Life hacks to increase work productivity despite traffic

Traffic is definitely at its worst right now, and it will get worse as the Christmas holidays approach. Thus, here are some traffic-beating life hacks to help you increase your overall productivity, lessen the negative effects of traffic in your life, and just have a much better, more convenient, worry and hassle-free time everyday.

By improving our productivity, we help lessen the Jica-estimated P2.4-billion loss our economy experiences everyday.

1. Ditch your car, take a taxi.

Working from the car is one of the most effective ways of catching up on emails, paperwork or even reviewing for school.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to do so while driving.

If you have your own driver, that’s great. But unfortunately, not everyone has that option.

Taking a taxi, particularly premium ones such as Grab or Uber, will help you maximize your time, increase your productivity, and make the most out of the situation.

You’ll arrive at work better prepared and feeling good because you’ve already accomplished responsibilities despite the traffic.

2. Check in online for a flight.

The biggest worry of travelers flying on a plane is to miss their flight due to traffic. From experience, the best way is to do an online check-in (which you can do as early as 24 hours prior to your flight).

With this option, you can arrive with as little as one hour before your departure.

And to make sure you have enough time, leave from home or office at least four hours before departure so you have ample time to get to the airport. Lastly, from experience, of the four Naia terminals, Terminal 3 is the busiest, followed by Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 4.

Adjust your time accordingly because on a bad day, the distance from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 can take as much as an hour.

3. Carpool.

We always hear about carpooling being more efficient because it means less cars occupying the road and contributing to pollution.

Well, much like riding a taxi, if you are carpooling, you can also do work if you’re not driving. You save money as well, and increase your productivity.

4. Properly schedule your engagements.

If you can schedule your work, set aside days when you will be in the office, out visiting field projects or satellite offices, and attending out-of-office meetings and events. This is a more efficient use of time.

When penciling in meetings, appointments and engagements, try to schedule them in one place (such as your office), or if in a public place, a mall with a variety of establishments.

Avoid scheduling engagements in different cities or locations when possible simply because you waste so much time traveling from one place to another.

For me, Mondays and Tuesdays are office days, Wednesdays are field days, while Thursdays and Fridays can either be work-at-home days or field days.

5. Inch your way forward everyday.

If you have to be at different places in a single day, schedule your appointments starting from the nearest place to your home or office to the farthest.

Since I live in Mandaluyong, I could schedule my first appointment in the Greenhills/San Juan area, moving next to the Ortigas area, then finally to BGC or Makati. Alternately, I can schedule it in reverse, ending up near my home. This helps me avoid going back and forth the metro in a single day, wasting time, energy and resources because of the traffic.

6. Adjust your work schedule, if possible.

If you work in an environment that allows flexi-time, do so to factor in traffic.

For example, I go to the office late to avoid the rush hour (although it doesn’t always work that way), and tend to stay late, again to avoid the rush hour.

I make sure that by the end of the working day, I no longer need my officemates so I can work alone, usually attending to paperwork and emails.

Oftentimes, it’s late at night or very early in the morning when I am able to work undisturbed and away from the distractions of phone calls and people coming in and out of the office.

Remember, the aim is to improve productivity.

7. Work from home.

More and more multinationals are allowing their employees to work from home to save on time, energy and resources.

While not all types of businesses can accommodate such an arrangement, it will be good for companies and the workforce alike to practice this.

All you need is a reliable internet service provider, your mobile phone, and a landline on your side to accomplish a lot.
It’s perfect also if you need to catch up on paperwork, emails, reports and proposals because working from home can offer less distractions.

8. Avoid the Christmas rush.

Do your Christmas gift shopping early. If you plan to go for a vacation and you still have vacation leaves, take them all towards the holidays.

Get out of the metro as early as you can. Stay at home or go abroad to rest and recuperate. Book your trips in advance too. Get your plane/bus/train tickets, and reserve your hotel/resort early.

If you’re in charge of the office holiday party, prepare now to avoid stressing yourself.

9. Consider bunking with a friend or relatives, or rent a small place to sleep during the week.

In my place of work, I have coworkers who live in Laguna or Pampanga, and go home everyday. A lot of their time is spent commuting. I always encourage them to look for places they can stay during the week to help them achieve a better work-life balance and to save time and money.

Renting is an added expense, admittedly, so consider bunking with family or friends during the week in a place closer to work.
Or rent a small apartment with friends to spread the cost. You will spend less time and energy commuting, and you can sleep longer too.

I hope these nine life hacks on increasing productivity at work or school will help you live a better, less stressful and worry-free life.

In the interim, we should accept traffic as it is and rather than argue about what should be done, we should work around it.
This is the only way we can survive and thrive in today’s difficult conditions, and live a productive, fruitful and well-balanced life.