it doesn't happen too frequently.

Trashing the Plane

Even on flights of three hours or less, upon departure it's hard not to notice how badly passengers have trashed the plane.
As you proceed down that long, narrow aisle, you can see quite clearly that people have left food wrappers, crumbs, empty cups and cans, magazines, newspapers, and personal belongings.
Sure, flight attendants are supposed to pick things up before the plane lands, and
ground crews come in and clean the cabin after the plane lands. Still, is that any reason for 100 to 300 passengers to leave the place a total mess?
What does it say about our ability to control our environment when we can't keep a plane interior clean for a couple hours' ride? What have we become?