

2x 40 min of train everyday. Best way to spend them? - dgellow

Hi HN community,<p>I&#x27;m a 22 years old developer. For the next 2 months I have to do 2x 40 min of train travel everyday to move between my home and my workplace.<p>What are your advices to spend this time in the more productive way?<p>How do you spend your time travel?
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gopalv
Carry a notebook, if you actually sit down in the train.

You'll find that you are far more insightful and lucid when excluded from
wasting time online/starting at a screen.

Doodle, write, note down each station - just treat every page as a blank page.

You will be surprised by the results.

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1337biz
Try talking to one new person each day on your ride. And play your level up
until you are able to enter an engaging conversation with anyone on that
train. Social skills are having in my opinion the most severe impact on your
life.

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ForHackernews
Please don't. Most people riding commuter trains just want to be left in
peace.

Developing social skills is absolutely a valuable thing, but it's not fair to
make innocents on the train be your tutors.

Practice social skills with co-workers, at networking events, or in shared-
interest groups (join a book club, an outdoors society, etc.)

~~~
1337biz
I'm sorry to disagree, but I promise you that at least the strong extroverts
would be happy to talk to somebody at least. Just by the numbers that should
make up and not too small part of a train passengers. Plus it is easy to
wander around or pretend to exit on the next stop in case the situation gets
too awkward.

In fact I would argue that this is exactly the right social environment for
practicing social skills as it takes place outside the typical peer groups and
"save" settings. In a setting where people know somebody already a sudden
change in social interactions might come across as weird and odd. The same
thin a train is totally random and chances are super small to meet these
people again.

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ForHackernews
> Plus it is easy to wander around or pretend to exit on the next stop in case
> the situation gets too awkward.

Again, I'm sorry, but I really think this is a bad idea. You're talking about
making somebody to get up and move seats or cars to avoid you?

> chances are super small to meet these people again.

Except not if it's a commuter train. If you ride the same train at the same
time, you're likely to see mostly the same people going to and from work.

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bemmu
Listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Or just think.

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dgellow
Do you have any audiobooks or podcasts that you'd be happy to share?

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ElongatedTowel
Finding good stuff is so damn hard. I'm listening to that stuff whenever I do
anything that doesn't require too much focus. Time that adds up.

Three I can recommend:

[http://shoptalkshow.com/](http://shoptalkshow.com/) \- Webdesign and
development mostly

[http://javascriptjabber.com/](http://javascriptjabber.com/) \- If you're
interested in JavaScript development

[http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hharchive](http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hharchive)
\- Free older recordings of history podcasts. He adds a lot of emotion and
perhaps bias to every story but as a result they are never dry and often from
an unusual perspective

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deadfall
+1 for Dan Carlin. I only listened to the history of the Mongols.

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wanda
Project Euler. That's what I used to do while commuting to London.

[https://projecteuler.net/problems](https://projecteuler.net/problems)

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dgellow
I started doing the exercises as a way to learn Clojure some time ago. I can
pick up where I had left.

Thanks for the idea.

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womitt
Stanford eCorner and Harvard Business Review podcasts are really good to
listen to if you have to stand. If you've listened to all you can go with
conference speeches, I usually grab them from Youtube.

If you can sit most of the time I would advise you to buy a Kindle and read
books or blogposts. It is much more easier to concentrate on the material and
it doesn't make your eyes tired like a phone.

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ctrl
I used to have a commute like this and thought it was going to be such a time
waste. Then i realized it was good me time.

great time for reading and also note taking. Look into your options on your
phone or tablet and really pimp them out with consumption as well as
productivity.

For note you may want to write your own little app, evernote will open by the
time the commutes over.

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bbody
I have done a 2x 40 minutes train commute for the last year, before I started
I bought a Kindle and read a lot of books. I have found it to be very
productive, if you are really motivated you can read books which are related
to your job. So when you arrive at work you are ready to apply some new things
you learnt. Otherwise I sometimes catch some sleep if I am tired.

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ronaldbradford
I find when I commute that writing an email TODO list of the work I will be
doing today, or a TODO list of things I want to do next on my side project.
Generally it gives me lots of simple ideas.

A train trip can be disruptive. Take on tasks that are small in nature, and
your thought process will not lose out on in-depth analysis of any one
problem.

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sergiotapia
Listen to Nujabes[1] and reflect on what you did yesterday, what you did
excellent, what you could have done better and internalize that information.

[1]:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-uG8o4dsE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-uG8o4dsE)

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joppu
Get a good podcast app and a list of podcasts. Try this list (some outdated):
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1644/what-good-
technology...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1644/what-good-technology-
podcasts-are-out-there)

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midgetjones
I've been working on live coding of audio during my commute. It's a good way
to keep the brain active and learn a new language, with the added benefit of
being hypnotically relaxing. Also doesn't have to require internet.

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dgellow
I'm not sure to understand what you're calling "live coding of audio". Are you
talking about things like the music on toplap.org or the clojure's lib
"overtone" ?

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gesman
I'd suggest to stay away from coding (unless you can't help it of course).

Listen to personal development / inspiration materials / something to enrich
your spirit outside of workspace.

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robbyking
I have my Instapaper feed delivered to my Kindle, so I use my commute time to
read that and the NY Times. Using that "dead" time helps me keep up with
what's going on in the world.

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mcv
Reading. Offline programming (or online, if the train has wifi). Or anything
else, really. How do you normally spend your time? What do you _want_ to do
with your time?

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dirktheman
I have a 2x47 minute train commute, and I use it for side projects. It's also
the most productive time of the entire day, and I always look forward to it!

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slugslog
Podcasts are the way to go. I cannot recommend RadioLab podcasts highly
enough. At so many levels it's the best radio program ever made

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T-zex
Put some ambient music, close your eyes and meditate. You don't have to be
productive 24x7.

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dgellow
I think you are right. I don't need to stay focus on the "productive" word.

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meerita
I read a lot if I have those 40 mins. I try to learn stuff.

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rman666
Run laps in the isle.

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gadders
Sleep.

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ceedan
SQUATS

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tutufan
Bagpipes.

