Cherish your solo time in the car with these handy tips.

1. Listen to an audio book. A lot of us either don’t like to read or don’t make the time for it. An audio book can be a great replacement for channel surfing through stations and listening to awful radio commercials.

2. Listen to an interesting podcast or your favorite “hype” music. Music that puts you in a good mood and gets you pumped to start your day. Nothing too aggressive or anger inducing—we aren’t trying to start a solo mosh-pit session in our driver’s seat!

3. Relax. Think positive thoughts and begin to plan out and organize all of the awesome things you get to do today. Whether it be work or a day full of errands, take advantage of this solo time to gather your thoughts instead of going through your day on autopilot.

4. Do not text or look at your smartphone screen! We’ve all seen those heart wrenching “where u at?” PSA commercials. Taking your eyes off of the road will cause you to slow traffic down even more because you don’t see when it’s moving again, or coast into a stopped vehicle in front of you, potentially causing an accident.

5. Be generous and kind to other drivers. Everyone has somewhere important they are trying to get to and if you aren’t stingy with letting people turn or merge, traffic karma will pay you back—believe me!

6. Bring a delicious beverage to sip on. Your favorite tea, coffee, cocoa, smoothie or juice will help keep you occupied, less anxious and will replace the breakfast you may have skipped!

7. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the concept of being “late”. The world is constantly moving around us at different paces and nothing is worth sacrificing safety or general mental sanity. Wherever you are going will still be there when you arrive, short of a zombie apocalypse or armageddon.

8. Don’t make illegal maneuvers to find alternate routes and avoid traffic. You’ll either get lost, cause an accident or end up joining a traffic jam somewhere else. Stay put and ride it out.

9. Give yourself extra time. I follow a 15 minute rule. Leave 15 minutes earlier than you think you need to. It will give you extra time for detours, jam ups, trouble finding parking and other unexpected morning commute mishaps. Nine times out of ten you will need it.

10. Don’t let your car get below a ¼ tank of gas. Running out of gas is über embarrassing and obviously preventable. You want to be able to fuel your way through an unexpected further or longer commute.

Angela Melissa Diaz is a self-proclaimed ecofashionista and thrift store/vintage clothing junkie. She’s writing for the ecofashion and wellness sections of elephant as well as bringing her social butterfly skills to the social media team. If you cannot get in touch with her via any forms of technology, she’s on her yoga mat flowing through vinyasas at 90 plus degrees or studying for her certification in health and wellness counseling. She hopes to save the world from bad food choices and stagnant lifestyles while reminding everyone to breathe and laugh as much as possible. You can reach her at [email protected].

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Editor: Malin Bergman

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