I've listened to Fiction books while driving for about 10 years now. It works as a good way to decompress after working all day so that there's a buffer between home and work.

CyberCowboy

I'm with vered. In fact, I had a teacher in the management area (I have a technical graduation in Management Informatics) who endorsed that one should watch his schedule in order to intentionally leave gaps in it. She even called it 'Creative Idleness'.

Of course, you do not need to create 'unusable' time, you just need to let your mind wander goal-less. In fact, you may even be surprised how you can come up with great ideas yourself without really trying.

RafaelAlmeida

Speaking of "crashing", I hope one is not driving (commuting) while actually trying to pay attention to something other than the road ahead. ;D

Is your "time" worth your--or someone else's--life? (And get off the cell phone while you're at it.)

GlennA

I have a confession to make: I LIKE unusable time. I enjoy daydreaming, listening to music, even (gasp) just relaxing.

I do not wish to make my unusable time usable. I like it just the way it is.

vered

Right, not so long time ago I came to same conclusions. Thanks to my iPod there ARE ways to make that time usable.

Dereks

I usually just peruse my GReader via any smartphone with a data plan (iPhone currently).

Urza

I listen to my iPod when I am out and about "doing stuff" and when I have "downtime" at home, I usually just sit and look at my toes and contemplate the meaning of life.

Some of my best ideas come from just sitting still in a quiet room and just letting my thoughts run free.

Ellie

I use my ipod to listen to talks while walking places, especially in the winter when I can't cycle. Cycling in a big city with an ipod is not a good idea if you value your life. I'm an advocate of using textaloud with some of the funky new voices to generate mp3s of documents to listen to when I'm too tired to do much else. Quite a brilliant use of technology. I have more and more spoken word stuff on the ipod and I listen to very little music on it these days.

philosopher_dog

I like having a book around for those times that are too short to get into more intense, consuming tasks, yet too long to go wasted - that could be said for just about all time!

I often get ideas reading through a few pages, and I tend to find connections between the texts I enjoy and other work & play I come cross in a day.

Having batches of stuff to read is generally and definitely a good idea, and catch up on that when you aren't facing an incoming onslaught that demands your attention.

Torley

I sold my car and started taking the bus everywhere. In the last month I have:

1. Read 4 books
2. Saved $600 (payment/gas/insurance/etc)
3. Added only 1 hour total to my weekly commute.

The time on the bus goes so much faster and is so much less stressful than driving that it's almost like I'm getting paid to read books with the money I save.

Thorny

I agree with "vered". I find my unusable time my most valuable time for daydreaming and such. It relitilizes my soul so I can make better use of my useable time.
What I have done is work on ways to better use my usable time, so it doesn't infringe on my unusable time.
Remember it is important to "Stop And Smell The Roses"

TravelingMan

Flash cards at the stop lights. It doesn't require more than a quick glance when you are in your car (keeping things safe). Flash cards can be small enough to fit in your pocket or coat too as to make a lot of high-yield information easily accessible for the longer trips.

Othniel

Eee PC. TV episodes. Perfect combo.

longbourne

I recently started using FM radio earmuffs along with a MP3 player and a small FM transmitter (both in my pocket) to listen to podcasts while I mow. They probably make radio earmuffs with a line-in jack for MP3 players, but this was cheap and works well enough for me. A great fringe benefit is that I'm now protecting my hearing while I mow.

jim-j

I check out my rss feeds on my blackberry when I am in line at the building department. Podcasts are great in my car between meetings.

eroq

Commuting time on the bus or train is my reading time. I usually have my tablet PC with me and a collection of digital magazines just for this purpose, if not a library book.

I do enjoy my alone time as well; anytime I'm walking I'm also thinking. It takes me 10 minutes to walk to the train station (15 if I take my time), and on Sundays it takes me 20 minutes to walk to church.

It's kinda awkward since whenever I'm thinking I tend to ignore my surroundings (retaining just enough awareness to smile at people and avoid hazards) so it makes me seem somewhat anti-social, but I'm starting to get over those insecurities. Alone time is alone time, you know?

kureshii

Taking the train to work allows me to read if I want, or just stare out the window and think. It's nice to have the choice.

onesix18

I used to drive across New Mexico for my work. Lots of empty road with sky above and dirt below. Booorrrriiinnggg!

I tend to fall asleep at the wheel.

I subscribed to Audible.com, and listened to audiobooks while driving. It made a world of difference. I almost drove off the road laughing when I listened to Dave Barry Does Japan.

When I am in a long line at WalMart, I use my iPAQ to read articles downloaded from newspaper sites. I just save the HTML-only of the Printer-Friendly version of the article.

DanYHKim

I like to listen to various news and science podcasts during the commute to work. There are also daily Chinese language lessons to help me brush up on my Chinese.

pwnedd

Downtime is good for you. Trying to cram productivity into every single waking moment of your life is simply lame.

Go ahead: listen to music, meditate, masturbate, have a glass of wine, play with your children or pets, call up your grandma.

Assuming you have your shit together, you're not "falling behind" or "giving up the advantage."

Deprong Mori

What the hell is unusable time ?the part where you go to sleep exhausted?.

rtipping

@JonGrant: that's 40 hours at work

JonGrant

First, I don't worry about myspace or facebook, twitter, etc.

I don't use SMS, text, anything fancy on my phone.

Read or watch the scenery on the bus.

I only watch Lost, usually online when more convenient.

I limit myself to 40hrs max at week.

If your lifestyle is stressing you out to overload, try cutting back.

JonGrant

There's no such thing as "unusable" time, and we really don't need outside sources to fill every spare moment. Your brain is powerful - just thinking is a great way to use your time.

theorist

And the best "unproductive" time ever? Have sex for pleasure, not for procreation.

Deprong Mori

Please forward your response to Mr. Rubel.

Thank you.

Deprong Mori

Now, now everyone. Moderation is the key in all things. There's nothing saying you can't use your commute into the office to learn a new language or discover you had a passion for classical music you didn't know you had and then spend the commute out of the office in your own head meditating and relaxing. Honestly - it's not a competition, it's not about "staying above water" when we all know there's more information than anyone can process, and it's not about "keeping up," it's about doing the things you WANT to do in the time you have to do them.

If what you WANT to do is learn a new language, I think listening to the lessons on the treadmill is a great idea to double up on that time so you're exercising body and mind. At the same time, if you're having your morning coffee and would rather spend that time talking to your family than catching up on the daily news or your friends' Twitter feeds, hey- that's a damn good idea too. :)

phoenix

@vered: I'm with ya. About 11-13 hours of my day are locked down hard core. When I get "unusable" time then I prefer to simply do nothing. Sometimes, that's exactly what I do and it feels great.

JiveMasterT

I have four kids and precious little time to myself. I used to hate the time it took me to do grocery shopping. Now I take the iPod and listen to chick lit for that hour at the store, and it's become my me-time. With semi-mindless fiction, it doesn't matter if I "go away" for brief periods of time while listening, and now I'm refreshed at the end of that hour, instead of exhausted.

writergrrl

I carry a backpack with a filofax for documents. A personal organizer of the paper variety. A small fm radio to listen to NPR and a cd player to listen to books on cd from the library. I also tend to have 1 or 2 library books on me. I have tried to cut down but otherwise I feel like I am wasting my time.

blandspace

I listen to podcasts and audiobooks in the car. I peruse Google Reader on my phone (data plan) and I use Google Docs on my Blackberry to read articles. You can email articles to GDocs or use the Firefox extension Google Docs Bar to upload. Unfortunately, GDB is not always available and it makes you log in every time you use it.

Da5idM