Six relatively simple ways to efficiently spend time on the long haul

I was inspired to write this topic by a recent business trip to Russia (4 trains, several buses in 5 days) and the experience of previous equally intensive and long trips.

So, actually, what's the problem? Every person who gets into a train (plane, bus) has at its disposal several tens of hours of free time. Which, if desired, can be spent with the same efficiency as on the "mainland". But, believe my experience, most people do not take advantage of an environment full of calm and contemplation.

Surprisingly, many of my friends, fervently reiterating the benefits of time management and measuring their every hour on the “useful - useless” scale, after boarding the wagon, shapeless amoebas are reclined and the roads do nothing for the whole time. I personally observed situations when passengers didn’t read, talk, listen to the player for 12 hours during a trip, for example. In general, they did nothing. As many as 12 hours, and sometimes more! What a time - and all in vain ...
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The problem, in my opinion, is that most people simply do not know how to take themselves on a long journey. I will try to help them by offering six relatively simple ways to effectively spend time on the road.


All options associated with inhuman fatigue (illness, etc) are not considered in this article. We are talking about people who in a normal (working!) Environment by accident (the head) get into the transport.

1. Read
The train (plane, bus) is usually read by the press (by experience: a couple of thick newspapers or one magazine will last a maximum of an hour) and books (the speed of reading may depend on the text). As a rule, it is more efficient to take a book (and not one) with you on a long journey. And note that the book can be directly related to your professional activity: “Programming in C ++”, which you have long dreamed of reading, or “Marketing in the network”, which has been waiting for its turn for six months. Thus, knowing about the upcoming trips, you can postpone the book in advance to read on the road.

It is more convenient to read on the train and plane than on the bus: there is practically no shaking. But also on the bus, when he drives on the highway, you can read, sitting by the window. In any case, it is necessary to take into account the degree of lighting: in the evening the trains turn off the bright light, and the buses simply do not turn it on. Take care of your eyes, and if it is impossible to read, go to other ways to effectively spend time on the road.

Today there are more modern reading options. You can use the device to read books in electronic form (I will not give a link, there are quite a few of them on the market). You can read from the screen of a laptop or mobile phone / PDA, the benefit of reading programs today abound. You can carry any large library with you. This, of course, is more convenient than books (for example, you can read in the dark), but the problem of energy consumption arises. How to charge electronic devices on the way, read below.

Reading the text in electronic form also provides an opportunity to read articles and texts, which have not reached the hands of everyday bustle. I myself postpone (copy) the articles in electronic form in a separate folder, and then read them on the go with the PDA. In my opinion, this is a good way to read what you don’t have time, but you really want to.

Finally, you can simply print all the interesting things to read on the road, but this, at least, is not environmentally friendly. Let's think about nature, according to the advice of WWF .

2. Listen
In the train (plane, bus), many listen to music. In my opinion, listening to music during the day is inefficient, although it may be useful and beneficial, etc.
I suggest everyone listen to podcasts. The benefit of them is now very much and on various topics (I will not give the link again, everything is already on its own) Efficiency here is determined by the content.
Have you ever listened to podcasts?
Did you not listen to radio podcasts *** or podcasters ***?
So a long way is a reason to try!

You cannot read in the dark, but you can listen. You do not want to “shine” laptop / PDA / etc., But you can listen. Do you want to just look out the window? But at this time you can listen!
In my opinion, podcasts are a universal and useful tool for spending time on the road. Personally, I listen to the recordings of Ekho Moskvy radio programs that I did not have time to hear during the week.

Almost all podcasts can be downloaded in mp3 format, so you can listen to them using your phone, player, PDA, etc.

You can also listen to audiobooks. The benefit of the sale (and online) they are becoming more and more. I am sure that listening to the book (like reading) incredibly develops the imagination. Plus useful and practical. Just recently I listened to Nietzsche "Thus spoke Zarathustra" ... A huge, I tell you, impression is made by the reading of the philosopher in a singing tone.

Modern devices for playing music can not be discharged for a long time (for example, my player IRiver holds ~ 20 hours), so they are indispensable on the road. Phone, PDA will require charging - more on that below.

