My Personal LBPs Project :: What Drains also Contains the Solution

Most of us excel in some areas and struggle in others.  The challenges can cause great frustration especially when we are so ‘good’ in other areas.  It’s unnerving to admit there are weaknesses at all – especially when there is so much evidence of success.  A simple ‘physical space’ example: you might keep your car or workspace in perfect order, but your home spirals out of order/organization.  Or you might have much success in business and social networks, but you cannot get your health under control.

///When I write of  “order” and “control” I acknowledge that these are (largely) subjective measures.  Of course, some health risks are quite measurable, but when I write or speak about a ‘weakness’ it is as it relates to a personal goal, or an intention of improving an aspect of your life. These are not goals or measures set upon you by anyone else!///

My seemingly minor, ‘challenge’ that contributed to some major change

For more than ten years, I have commuted into Boston from north of the city, about 35 miles, via train.  There has been some variation to the actual commute, but it got ‘substantially’ worse when I met and married my husband about 6 years ago.  He was even further out than I’d been, which meant more time on the train. It meant an earlier wake-up time; and with transport to the station, and then the walk to the office once I got to the city, 1.5 hours each way.

commuter station parking lot, snowy evening, 2014

Learning to manage the drain and impact of this commute – something seemingly so pedestrian as a universal fact-of- life (for the working professional public ) – is one of the areas of control that represented a major challenge for me.  It seriously impacted my attitude, which ultimately impacted my ability to perform well at work, and my ability to be the person I want to be in my home life.

Breaking it all down reveals WHY it is all such a downer, but also allowed me to begin to uncover opportunity…

Mine is a 9 hour work day; I take the 5:40 pm train out of North Station.  (I hear of people who take the 4pm train – who are these people and where do they work?!).   Moving to my husband’s home meant adding 3 hours to the commute.  Additionally, due to the rigidity of the schedule and the shared public space, the commuter-train- thing can feel “confined” in more ways than one.

I grew up in Southern California where the only way to get around was by car, really.  I mean, I guess there were/are public buses, and I did ride them in elementary school, but these were considered terrific torture (the bus system in my home town was *established* when I was in about the 3rd grade – so not too “robust” a system).  So, I move to New England and one would think I should be thrilled to be able to sit in a moving train, not have to deal with traffic, and get from point A to B in a pre-determined timeframe!

Indeed, there is a honeymoon period where – “riding the train is great”.  And there are even some who make it a social experiment!  For me, after a very BRIEF honeymoon phase, I decided I might as well get some sleep.  I’d read for maybe 5 minutes, place my sunglasses or hood (depending on the season), and doze off… (my quiet snoring waking me often)…

I would wake up approaching North Station, groggy and grumpy as ever… cursing my heavy bag, my fellow-commuters, and whatever weather the harbor served.  I am almost ashamed to admit how angry the entire thing made me.  I mean, I should be happy to “have a job” – in the city, and – isn’t it better to not sit in traffic?  Isn’t it *awesome* to have two hours a day to read??

Well, what isn’t awesome is carrying all of your things on your person as you get from many points A to B.  [I carry a laptop, reading material, my lunch (healthy downtown lunch is very tough to come by), my purse, and coffee thermos (there are no cup holders on the train, and holding a disposable cup upright the entire time just doesn’t work – I want to do other things with my hands/arms!]  I have tried many variations of bag – but ultimately, some days I am carrying 30 pounds of equipment and material.  There is the added stress of having to be at the station exactly on time (and earlier, depending on the season and how quickly the parking lot fills).  The trains run about one hour apart where I live – missing a train by a few minutes impacts the commute by at least an hour!  There are many similarities to flying – you need to carry everything on your person, and timing is not forgiving.  I’ve commuted by car enough to know that a few minutes here or there won’t make a major (hour plus) impact on arrival; it’s just not the same with the train.

Additionally “not awesome” is being in a job that doesn’t allow for growth.  I have always known that continued personal growth is important to me, and I thought my career path would allow for continued lifelong learning [and it has, but, (with the exception of the training aspect of my day job), not in the areas that excite me].

As I write, I still hold that day job and am beginning to see it quite differently – I see it as the financial instrument that allows me to pursue more essential, more meaningful, goals.  I also see the commute quite differently.  I now commute 3 days a week, which allows me six of my very own hours to do and create whatever I want (within the confines of a moving train).  I have 6 hours of uninterrupted time!  The only thing that might get in the way of this time is the potential of the train being really full, such that I cannot comfortably type (if seats are full, there isn’t sufficient ‘elbow room’).  But I usually have a backup plan; I can download podcasts pretty easily, and/or pull out print reading material.

There are times when I am still sleepy and tempted to doze on the train, but most times I am actually excited to get *my* stuff done, that being tired is secondary.

The formula (which will be revealed in coming posts) to turning the dreaded, draining commute into a really successful chunk of time is representative of how a LivingBluPrints Project can lessen the impact of drains in your life, but also heighten awareness of what excites you/what you are passionate about.

What are the most dreaded parts of your routine?  I am not about to suggest that any/all draining necessities are opportunities for something quite the opposite, but I do feel that drains should not be ignored or simply avoided.  I believe that understanding what zaps you the most might hold within it, the keys to a major turnaround.

This ‘story’ continues here…

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Linda Stacy, Productivity Speaker, Writer, and Coach, inspires her clients to achieve increased fulfillment, engagement, and success by way of energy management and the *brass tacks* of healthy, efficient productivity and time management.