Traffic Thoughts

Congestion Now, Clear Later?

Have you ever been driving along and suddenly there is traffic? You don't know how long the congestion will last and then finally, you get through it. Sometimes there is an accident or an obvious obstruction and many times, there isn't a clear cause to the switch in the flow.

I've caught myself getting tense as soon as I hit that initial traffic. I worry that the entire journey will take much longer as this traffic might be an indication of what is soon to come. But you know what? The majority of the time, the congestion is temporary and doesn't have any correlation to the future.

So I've learned to take the traffic in stride. Some slowing down now may or may not impact my estimated arrival time. The same way the traffic suddenly came, once I get past it, there might be a suddenly clear road and I can usually re-gain the "lost" time.

Have you found the same when dealing with your daily to-dos?

Do some tasks take longer or shorter than expected? Or can a sudden interruption seem to throw off your whole day, but in reality, you can recover and still accomplish what you set out to do?

Short Term Vision

How about when you are driving and you can't see beyond the bend in the road? Does that get you anxious? Does it make you feel lost or are you able to stay focused on the fact that you are on a continuous journey?

Sometimes, we focus so much on the day to day that we lose out the broader view. We can forget that this patch of road continues and can take us to our destination. Are you able to trust the power of the journey, even without seeing the full travel path?

In the workforce, I think it is important to use our imagination a bit. We can't possibly see or know everything, but in order to get places, we need to want to go there. The road might look like it ends soon, while it is really a bend that we just need to follow in order to progress.

Keep putting in that effort and hopefully you'll continue smoothly towards your destination.

Scenic Route

Ever get stuck behind a slow truck? It can be quite frustrating, especially when you just want to get to where you are going.

This happened to me the other day and I took a few minutes to appreciate the scene. Generally, I like to drive - focusing on the road of course and not much else. When the truck slowed me down, I noticed the greenery along the highway and the blossoming trees. The sky was magnificent with the sun rays coming through the clouds. It was a gorgeous day and I was only able to appreciate it because of that slow truck.

How many times are we so focused on getting to our destinations, that we don't appreciate the journey itself?

Do you take the time to notice your surroundings? Is it just about getting your tasks done or do you add a nice comment to give your co-worker that positive feeling with the work that was done? Do you listen out for cues of where to probe and get a deeper understanding of the status of the work or do you take the first response as the total picture?

Carpool

All in all, my daily commute has given me quite a bit to think about. I hope that you are able to appreciate coming along with me on this journey. It is always more fun when I carpool. Please comment and let me know what you think about during your commute to work!