One of the biggest parts of the working lifestyle is the commute to and from your workplace. It’s something that takes a good 20 minutes out of the early day at least, and it’s very easy to get waylaid whilst you’re stuck in traffic or on a train that’s delayed by an hour. And all that means you can get very easily bored and worried about the day’s proceedings; but there’s some mini solutions out there to cut out so much of the strenuous emotional labor you might have to do here.

So with that in mind, here’s a few ideas to take along with you when you start afresh on your commute next week; give you plenty of time to get your head together and make sure you don’t have to rush out of the door.

Take a Drink with You

If you’ve got a good drink to sip on, you’re going to be much brighter and more alert by the time you get to the office or the shop floor than you ever did without one. Your reactions will be faster, and you’re going to be paying better attention to everything around you; no more missed trains or turnings for you. And you can make sure your beloved tea or iced coffee stays as hot or cold as it’s meant to be with coverage like a metal koozie on your side.

Have Something to Listen To (apart from music!)

If you’ve got something playing in your ears, or over your car stereo, you’re never going to be letting your brain stagnate and get lethargic all over again before the day has even started. So this is where you should put on an audiobook, or maybe even put on a podcast you like the sound of. Your brain is fresh from sleep and wants to consume details about the day, so feed it in a creative and productive manner.

Don’t Let Yourself Rush

Of course you’re going to need to get through any congestion as fast as you can, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it a leisurely pace otherwise. When we get into a habit of rushing in the mornings before work, we get it into our heads that work is something to rush to, and that you can never take a bit of time to take care of yourself when you most need to. But this is simply not true: get yourself up a little bit earlier and spend some time to eat breakfast or sip your coffee in the kitchen.

You’ll thank yourself for following tips like these as soon as you’ve been at them for about a week, and got yourself into some much better habits as a result. Everyone should take some more time for themselves before using all their energy up at storming the work world, so don’t let yourself down here.