Surviving the daily commute

I am writing this on my Kindle on the bus for the tube station where I will catch my train to work. This is my favourite computing device at the moment as it allows me to run my life in a way that no other device can.
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 And I am now writing on the tube; one of the freedoms offered by a mobile device such as a tablet computer- flexible work flow. As a scientist, my work is fairly intensive on the reading front- I need to keep up with the latest development in my field, and read historical manuscripts, to inform my thoughts and for theorizing. I am glad the days of lugging reams and reams of printed paper in my bag to read on the move are over. I can now also jot down my thoughts as they occur and not worry about losing bits of paper on which I have noted down an idea- very important if you are as scatterbrained me. The fact that I can write and connect to the internet while I am travelling makes public transport a mobile office. This is an efficient use of time for anyone on a tight schedule, e.g. a working mum like me. One could theoretically do the same on a laptop but it is too cumbersome on a tightly packed commuter train; using pen and paper is out of the question (I've tried and it was frankly not worth the trouble as I ended up wasting more time trying to decipher the scribbles). The various standard software packages are quite transferable, or have relatively simple work-arounds, so there is frequently very little post-hoc processing for any written work performed on a tablet computer of any make.  Other favourite activities while I am travelling include managing my diary and to-do lists; these sync across devices when I am next connected to the internet, making life so much more manageable.  Thank you app developers for being so practical!
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And now I am typing away at my desktop on my lunch break at work.  There is no doubt that typing on a keyboard is much faster than typing with two fingers on a screen, but predictive text helps. 

There are also other more light-hearted use of mobile devices, of course. I download books, news articles and other stories that catch my eye online and read these at my leisure while I am rushing from A to B.  A whole library at my disposal; I can read whatever takes my fancy.  Lately, I have been using an application called Instapaper a lot to download reading material from the internet.   I enjoy researching topics.  One recent example is killer whales in captivity following a news article about a captive whale killing its trainer.  There is quite a lot about whales in captivity on the internet and being able to download the material and read when I am less likely to be disturbed by a toddler asking to play is a godsend.  I will never turn Baby away if he asks for anything and there is very little more annoying than disrupted reading: one spends ages recollecting one’s thoughts, trying to get back to where one had to leave off.    Reading on the tube requires breaking off to contend with stops and interchanges, of course, but at least these are fairly predictable in their occurrences.  After a while one gets into a rhythm of breaking one’s reading into manageable chunks in anticipation of the next stage of the commute.  The time can equally be used to watch TV- I download programmes from BBC iPlayer, and also from LoveFilm.  The latter also has a selection of movies for download.  I don’t have time to sit and watch anything at home so I use the time on the buses and trains to catch up.  Likewise I download podcasts and music and can listen to pretty much whatever I want.  To make life easier I invested in a pair of wireless headphones; no more tangling cables and one less thing to think about at the interchange.    


All of this allows me to dedicate precious home time entirely to my family as I am making use of otherwise ‘dead’ time.  The daily commute is no longer a stress inducer and can be fairly labelled as ‘me time’.   It is a rather convenient way to delineate time for oneself. Now does that not sound much better than getting on the cattle car to head to work or home?

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