Ok, anyone who knows me, knows that I commute to work five days a week. They also know that on a good day it can take me a hour each way. On a really bad winter day it has taken me three hours, yup I said it, 3 hours to get to work. Makes me tired just thinking about that day.
BUT…and that is a big BUT because while the commute is irritating it is also where I do some of my best thinking. It is quiet, and I am alone. Any Mom out there knows that being alone is a rarity. I love my kids but they don’t really give me a chance to have a moment alone. I am not even alone in the bathroom, but that is fodder for another post.
Until the handheld cellphone ban, I used to call a lot of people from the car. OK, I know I need to get a hands free device. I have one but just haven’t embraced it yet. The car was a great place to call people. I often remember to make appointments, remember things that I want to say to my husband, my Mom and Dad, friends, and I also come up with some of my best writing ideas. My mind can really wander in the car. ( I don’t wander too far from the road. I promise. I am a safe driver, especially when I am in the car without the kids. Less distractions)
My ideas are so good while I am commuting to work that I have even been known to pull out the recorder to tape my ideas. I can’t really write it down while I am writing. And if I don’t record the idea in some way, shape or form, once I park the car the idea is gone. You see, most of my ideas only live in the car. They leave my mind the minute I park the car and head up to the newsroom only to come back the minute I hit the road to drive home at midnight.
I come up with article ideas, people I would like to interview, books to read and lately, books to write.
So where do you do most of your best thinking?