3. Watch
Watching a video from a mobile phone or laptop will surprise no one. Here you can watch DVDs, downloaded video clips, video casts, etc. It is a pity that this pleasure may not last long (up to 2.5 - 3 hours). Then - to recharge, and about this - at the end of the article.

In addition, you can just look out the window and think (see below), you can see the girl in the next compartment . Who is more like it.

4. Think
How much is written about the roads that purify the soul! This is a philosophical question that requires careful consideration. Without going deep, I note that a person on a journey is as if suspended between one world and another, he is nowhere, he is (practically) nobody. This moment, like no other, is suitable for considering your sinful life of problems and plans. Right now, when you do not need to run anywhere, hurry, call, it's time to sit down and think, sum up, make plans.

The road - it's time to look from the outside at your life, relationships, work, friends. Now, from afar, much will be seen to you (“The Big is Seen at a Distance” © Yesenin).

In addition to personal reflection, you can do the solution / planning of professional tasks. Do you need to “build a project”, “prioritize”, “define competences”, etc.? Or maybe just make a list of tasks for the near future? Pen, paper or laptop - and go ahead, think! Time on the road abound.

5. Speak
This option applies to those who love (wants, can) talk on the road. As is known, “car disputes are the last thing when there is nothing more to drink” (© “Time Machine”).

You can pour out the soul to your neighbor in a compartment, which, by the way, from the point of view of psychiatry, is useful. And you can discuss the problems of creating web 2.0 sites or the postulates of Zen Buddhism. The most important thing is to make the conversation enjoyable. If not, see other ways to effectively spend time on the road.

6. Play
Games - an indispensable occupation of the passenger. Technical means (telephone, PDA, laptop, etc) are suitable for these purposes for all 100. All the problems again are recharging, about which - at the end of the article.

In addition to electronic games, there are games using pens and paper. They are many, they are designed for one or several people. Look about them, for example, here and here .
Crosswords, skanvordy, sudoku, etc. let's take it here. Although here we have to think (as in paragraph 3), but this is still a game, isn't it? By the way, as an alternative, you can consider logical tasks and puzzles. I somehow took to the road a collection of such problems and had a rather exciting time.

You can play in the company (see here ), including cards. But the last options are not for me. Most of the time I travel alone, but I don’t want to play with fellow travelers.

So, I am sure that you can choose an option that is acceptable for you to effectively spend time on a long journey. Notice, I deliberately do not include in the list the traditional way of traveling in Russia: get drunk, fight, forget. I am sure that besides beer (vodka) there are more useful and effective ways to spend time (see above).

PS On the problem of recharging electronic devices.
I must say that this is really a problem. Personally, I still have not decided by and large.
In trains, you can recharge the device in the sockets, which can be found in the car. There is a socket in the toilets and a vestibule opposite the toilet at the end of the car. Near the outlet is a sign of ~ 220 V and an image of an electric razor.

True, the socket in the vestibule is accompanied by an inscription (somewhere in the form of a quality sign, somewhere on a piece of paper) that the voltage in the network may vary, and this may lead to device breakdown. On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine that for the sake of charging the phone (PDA, laptop) someone will sit in the toilet or in the vestibule. There are other ways to do this.

There are sockets right in the car: in the reserved seat, if I'm not mistaken, the second and eighth compartments are in places 8 and 30, in the compartment compartment are exactly in the fifth compartment (places 17-20). On these sockets there is an inscription ~ 50 V, but this does not prevent the conductor from connecting, for example, a vacuum cleaner.

Finally, there is a socket opposite the compartment of the conductors and the compartment itself. Here the guides charge the needy phones (and so on). True, sometimes for money (50-100 rubles), but then - under supervision or under lock and key. By the way, in any case, the device can be briefly charged at the head of the train in the headquarters car.

When I asked what the sockets in the car were different from those located in the compartment of conductors and at the head of the train, I was told that the voltage in them can be monitored by a voltmeter (!), So you can avoid breakdowns.

In buses, you can charge your electronic device by agreement with the driver. The socket is in front of the bus, it can be powered TV, DVD-player. As a rule, drivers allow recharging not often, but for money.

I will not say anything about airplanes - I flew a little, and when I flew, I did not look at the sockets. Colleagues, complement!